Wellington Bank, Somerset
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Wellington Bank is a steep railway embankment and associated climb located on the
Bristol to Exeter line Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
, that climbs from just northeast of
Wellington, Somerset Wellington is a market town in rural Somerset, a county in the west of England, situated south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district, near the border with Devon, which runs along the Blackdown Hills to the south of the tow ...
, until its peak at
Sampford Arundel Sampford Arundel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated near Wellington and south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 268. The parish, which lies at the western ...
, where it enters Whiteball tunnel and travels under the Whiteball Hill.


Background

The Bristol & Exeter Railway was authorised by act of Parliament in 1836, following quickly on the 1835 act for construction of the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
. Bristol merchants were anxious to secure a railway route to Exeter, which was an important commercial centre, and which had a harbour on the south coast, in the English Channel. Coastal shipping from the South coast and from continental Europe making for Bristol needed to navigate the hazardous north Cornwall coast after negotiating the waters round Land's End.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...
was appointed engineer, and his assistant
William Gravatt William Gravatt FRS (14 July 1806 – 30 May 1866), was a noted English civil engineer and scientific instrument maker. Apprenticed as a mechanical engineer in London from aged 15, after interview he worked with Sir Marc Isambard Brunel on t ...
surveyed the route in 1835 and was resident engineer for the section between Bristol and White Ball, with
William Froude William Froude (; 28 November 1810 in Devon – 4 May 1879 in Simonstown, South Africa) was an English engineer, hydrodynamicist and naval architect. He was the first to formulate reliable laws for the resistance that water offers to ships (suc ...
supervising the section from Whiteball to Exeter. Brunel himself was in charge of the design of White Ball tunnel. The first ,
broad gauge A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways. Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union (CIS ...
, section of the line was completed to Bridgwater on 14 June 1841, and the extension to Taunton in July 1842 – both using trains leased from the Great Western. At
Norton Fitzwarren Norton Fitzwarren is a village, electoral ward, and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated north west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 3,046. History The village is on the southern slope ...
just west of Taunton, the intention was to split the railway three ways: *A branchline via the
West Somerset Railway The West Somerset Railway (WSR) is a heritage railway line in Somerset, England. The freehold of the line and stations is owned by Somerset County Council; the railway is leased to and operated by West Somerset Railway plc (WSR plc); which is ...
to
Minehead Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National P ...
*A junction with the
Devon and Somerset Railway The Devon and Somerset Railway (D&SR) was a cross-country line that connected Barnstaple in Devon, England, to the network of the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) near Taunton. It was opened in stages between 1871 and 1873 and closed in 1966. ...
, a secondary route to
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
*The mainline to Exeter via Wellington


Construction

From
Creech St Michael Creech St Michael is a village and civil parish in Somerset, three miles east of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The parish straddles the M5 motorway and includes several scattered settlements. The village of Creech St Michael ...
westwards, the B&ER had followed the gently flowing valley of the
River Tone The River Tone is a river in the English county of Somerset. The river is about long. Its source is at Beverton Pond near Huish Champflower in the Brendon Hills, and is dammed at Clatworthy Reservoir. The reservoir outfall continues through ...
. But just east of Wellington, the river moved further west up the steep sides of the
Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand wit ...
. Brunel chose to follow a smaller valley eastwards, and pass under the Blackdowns further west, through a place called ''White Ball'', a hill made up of easy to dig white
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
(NB: next to it is ''Red Ball'', a hill of red sandstone). This route would reduce the need for additional tunnelling, and allow connection with and traffic from Wellington. However, the choice also meant the construction of a long inclined bank, with a tunnel at its peak. Wellington station opened when the line reached the town on 1 May 1843, laid out as a standard Brunel railway station. The line then proceeded west at gradients averaging a 1 in 80 incline towards
Sampford Arundel Sampford Arundel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated near Wellington and south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 268. The parish, which lies at the western ...
, a village situated south west of Taunton, where the tunnel entrance was to be dug. Digging of the tunnel commenced in 1842. A temporary terminus was established in the hamlet of
Beam Bridge Beam bridges are the simplest structural forms for bridge spans supported by an abutment or pier at each end. No moments are transferred throughout the support, hence their structural type is known as '' simply supported''. The simplest beam ...
on 1 May 1843, from which passengers were taken by carriage to the far side of the hill, and then taken by another train from
Burlescombe Burlescombe (, ) is a village and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Holcombe Rogus, Culmstock, Uffculme, Halberton and Sampford Peverell. According t ...
, Devon to
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
. From January 1842, 1,000
navvies Navvy, a clipping of navigator ( UK) or navigational engineer ( US), is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally (in North America) to refer to mechanical shovels and eart ...
were encamped at White Ball. With access to a local
Tommy shop Truck wages are wages paid not in conventional money but instead in the form of payment in kind (i.e. commodities, including goods and/or services); credit with retailers; or a money substitute, such as scrip, chits, vouchers or tokens. Truc ...
, they sank 14 vertical shafts during the tunnel's construction. The temporary terminus at Beam Bridge stayed in place for a year, until the tunnel was opened on 1 May 1844.


Operations

The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a considerable financial success and between 1844 and 1874, paying an average annual
dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-in ...
of 4.5 per cent. The city fathers of Exeter refused the railway access to the dock of the
Exeter Canal The Exeter Ship Canal, also known as the Exeter Canal is a canal leading from (and beside) the River Exe to Exeter Quay in the city of Exeter, Devon, England. It was first constructed in the 1560s predating the "canal mania" period and is one o ...
until 35 years after it entered the city in 1844. The railway was fully
amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...
with the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876. Due to the steepness of the bank, special operational procedures were required. *Northbound heavy goods trains would stop south of Whiteball tunnel, often at Tiverton Junction, and pin their brakes as appropriate. *Southbound trains would stop at
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, where a
banking locomotive A bank engine (United Kingdom/Australia) (colloquially a banker), banking engine, helper engine or pusher engine (North America) is a railway locomotive that temporarily assists a train that requires additional power or traction to climb a gradi ...
would be applied to the rear of the train. This would bank the train up the embankment and through the tunnel, before releasing itself before Tiverton, where it would reverse back down the bank. With the full introduction of higher powered diesel locomotives, the banking procedure was ceased in the late 1960s.


100mph speed record

On 9 May 1904, whilst descending Wellington Bank, the
GWR 3700 Class The Great Western Railway 3700 Class, or City Class, locomotives were a series of twenty 4-4-0 steam locomotives, designed for hauling express passenger trains. Construction In September 1902 a member of the Atbara Class, no. 3405 ''Mauriti ...
No. 3440 ''City of Truro'' was timed at 8.8 seconds between two quarter-mile posts, whilst hauling the "''Ocean Mails''" special from
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
to
London Paddington Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a London station group, Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services pro ...
. This timing was recorded from the train by
Charles Rous-Marten Charles Rous-Marten (1842–1908) was a New Zealand journalist and British railway writer and recorder. He was born in England. At the age of 16 his family emigrated to New Zealand, settling in Southland, New Zealand, Southland. In 1864 he was a ...
, who wrote for ''
The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...
'' and other journals. If exact (Rous-Marten's stopwatch read in multiples of 1/5 second), this time would correspond to a speed of , while 9 seconds would correspond to exactly 100 mph. Initially, mindful of the need to preserve their reputation for safety, the railway company allowed only the overall timings for the run to be put into print; neither ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' report of the following day nor Rous-Marten's article in ''
The Railway Magazine ''The Railway Magazine'' is a monthly British railway magazine, aimed at the railway enthusiast market, that has been published in London since July 1897. it was, for three years running, the railway magazine with the largest circulation in t ...
'' of June 1904 mentioned the maximum speed. However the morning after the run two local Plymouth newspapers did report that the train had reached a speed between 99 and 100 miles an hour whilst descending Wellington Bank. This claim was based on the stopwatch timings of a postal worker, William Kennedy, who was also on the train. Rous-Marten first published the maximum speed in 1905, though he did not name the locomotive or railway company: Before his death in 1908 Rous-Marten did name the locomotive as ''City of Truro''. Official confirmation from the Great Western Railway came in 1922 when they published a letter written in June 1905 by Rous-Marten to James Inglis, the general manager, giving further details of the record. This sequence of eight quarter-mile timings is thought to start at milepost 173, the first after the tunnel, with the maximum speed at milepost 171. From 1922 onwards ''City of Truro'' featured prominently in the Great Western Railway's publicity material. Doubts over the record centred on the power of the locomotive and some contradictions in Rous-Marten's passing times. However his milepost timings are consistent with a speed of 100 mph or just over. The latest research examines the evidence and uses computer simulation of the locomotive performance to show that a speed of 100 mph was possible and that the timings do indeed support such a speed. This record was set before any car or aeroplane had attained such a speed. However, in May 1904 ''City of Truro'' was not the fastest vehicle in the world, as had been reached the previous year on an experimental electric railway near
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
.


References

{{Brunel Railway inclines in the United Kingdom Rail transport in Somerset Bristol and Exeter Railway Works of Isambard Kingdom Brunel Wellington, Somerset