Post by CSLR on Mar 10, 2006 16:33:40 GMT
At the risk of creating some sort of C&SLR overload to this group. I will now complete a post that I started the other day in reply to a rather unusual question by ChrisA asking for the name of the first ever tube train driver. The first few paragraphs are a précis of my original post on the subject, followed by the new information that I promised.
The first real tube railway was the City & South London. The line was officially opened on 4 November 1890 when the Prince of Wales and other guests travelled from King William Street to Stockwell in a train driven by the Mather & Platt (M&P) resident engineer on the C&SLR project, Mr J A Grindle.
So is that it? Well no. You see that was not really the first train to be driven on the tube system, for that we go back to the end of 1889 and one of the most unbelievable parts of the story. At that time, Dr John Hopkinson had been employed in London as consulting engineer to supervise the installation and testing of the electrical equipment and locomotives that were being built in Manchester. In a way the family honour was at stake, because his brother was employed in Manchester as head of newly formed M&P electrical department. Although there was considerable pressure on young John to prove that the system worked, it also appears that he could not wait to try out his new toy! With none of the running tunnels connected to the surface, he had the first locomotive lowered in pieces down a lift shaft at the Borough, together with a couple of experimental carriages. To overcome the fact that there was a total lack of anything even resembling an electricity supply at the Borough (remember, this was 1889), he set up a generator at the top of the lift shaft and ran electric cables down to the track. He then placed a steam engine in the road and initially fired it up at night when there was less traffic about and fewer horses to frighten. Rather unsurprisingly, the neighbours were not very impressed by having their sleep disturbed.
Thus the very first tube train journey started from the Borough. There is no known document that actually names John Hopkinson as the driver of the first train, but a lot of evidence suggests that it was him.
As time passed, dignitaries and delegations went down to travel on the train; even the neighbours were invited for a ride. This lash-up allowed the very first tube trains to operate experimentally and to carry passengers. These were almost certainly driven by John Hopkinson or J A Grindle. But the visitors at this time were simply guests who did not pay any fares. So who drove the first tube train that carried genuine fare paying passengers?
Before I tell you what I have found, I have to throw one odd name into the hat; Mr Owen. I know very little about this man except that he was so important that he was the fourth man (alongside the Hopkinson brothers and Mr Grindle) responsible for the locomotives worked in connection with the Royal train. I suspect that Mr Owen might have been a senior assistant to Mr Grindle or Dr J Hopkinson.
As part of the contract with the railway, M&P guaranteed the price of electric operation and took some responsibility for the working of the trains for a period of time after the line opened. M&P therefore needed men on the spot to monitor the situation, and Grindle and Owen appear to have been the people who were given this responsibility
There is a rather odd entry in the C&SLR company records for the period that indicates that a Mr W Owen was on their operational staff. Strangely, there is nothing to show what his job was and no record that he was paid by the company. This indicates that he may have been doing some work for the railway (locomotive driving for the purposes of the required monitoring and testing?) while being employed and paid by M&P. There is however no 100% positive proof that Mr Owen and Mr W Owen were the same person.
This therefore is my answer:-
THE FIRST TUBE TRAIN DRIVER – SUMMARY.
First train to operate experimentally on the tube. North end of the C&SLR, December 1889.
Driver – probably Dr John Hopkinson. (see above)
First trains to carry guests on the tube. North end of the C&SLR, 1889/1890
Driver – probably Mr J A Grindle or Dr John Hopkinson. In some instances Mr Owen may have taken the controls. (see above)
On the occasion of the visit of the Lord Mayor of London. dep 11.40am King William Street – Elephant & Castle, 7 March 1890, the driver was Mr J A Grindle (confirmed by documentary evidence)
Official opening – Royal train. dep 12 noon, King William Street – Stockwell, 4 November 1890
Driver – Mr J A Grindle. (confirmed by documentary evidence)
Driver of back-up locomotive (not used to haul the train) – Mr Owen (confirmed by documentary evidence)
First scheduled service. dep 6.53am, Stockwell – King William Street, 18 December 1890
In order to work out who the driver was we must first view a full list of drivers employed by the company on that date:-
Mr R Anderson, Mr W G Bright, Mr William Crabb, Mr J Dobbin, Mr H England, Mr A Grainger*, Mr Frederick Fuller*, Mr J Green*, Mr A Howlett, Mr H Markham, Mr E Martin*, Mr R Miles*, Mr T G Pemberton, Mr W Reynolds, Mr F Shellard, Mr T Thompson.
* - Joined company same month that the line opened to the public
To this we might add the names of the two M&P men that had been involved in driving the locomotives for many of the trial runs and who appear to have been at the railway on the opening day – Mr J A Grindle and Mr Owen.
We know that there were no special celebrations on the first day - the company simply pulled back the gates and opened up for business.
If I had to hazard a guess as to who was driving the first train, I would rule out the M&P men as this was now an operational railway under the control of the C&SLR management. I would also eliminate the very new employees that I have marked.
My guess is that the first tube train driver was Mr H Markham, the Foreman Engine Driver. After weeks of trial running and attempts to overcome some quite major problems, I suspect that Mr Markham may have chosen to take the first train full of real passengers out to see how things worked when the carriages were loaded with something other than sacks of gravel. On the other hand, he may have had the power as foreman to delegate the duty. For this reason, please, please do not quote this name as a definitive answer in any future posts or publications.
I am certain that you now have the name of the person who drove the very first train and that it appears somewhere in the list above. However, unless any further evidence comes to light, any attempt to narrow it down as I have done is pure speculation.
The first real tube railway was the City & South London. The line was officially opened on 4 November 1890 when the Prince of Wales and other guests travelled from King William Street to Stockwell in a train driven by the Mather & Platt (M&P) resident engineer on the C&SLR project, Mr J A Grindle.
So is that it? Well no. You see that was not really the first train to be driven on the tube system, for that we go back to the end of 1889 and one of the most unbelievable parts of the story. At that time, Dr John Hopkinson had been employed in London as consulting engineer to supervise the installation and testing of the electrical equipment and locomotives that were being built in Manchester. In a way the family honour was at stake, because his brother was employed in Manchester as head of newly formed M&P electrical department. Although there was considerable pressure on young John to prove that the system worked, it also appears that he could not wait to try out his new toy! With none of the running tunnels connected to the surface, he had the first locomotive lowered in pieces down a lift shaft at the Borough, together with a couple of experimental carriages. To overcome the fact that there was a total lack of anything even resembling an electricity supply at the Borough (remember, this was 1889), he set up a generator at the top of the lift shaft and ran electric cables down to the track. He then placed a steam engine in the road and initially fired it up at night when there was less traffic about and fewer horses to frighten. Rather unsurprisingly, the neighbours were not very impressed by having their sleep disturbed.
Thus the very first tube train journey started from the Borough. There is no known document that actually names John Hopkinson as the driver of the first train, but a lot of evidence suggests that it was him.
As time passed, dignitaries and delegations went down to travel on the train; even the neighbours were invited for a ride. This lash-up allowed the very first tube trains to operate experimentally and to carry passengers. These were almost certainly driven by John Hopkinson or J A Grindle. But the visitors at this time were simply guests who did not pay any fares. So who drove the first tube train that carried genuine fare paying passengers?
Before I tell you what I have found, I have to throw one odd name into the hat; Mr Owen. I know very little about this man except that he was so important that he was the fourth man (alongside the Hopkinson brothers and Mr Grindle) responsible for the locomotives worked in connection with the Royal train. I suspect that Mr Owen might have been a senior assistant to Mr Grindle or Dr J Hopkinson.
As part of the contract with the railway, M&P guaranteed the price of electric operation and took some responsibility for the working of the trains for a period of time after the line opened. M&P therefore needed men on the spot to monitor the situation, and Grindle and Owen appear to have been the people who were given this responsibility
There is a rather odd entry in the C&SLR company records for the period that indicates that a Mr W Owen was on their operational staff. Strangely, there is nothing to show what his job was and no record that he was paid by the company. This indicates that he may have been doing some work for the railway (locomotive driving for the purposes of the required monitoring and testing?) while being employed and paid by M&P. There is however no 100% positive proof that Mr Owen and Mr W Owen were the same person.
This therefore is my answer:-
THE FIRST TUBE TRAIN DRIVER – SUMMARY.
First train to operate experimentally on the tube. North end of the C&SLR, December 1889.
Driver – probably Dr John Hopkinson. (see above)
First trains to carry guests on the tube. North end of the C&SLR, 1889/1890
Driver – probably Mr J A Grindle or Dr John Hopkinson. In some instances Mr Owen may have taken the controls. (see above)
On the occasion of the visit of the Lord Mayor of London. dep 11.40am King William Street – Elephant & Castle, 7 March 1890, the driver was Mr J A Grindle (confirmed by documentary evidence)
Official opening – Royal train. dep 12 noon, King William Street – Stockwell, 4 November 1890
Driver – Mr J A Grindle. (confirmed by documentary evidence)
Driver of back-up locomotive (not used to haul the train) – Mr Owen (confirmed by documentary evidence)
First scheduled service. dep 6.53am, Stockwell – King William Street, 18 December 1890
In order to work out who the driver was we must first view a full list of drivers employed by the company on that date:-
Mr R Anderson, Mr W G Bright, Mr William Crabb, Mr J Dobbin, Mr H England, Mr A Grainger*, Mr Frederick Fuller*, Mr J Green*, Mr A Howlett, Mr H Markham, Mr E Martin*, Mr R Miles*, Mr T G Pemberton, Mr W Reynolds, Mr F Shellard, Mr T Thompson.
* - Joined company same month that the line opened to the public
To this we might add the names of the two M&P men that had been involved in driving the locomotives for many of the trial runs and who appear to have been at the railway on the opening day – Mr J A Grindle and Mr Owen.
We know that there were no special celebrations on the first day - the company simply pulled back the gates and opened up for business.
If I had to hazard a guess as to who was driving the first train, I would rule out the M&P men as this was now an operational railway under the control of the C&SLR management. I would also eliminate the very new employees that I have marked.
My guess is that the first tube train driver was Mr H Markham, the Foreman Engine Driver. After weeks of trial running and attempts to overcome some quite major problems, I suspect that Mr Markham may have chosen to take the first train full of real passengers out to see how things worked when the carriages were loaded with something other than sacks of gravel. On the other hand, he may have had the power as foreman to delegate the duty. For this reason, please, please do not quote this name as a definitive answer in any future posts or publications.
I am certain that you now have the name of the person who drove the very first train and that it appears somewhere in the list above. However, unless any further evidence comes to light, any attempt to narrow it down as I have done is pure speculation.
