Transport during the Industrial Revolution

Transportation of raw materials to the factories, and of the finished products from them was limited by the lack of transport costs where they had to go by road. This was not too severe in the case of light valuable materials textiles such as woollen and linen cloth, but in the case of cheap dense materials such as coal, could be a limiting factor on the viability of an industry. In contrast, freighting goods by water, whether on rivers or coastwise was much cheaper. Canals brought the first major change to transportation, and were usually built directly from the mines to the city centres, such as the famous Bridgewater Canal in Manchester. Tramways were also common using horses for locomotion, but then superseded by steam locomotives such as the Stockton and Darlington railway.

River navigations

Some rivers, such as the River Thames, River Severn, and River Trent were naturally navigable, at least in their lower reaches. The Severn was well used for transporting finished goods from Coalbrookdale to markets both up- and down-stream, and was also the site of The Iron Bridge built in 1779, one of the first reliable crossings of the river in this part of the country. When many stone or wooden bridges were washed away in subsequent floods, the Iron Bridge survived intact, and was imitated at Buildwas by Thomas Telford as well as at Coalport, where the 1818 cast iron bridge still stands and takes vehicular traffic.

Various rivers were improved during the 17th century and early 18th century, improving the transport links of towns such as Manchester, Wigan, Hereford, and Newbury. However these only provided links towards the coast, not across the heart of England. It was the canals which were to provide the vital links in the transport network.

Turnpike Trusts

In England, the roads of each parish were maintained by compulsory labor from the parishioners, six days per year. This proved inadequate in the case of certain heavily used roads, and from the 1700s (and in a few cases slightly earlier), statutory bodies of trustees began to be set up with power to borrow money to repair and improve roads, the loans being repaid from tolls paid by road users. In the 1750s, there was a boom in creating new turnpike trusts, with the result that by the end of the 18th century almost all main roads were turnpike roads. The improved roads made the carriage of goods easier and led to an increase in travel by stage coach. By the mid 19th century, the railways had taken most of the long-distance traffic from the roads and turnpike trusts were gradually wound up from about 1870.

Canals

The Sankey Brook Navigation (or St Helens canal) from the Mersey to the area which became St Helens has a good claim to the title to be called first canal of the Industrial Revolution since, though promoted as a river navigation scheme for the Sankey Brook, an entirely new channel was constructed, converting the brook into an artificial canal along the valley. This was followed by the Bridgewater Canal built from the Duke of Bridgwater's coal mine at Worsley to the towns of Manchester and Runcorn on the River Mersey (on the way to Liverpool). This was built by James Brindley. The success of this scheme prompted the establishment of a much more ambitious one, to link the great rivers of England across its main watersheds, including the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, linking the other to the River Severn. Further canals were later built linking these to the River Thames, providing a relatively complete system of inland navigation. See also Canals of the United Kingdom

Railways

The earliest railways were wagonways linking coal mines to nearby navigable rivers. These had wooden rails on which flanged wheels ran. In the late 1760s, cast iron plates were laid on top of the wooden rails, providing a more durable running surface. In the 1780s, a new system was developed, the plateway where the wagons had ordinary wheels (which could run on roads) and the flange was cast on to the track. This system proved unsatisfactory in the long term, because the cast-iron plates were liable to break, cast iron being weak under extension and brittle, and also because the track was liable to collect stones or other debris.

These railways were all horse-drawn, though in many cases their slope meant that the horse was not required to draw the wagon downhill; instead it was necessary to apply a brake to slow the descent. The wagon was emptied into a river barge (or keel or trow), and the horse drew the empty wagon back to the coal pit. Steam engine haulage was tried by Richard Trevithick on the Merthyr Tramroad from Penydarren to Abercynon in 1804, but proved unsatisfactory, partly because the engine was too heavy for the rails. It was only after the development of stronger rails made of rolled wrought iron in the 1820s that steam engine hauled long-distance railways became feasible. Like the early wagonways, these were (indeed are) edge railways, where the wheels of the engine and wagons (or carriages) are flanged. Thus followed the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and many more.

ee also

* 1804 Richard Trevithick
* George Stephenson
* Robert Stephenson 1825 Stockton and Darlington
* Isambard Kingdom Brunel
* Railway
* Stephenson's Rocket
*"Charlotte Dundas"