On 31 July, 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, an early
experimental railway locomotive, Brunton’s Mechanical Traveller, blew
up. This engine, also known as the Steam Horse, ran on four wheels but
was pushed by mechanical feet. This was both the first recorded boiler
explosion and the first railway accident causing major loss of life, as
16 people were killed. The accident is not included in many texts
because it was on an industrial waggonway or plateway, rather than a
public railway. Most boiler explosions caused severe mechanical damage
but often only the locomotive crew suffered physically; however,
Brunton’s locomotive was surrounded, at the time, by a crowd of curious
sightseers, who formed the majority of the victims.
