Brunton's Mechanical Traveler
Brunton's Mechanical Traveler was an early, experimental steam locomotive for the Butterley Company in Derbyshire by William Brunton (1777-1851). Also known as the “steam horse”, the machine ran on four wheels . However, it was driven by mechanically moved "feet".
The machine was best known for its tragic end when it was destroyed on July 31, 1815 by a boiler explosion in Philadelphia , County Durham , England . Depending on the source, 13 or 16 people - mostly spectators - who were standing close to the strange vehicle died in the explosion .
This accident is remarkable in two ways: It is
- the oldest known boiler explosion of a locomotive and
- the first railway accident in which a large number of deaths were to be mourned; until the rail accident at Versailles in 1842, this was the worst rail accident ever.
See also
literature
- Christian H. Hewison: Locomotive Boiler Explosions . David and Charles 1983. ISBN 0-7153-8305-1