Joseph Locke Totally Explained

Everything about Joseph Locke totally explained

Joseph Locke (9 August 1805- 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as one of the major pioneers of railway development.

Early life and career

Locke was born in Attercliffe, near Sheffield in Yorkshire, moving to nearby Barnsley when he was five. By the age of 17, Joseph had already served an apprenticeship under William Stobart at Pelaw, on the south bank of the Tyne, and under his own father, William. He was an experienced mining engineer, able to survey, sink shafts, to construct railways, tunnels and stationary engines. Joseph’s father had been a manager at Wallbottle colliery on Tyneside when George Stephenson was a fireman there. In 1823, when Joseph was 17, Stephenson was involved with planning the Stockton and Darlington Railway. He and his son Robert Stephenson visited William Locke and his son at Barnsley and it was arranged that Joseph would go to work for the Stephensons. The Stephensons established a locomotive works near Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, to manufacture locomotives for the new railway. Joseph Locke, despite his youth, soon established a position of authority. He and Robert Stephenson became close friends, but their friendship was interrupted, in 1824, by Robert leaving to work in Peru for three years.

Liverpool and Manchester Railway

George Stephenson carried out the original survey of the line of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but this was found to be flawed, and the line was re-surveyed by a talented young engineer, Charles Vignoles. Joseph Locke was asked by the directors to carry out another survey of the proposed tunnel works and produce a report. The report was highly critical of the work already done, which reflected badly on Stephenson. Stephenson was furious and henceforth relations between the two men were strained, although Locke continued to be employed by Stephenson, probably because the latter recognised his worth. Despite the many criticisms of Stephenson’s work, when the bill for the new line was finally passed, in 1826, Stephenson was appointed as engineer and he appointed Joseph Locke as his assistant to work alongside Vignoles, who was the other assistant. However, a clash of personalities between Stephenson and Vignoles led to the latter resigning, leaving Locke as the sole assistant engineer. Locke took over responsibility for the western half of the line. One of the major obstacles to be overcome was Chat Moss, a large bog that had to be crossed. Although, Stephenson usually gets the credit for this feat, it's believed that it was Locke who suggested the correct method for crossing the bog. By autumn of 1835 Locke had become chief engineer for the whole of the line. This caused a rift between the two men, and strained relations between Locke and Robert Stephenson. Up to this point, Locke had always been under George Stephenson’s shadow. From then on, he'd be his own man, and stand or fall by his own achievements.

Dutton viaduct

Locke’s route avoided as far as possible major civil engineering works. The main one was the Dutton Viaduct across the valley of the River Weaver near Northwich. The viaduct consisted of 20 arches with spans of 20ft. The line was opened on 4 July 1837. An important feature of the new railway was the use of double-headed (dumb-bell) wrought-iron rail supported on timber sleepers at 2ft 6in intervals. It was intended that when the rails became worn they could be turned over to use the other surface, but in practice it was found that the chairs into which the rails were keyed caused wear to the bottom surface so that it became uneven. However this was still an improvement on the fish-bellied, wrought-iron rails still being used by Robert Stephenson on the London and Birmingham Railway.
   Proof of Locke's ability to estimate costs accurately is given by the fact that the construction of the Grand Junction line cost £18,846 per mile as against Locke's estimate of £17,000. This is amazingly accurate compared with the estimated costs for the London and Birmingham Railway (Robert Stephenson) and the Great Western Railway (Brunel).
   In the south, he worked on the London and Southampton Railway, later called the London and South Western Railway, designing, among other structures, Richmond Railway Bridge (1848, since replaced), and Barnes Bridge (1849), both across the River Thames, tunnels at Micheldever, and the 12-arch Quay Street viaduct and the 16-arch Cams Hill viaduct, both in Fareham (1848).
   He was actively involved in planning and building many railways in Europe, including the Le Havre, Rouen, Paris rail link, the Barcelona to Mattaro line and the Dutch Rhenish Railway. He was present in Paris when the Versailles train crash occurred in 1842, and produced a statement concerning the facts for General Charles Pasley of the Railway Inspectorate. He also experienced a catastrophic failure of one of his viaducts built on the new Paris-Le Havre link. . The viaduct was of stone and brick at Barentin near Rouen, and was the longest and highest on the line. It was 108 feet high, and consisted of 27 arches, each 50 feet wide, with a total length of over 1600 feet. A boy hauling ballast for the line up an adjoining hillside early that morning (about 6.00 am) saw one arch (the fifth on the Rouen side) collapse, and the rest followed suit. Fortunately, no one was killed, although several workmen were injured in a mill below the structure. Locke attributed the catastrophic failure to frost action on the new lime cement, and premature off-centre loading of the viaduct with ballast. It was rebuilt at Thomas Brassey’s cost, and survives to the present. Having pioneered many new lines in France, Locke also helped establish the first locomotive works in the country.
   Distinctive features of Locke’s railway works were economy, the use of masonry bridges wherever possible and the absence of tunnels. An illustration of this is that there's no tunnel between Birmingham and Glasgow.
   Locke also served as Member of Parliament for Honiton in Devon from 1847.
   Locke died in 1860, apparently from appendicitis, whilst on a shooting holiday. He is buried in London's Kensal Green Cemetery. Locke Park in Barnsley was dedicated to his memory by his wife Phoebe in 1862. It features a statue of Locke plus a folly, 'Locke Tower'.

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