From
the Northern Echo (follow link for full article)
THE North-East has had more than its fair share of railway pioneers, but one name which may not be as familiar as others is Daniel Adamson.
In the early days, the railway allowed anyone to put a horsedrawn coach on the tracks and run a passenger service between the towns.
Daniel seized the opportunity and from 1827 ran a coach called Perseverance from the Masons the eight miles into Darlington.
Daniel died in February 1832, probably a victim of a cholera epidemic, and his son, William, 27, took on the pub and Perseverance.
In 1833, the railway banned horsedrawn coaches from its tracks because steampower was taking hold, and so the Adamsons lost their travel business.
Daniel Jnr [another son, 13th out of 15 children] was apprenticed to Timothy Hackworth at the Shildon engine works, built his first locomotive in his teens and went on to become manager of the works.
Can you imagine anyone being allowed to put a horsedrawn carriage on the tracks these days? And having allowed a business to start up on its land then look to ban the very activities it allowed? Re-assuring, at least I think, to note that life carried on to a new normal after the cholera epidemic and that these days cholera is not a problem in the
UK▸ .
There remains to my knoweledge one horse drawn tramway in the British Isles, though that has had its route cut back recently. And there were examples from post-Victorian history at Fintona (to 1957) and Port Carlisle (to 1914). Have I missed any?
