Revolutionary railway engineer Joseph Locke is to be honoured with the unveiling of a specially commissioned plaque to his memory on Lancaster Station on Saturday 18 September 2010.
Sheffield born Joseph Locke was a young contemporary of the legendary George Stephenson – and was arguably the more commercially successful operator, putting Lancaster on the map with his forthright approach to railway building.
Locke’s direct approach challenged the established methods of railway construction, embodied by George Stephenson, for whom Locke had worked as assistant on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway.
Stephenson started his career at a time when locomotives had little power, so he avoided steep inclines, the resulting detours adding miles to a route. Locke however displayed more confidence in the ability of modern locomotives to climb steep gradients.
The litmus test of these competing philosophies was to come with the construction the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway facing a mighty barrier in the forbidding shape of the Lake District mountains.
Stephenson’s 1839 plan proposed a typically circuitous route around the Lake District via Morecambe Bay and West Cumberland. Concerned about cost and construction time, the railway company directors opted for Locke’s no nonsense approach – a line straight over formidable Shap Fell.
Locke argued that a direct approach reduced construction costs, with the railway bringing in revenue from an earlier completion date. Locke delivered the project in three years between 1843 and 1846 – with the line proving an unquestionable success.
Ian Browne, Chair of the ICE NW Historical Engineering Group said Locke was an important engineering figure whose contribution was often overlooked by historians.
“Locke was a strong willed individual who wouldn’t let illustrious reputations stand in the way of progress. His single mindedness in proposing a direct rail route over Shap Fell marked him out as someone with absolute confidence in his ability and judgement,” said Mr Browne.
Lancaster Station – originally known as Lancaster Castle Station – was officially opened on 21 September 1846, with the first public train using the station on 17 December of that year.
It became southern terminus of the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway, although it was second choice route. The original plan – a line following the Lancaster Canal and crossing the River Lune – was shelved on the grounds of cost in favour of a cheaper route to the west of the city.
The station underwent a major upgrade in 1902. Extra lines and platforms built, along with new station buildings designed to reflect the battlements of Lancaster Castle.