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Obituary. Jphn Urpeth Rastrick, 1780-1856

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Obituary. Jphn Urpeth Rastrick, 1780-1856 128 MEMOIRS. he was seized with giddiness, followed by bleeding at the nose, an (l other serious symptoms, and within two hours he expired, at the house of the British vice-consul, at Maghill, near Bussorah, where he had only arrived five days previously. The immediate cause of death was ascribed to a suffusion of blood on the brain, during an apoplectic fit. Onthe following day his remains were buried in the garden behind the Residency. His premature decease at the age of thirty-four, was deeply regretted by his friends, as well as by all those Engineers with whom he had been associated, his cheerfulness andready co-operation rendering him a general favourite. He joined the Institution, as a Member, in the year. 1855, but hisprovincial and foreign engagements preventedhis taking any active part in the proceedings at the Meetings. MR.JOHN URPETH RASTRICK was born at Morpeth, in the county of Northumberland, on the 26th day of ,Januzry, 1780. He was the eldest son of Mr. John Rastrick, who was an engineer and machinist of great ingenuity, principally employed in the con- struction of weirs, mills, and bridges, on the mountain streams of the neighbourhood. He claimed the invention of the treadwheel for prisons, and it is possible, that he may have designed a similar machine, before it was introduced by Mr. (now Sir William) Cubitt, to whom the invention is with strict justice ascribed. At the age of fifteen,young Rastrick was articledto his Father. At this period he was remarked among his associates, for the possession of patenergy of purpose, untiring perseverance, clearness of intellect, and sound mechanical and mathematical knowledge. At about the age oftwenty-one he went southward, to gain experience as a machinist and millwright, particularly in the introduction of cast iron for machiner t.henalmost in its infancy. He remained for some time at the getley Iron Works, in Shropshire, and soon after entered into partnership with Mr. Hazeldine, of Bridgnorth, as a mechanical engineer, taking special charge of the iron foundry. During this partnership, Mr. Rastrick continued to practise, on his own account, as a Civil Engineer, and in the years 1815 and 1816, he built the cast-iron bridge over the river Wye, at Chep- stow, which was opened on the 24th July, 1816. The centre arch of this bridge had a span of 112 feet, and a versed sine of 13 feet ; the arches on each side of the centre arch were 70 feet span and 10 feet 9 inches rise ; and the two side arches had each a span of 34 feet, with a versed sine of 7 feet 3 inches. Economical consider- ations necessitated the we of part of the foundations of a former bridge, which somewhat interfered with t.he general symmetry of the appearance of the new bridge ; and the immense rise of tide, (48 feet,) and its great rapidity, rendered it a work of no ordinary Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. MEMOIRS. 12s class. The extreme lightness of the cast-iron work of this bridge, and its general details, are remarkable, and rival those of works of more recent construction. Several smaller bridges werealso cast and erected in Shropshire under his direction. On the death of Mr. Hazeldine,about the year 1817, Mr. Rastrick became the managingpartner in the firm of Bradley, Foster, Rastrick, and Co., iron-founders and manufacturers of ma- chinery, at Stourbridge, Worcestershire, taking the principal en- gineeringpart in thedesign and construction of rolling-mills, steam-engines, and other large works. At this time he designed and executed many extensive iron works in the Midland Counties, particularly those at Chillington, nearWolverhampton, andat Shut End,near Stourbridge. He was also consulted as to the alteration and extension of many works in Wales. In January, 1825, Mr. Rastrick was engaged by the promoters of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, along with Mr. George Stephenson, Mr. Sylvester, Mr. Brunton, Mr. Philip Taylor, Mr. W. (now Sir W.) Cubitt, Mr. James Walker, Mr. Nicholas Wood and others, to visit the different collieries in the North of England, with a view of experimenting andreporting upon the tramroads,and engines at work upon them. For this purpose a series of experi- ments was made with the locomotive engines on the colliery tram- ways at Killingworth and Hetton. In the following April, when the Bill for the Liverpool andManchester Railway wasbefore Parliament,he was the first engineering witness called by the Company, in support of their case, which, it will be remembered, was most vehemently opposed by the Canal Companies. On that occasion he stated, that, ten, or twelve years previously, he had made a locomotive engine, for Mr. Trevithick, torun upon a circular railway, but that it was quite capable of being.applied on an ordinary railroad ; also, that two years before, in 1823, he had seenone at work at the Middleton Colliery, near Leeds, which had a cog wheel, working into a rack rail, at the side, on Blenkin- sop’s system. The evidence he gave, to show the powers, advan- tages, and safety of the locomotive engine, contributed materially to t.he ultimate successfulissue of that remarkable case. The clear and scientific character of his evidence firmly established his professional reputation, and from thattime he was employed to design, or to support in Parliament, a large proportion of the, principal lines of railway in the United Kingdom. In the years 1826 and 1827, he constructed a line of railway, about sixteen miles in length, between Stratford-on-Avonand Moreton in theMarsh. This line is believedto have been the first that was laid withwrought-iron rails, manufactured under the patent of Mr. Birkenshaw, of the Bedlington Iron Works, in Northumberland. Horse poweronly was used,which is the case. [1856-57. N.S.] K Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 130 MEMOIRS. tothis da . In 1828-29,he constructed the Shut End Colliery xiway, from Kingswinford to the Staffordshire and Worcester- shire canal, a distance of three miles and an eighth. This line was opened on the 2nd of June, 1829,' with a locomotive engine, built.under Mr. Rastrick'ssuperintendence. Thisengine had two, or three flues inthe boiler, and, in economy,speed, and accuracy of workmanship, equalled, if it did not excel, any engine thathad been hitherto produced. He also constructed one of the very early locomotives sent from this country to the United States. When the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was approaching completion, the Directors had to take into consideration the power to be employed upon it, and they soon arrived at the convmtion, that horse power was totally inapplicable. The real question was thus reduced to the relative merits and capabilities of fixed and locomotive engines, both of which systems were in use at the time. To determine this point Mr. Rastrick and Mr. James Walker were requested to proceed to Ilarlington,and the neighbourhood of Newcastle, to inspect the different railways in those districts, and to ascertain, by athorough investigation into the powerof the engines, the cost of working them, and their actual performance, the conlparative merits of the two descriptions of moving power. Theymade separate reports,2 but both agreedin the opinion, that the locomotive engine, as then known, was not equal to the stationary system, which they recommended the Directors to adopt. As, however,some of theDirectors had a feeling in favour of the locomotive, in April, 1829, a premium of $500 wasoffered for the bestlocomotive engine, subject to certain conditions and stipulations. The -6th of October of the same year was fixed upon for the trial, and the judges appointed were Mr. Rastrick, with Mr. N. Wood and Mr. Kennedy. The reward, as is well known, was in favour of the 'Rocket,' constructed by Mr. Stephenson, in whichwere first combined Mr. H. Booth's multitubular boiler, with the exhausting action of the blast-pipe.Subsequently, Mr. Rastrick, in conjulaction with Mr. Hartley, made experiments on three descriptions of carriages, with a viewof ascertaining their comparative amount of friction with outside bearings. About this time he constructed the short branch of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, from Kenyon to Leigh. In theyear 1830, he was engaged with the late Mr. George 1 An account of the opening of this railway, and of some experiments to test the power of the locomotive engine, is given inthe " Mechanics'Magazine," vol. xi. (1829), p. 301. * Vide '' Liverpool and Manchester Railway.-Reports to the Directors on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and Fixed Engines, as a Moving Power." By Jmes Walker and J. U. RastriJr, Esqrs. Svo.Liverpool, 1829. Downloaded by [] on [12/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. MEMOIRS. 131 Stephenson, in surveying and determining the course of the line from Birmingham to join the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, afterwards called the Grand Junction, and in selecting a line from Manchester to Cbewe. In all the different applications madeto Parliament for these lines, Mr. Rastrick was generally associated with Messrs. Stephenson and Locke, until, in 1833, they together succeeded, in carrying the Acts for their respective portions, after a lengthened contest with the Canal Companiee andthe land- owners. Mr. Rastrick waa always consistent in laying down, and advocating, a line of railway direct as circumstances and the nature of a district wouldadmit. In the me of this particular railway, he took no part in the application made to Parliament in the following year, to vary the line, by which the cost was some- what diminished, by increasing the length. In the year 1835, the Manchester and Cheshire Junction Rail- waywas brought forward, and Mr.
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