Wellington Bank, Somerset facts for kids
The Wellington Bank is a very steep part of a railway line. It's located on the Bristol to Exeter line in England. This section climbs up from just outside Wellington, Somerset, reaching its highest point at Sampford Arundel. From there, trains enter the Whiteball Tunnel and go under Whiteball Hill.
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Building the Railway
The idea for the Bristol & Exeter Railway was approved by law in 1836. This happened soon after the Great Western Railway was approved in 1835. Business people in Bristol really wanted a railway to Exeter. Exeter was an important trading city with a harbour on the English Channel. Shipping goods from the south coast of England or Europe to Bristol was risky. Ships had to sail around the dangerous coast of Cornwall.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a famous engineer, was put in charge of building the railway. His helper, William Gravatt, surveyed the route in 1835. Brunel himself designed the Whiteball Tunnel.
The first part of the railway opened in 1841. It used a wide track called the 7ft broad gauge. This section reached Bridgwater in 1841 and Taunton in 1842. At Norton Fitzwarren, near Taunton, the plan was for the railway to split into three directions:
- A smaller line to Minehead
- A connection to the Devon and Somerset Railway towards Barnstaple
- The main line to Exeter, passing through Wellington
How Wellington Bank Was Built
The railway had been following the gentle valley of the River Tone. But near Wellington, the river moved away, and the land became steep Blackdown Hills. Brunel decided to follow a smaller valley. He planned to go under the Blackdown Hills further west, through a place called White Ball. This hill was made of soft white sandstone, which was easy to dig. (There's also a Red Ball hill nearby, made of red sandstone!)
This route meant less tunnelling was needed. It also allowed the railway to connect with Wellington. However, it also meant building a long, steep bank with a tunnel at the top.
Wellington station opened on May 1, 1843, when the line reached the town. The railway then continued west, climbing at a steep angle (about 1 in 80) towards Sampford Arundel. This village is about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Taunton. The tunnel entrance was dug there.
Digging the tunnel started in 1842. For a year, a temporary station was set up at Beam Bridge. Passengers would get off there and travel by carriage over the hill. Then, they would catch another train from Burlescombe, Devon, to Exeter.
From January 1842, about 1,000 workers, called navvies, lived near White Ball. They dug 14 vertical shafts to help build the 1,092-yard (999 m) long tunnel. The temporary station at Beam Bridge was used for a year. The Whiteball Tunnel finally opened on May 1, 1844.
How Trains Used the Bank
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was very successful financially. It made good profits for many years. The railway joined completely with the Great Western Railway on January 1, 1876.
Because Wellington Bank was so steep, special rules were needed for trains.
- Heavy freight trains going north would stop before Whiteball Tunnel. They would often stop at Tiverton Junction. Here, they would set their brakes carefully.
- Trains going south would stop at Wellington. A special extra engine, called a banking locomotive, would be attached to the back of the train. This engine would help push the train up the steep bank and through the tunnel. It would then detach itself before Tiverton and go back down the bank.
This special banking procedure stopped in the late 1960s. This was because newer, more powerful diesel engines could climb the bank on their own.
The 100 mph Speed Record
On May 9, 1904, something amazing happened on Wellington Bank. A steam locomotive called No. 3440 City of Truro was speeding down the bank. It was pulling a special mail train from Plymouth to London Paddington. During this run, it was timed at 8.8 seconds between two quarter-mile posts.
This timing was taken by Charles Rous-Marten, who wrote for The Railway Magazine. If this timing was exact, it would mean the train was going 102.3 miles per hour (164.6 km/h)! If it took 9 seconds, it would be exactly 100 mph (161 km/h).
At first, the railway company didn't want to publish the exact top speed. They wanted to protect their reputation for safety. However, local newspapers in Plymouth reported that the train reached between 99 and 100 miles per hour. This was based on timings from a postal worker on the train.
Rous-Marten first published the maximum speed in 1905. He didn't name the train or company at that time. He wrote that he had personally recorded a speed of 102.3 miles per hour for a quarter-mile. He said this was the highest railway speed ever officially recorded.
Before he passed away in 1908, Rous-Marten did name the locomotive as City of Truro. The Great Western Railway officially confirmed the record in 1922. They published a letter from Rous-Marten giving more details.
He described how the speed increased rapidly after leaving Whiteball Tunnel: "...when we topped the Whiteball Summit, we were still doing 63 miles an hour; when we emerged from the Whiteball Tunnel we had reached 80; thenceforward our velocity rapidly and steadily increased... and finally to 8.8 sec., this last being equivalent to a rate of 102.3 miles an hour. The two quickest quarters thus occupied exactly 18 sec. for the half-mile, equal to 100 miles an hour. At this time the travelling was so curiously smooth that, but for the sound, it was difficult to believe we were moving at all..."
This sequence of timings is thought to start just after the tunnel. The highest speed was reached near milepost 171.
From 1922 onwards, City of Truro became very famous in the Great Western Railway's advertising.
Some people doubted the record because of the locomotive's power. However, Rous-Marten's timings are consistent with a speed of 100 mph or slightly more. Recent studies using computer models show that 100 mph was indeed possible for the train.
This record was set before any car or airplane had reached such a speed. However, in May 1904, City of Truro was not the fastest vehicle in the world. An experimental electric railway near Berlin had already reached 130 mph (209 km/h) the year before.
