The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 4 (August 24, 1926)

A Locomotive Pioneer

A Locomotive Pioneer

The centenary of the death of Matthew Murray who was the first to give the world a commercially successful locomotive, was honoured on Sunday, 21st February, at Leeds, by the placing of a wreath on his memorial. Matthew Murray was born in 1765, of humble parentage, at Newcastle-on-Tyne or Stockton-on-Tees, and served his time as a blacksmith. His inventive genius was pronounced, and he was awarded a number of patents, the subject matter of which varied considerably, all, however, applying in one form or another to the science of engineering. In 1810, Murray was approached by John Blenkinsop of Middleton Colliery, and asked to build a locomotive to run on the wagon-way to Hunslet. The line was laid with Blenkinsop patent rack rails, in 1811, and the locomotive was built in 1811–12. It embodied an important improvement which has persisted throughout the intervening period of approximately 115 years, namely, the use of two cylinders with cranks at right angles. There are, of course, numerous three and four-cylinder engines with other crank settings in use at the present time, but the bulk of locomotives still have the two-cylinder 90-degree crank arrangement. It would be impossible to measure the world's indebtedness to such men, and it is a sign of greatness in a nation that it remembers their contribution to progress and keeps their memories green.