2-756-232 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'The Atmospheric Railway at Dawlish, 1847', (1945). Railway line running along the sea front in the town of Dawlish on the south coast of Devon. The atmospheric system was devised by British engineers Samuel Clegg Jnr and Joseph Samuda, and installed on the South Devon Railway by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. A series of engine houses, with steam-driven pumps, were situated roughly every three miles along the route. These provided the power for the atmospheric pressure which pushed the train, doing away with the need for a locomotive. The system was costly to maintain, however, and the line soon reverted to using steam locomotive powered trains. From "British Railways", by Arthur Elton. [Collins, London, 1945]