'Puffing Billy' Locomotive with Tender and Rails

Made:
1813-1814 in Wylam Colliery
designer:
William Hedley
Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails Puffing Billy piston Side view detail of Puffing Billy Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails

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Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Puffing Billy piston
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Side view detail of Puffing Billy
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Locomotive 'Puffing Billy' with tender, 10 fish-bellied rails, 12 chairs, 6 sleepers, shovel, 3 firing irons. Driving wheel diameter 3 feet 3 inches; cylinders 9 inches x 36 inches; working pressure 50lb; weight approximately 8 tons, exclusive of tender.

Puffing Billy is the world’s oldest surviving steam locomotive.

Dating to 1813-1814, it was built by William Hedley, Jonathan Forster, and Timothy Hackworth, for use at the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Built to replace the horses used on the tramway, Puffing Billy was one of three engines built by Hedley, the resident engineer at the colliery. It remained in service at the colliery until 1862, when it was lent to the Patent Office Museum in South Kensington, which became the Science Museum. The Museum later bought the locomotive.

It has been suggested that the colloquialisms “puffing like Billy-o” and “running like Billy-o” came from the locomotive’s name.

Details

Category:
Locomotives and Rolling Stock
Object Number:
1862-2
Materials:
wood (unidentified), iron, steel (metal) and rope
Measurements:
overall: 4572 mm x 2159 mm x 6782 mm, 8000kg
driving wheel: 991 mm,
type:
steam locomotive
credit:
Captain Blackett

Parts

Track for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive.

Track for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive.

Wooden track or cladding for 'Puffing Billy' locomotive. Numerous sections contained within a long wooden crate.

Measurements:
overall: 270 mm x 2480 mm x 270 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/2
type:
track
Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Iron collar fastened with two nuts-and-bolts. Part for 'Puffing Billy' locomotive.

Measurements:
overall: 125 mm x 140 mm
Object Number:
1862-2/3
type:
collar
Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Short iron bar with holes along its length. Part for 'Puffing Billy' locomotive.

Measurements:
overall: 9 mm x 360 mm x 36 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/4
type:
part
Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Rope harness, part of 'Puffing Billy' locomotive.

Measurements:
overall: 35 mm x 225 mm x 350 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/5
type:
rope harness
Spare Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Spare Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Spare parts for 'Puffing Billy' locomotive, comprising two small chunky washers or nuts, and a curved strip of metal.

Measurements:
overall: 230 mm x 130 mm x 55 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/6
type:
spare parts
Metal Pole Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Metal Pole Part for 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Metal pole, part of 'Puffing Billy' locomotive, long metal, cylindrical pole, hollow in the centre with circular sheet at base with two notches in the sides.

Measurements:
overall: 750 mm 170 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/7
type:
metal pole
Metal Coil and Hoops, Parts of 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Metal Coil and Hoops, Parts of 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Metal coil and four metal hoops attached by blue string, parts from 'Puffing Billy' locomotive.

Measurements:
overall: 240 mm 135 mm,
Object Number:
1862-2/8
type:
coil and hoops
Metal Coil and Hoops, Parts of 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Metal Coil and Hoops, Parts of 'Puffing Billy' Locomotive

Key for front padlock of toolbox for ‘Puffing Billy’ locomotive.

Object Number:
1862-2/9
type:
key - hardware