HOME | DD

Description
Here is the story of Fowler's Ghost.

Sir John Fowler was one of the greatest railway engineers of Britain. If you crossed the Fourth Railway Bridge over the Thames River, you would know of his work. But like every great inventor, Fowler also had his failures. One such failure was an engine he designed for the Metropolitan Railway in London. Back in those day, the Metropolitan Railway was run by steam locomotives and when they went into the long tunnels under the streets of London, the smoke and fumes from the smokestack would choke the crew. To avoid problems with smoke and steam overwhelming staff and passengers on the covered sections of the Metropolitan Railway, Fowler proposed what I can consider as the first fireless steam locomotive (better known by the rail enthusiasts as "Fireless Cookers"). The locomotive was a 2-4-0 broad gauge locomotive built by Robert Stephenson & Company. The boiler had a normal firebox connected to a large combustion chamber containing fire bricks which were to act as a heat reservoir. The combustion chamber was linked to the smokebox through a set of very short fire tubes. Exhaust steam was re-condensed instead of escaping and fed back to the boiler. The locomotive was intended to operate conventionally in the open, but in tunnels dampers would be closed and steam would be generated using the stored heat from the fire bricks.

However the engine's trials would be a different story. The first trial on the Great Western Railway in October 1861 was a failure. The condensing system leaked, causing the boiler to run dry and pressure to drop, risking a boiler explosion. A second trial on the Metropolitan Railway in 1862 was also a failure. Fowler was angry, the engine had failed him. He publicly denied its existence and the locomotive was sold to Isaac Watt Boulton in 1865. Boulton ran a locomotive-for-hire business and attempted to convert the engine into a normal standard gauge steam locomotive, but it was cut up for scrap in 1895 and after Fowler's death in 1898, the locomotive was nothing more than a forgotten memory.

On the 50th anniversary of the locomotive's first failed attempt, a locomotive was heading home after a hard nights work when it and it's crew saw a luminous glow in the tunnel. The glow got bigger and bigger until the shape of an unknown engine appeared, rocketing towards the engine. The crew quickly bailed out in order to avoid the collision....which never came. The next night, an alarm went off in the underground system. A runaway locomotive was seen with no crew on the footplate speeding through the tunnels. The workmen quickly lifted the rails in order for the engine to derail and stop. However, the engine never came. This had happened for a few nights more. Many of the crews began to think that the specter was one of Fowler's designs. Finally, one of Fowler's associates, who couldn't keep it a secret any longer, showed some photographs of the engine to the public. After that, the sightings of the ghostly specter engine stopped. It would be rarely seen. Many of the underground engines say that it's the ghost of Fowler's fireless engine, roaming through the underground system, looking to seek revenge on his designer for banishing him.

Description
Here is the story of Fowler's Ghost.

Sir John Fowler was one of the greatest railway engineers of Britain. If you crossed the Fourth Railway Bridge over the Thames River, you would know of his work. But like every great inventor, Fowler also had his failures. One such failure was an engine he designed for the Metropolitan Railway in London. Back in those day, the Metropolitan Railway was run by steam locomotives and when they went into the long tunnels under the streets of London, the smoke and fumes from the smokestack would choke the crew. To avoid problems with smoke and steam overwhelming staff and passengers on the covered sections of the Metropolitan Railway, Fowler proposed what I can consider as the first fireless steam locomotive (better known by the rail enthusiasts as "Fireless Cookers"). The locomotive was a 2-4-0 broad gauge locomotive built by Robert Stephenson & Company. The boiler had a normal firebox connected to a large combustion chamber containing fire bricks which were to act as a heat reservoir. The combustion chamber was linked to the smokebox through a set of very short fire tubes. Exhaust steam was re-condensed instead of escaping and fed back to the boiler. The locomotive was intended to operate conventionally in the open, but in tunnels dampers would be closed and steam would be generated using the stored heat from the fire bricks.

However the engine's trials would be a different story. The first trial on the Great Western Railway in October 1861 was a failure. The condensing system leaked, causing the boiler to run dry and pressure to drop, risking a boiler explosion. A second trial on the Metropolitan Railway in 1862 was also a failure. Fowler was angry, the engine had failed him. He publicly denied its existence and the locomotive was sold to Isaac Watt Boulton in 1865. Boulton ran a locomotive-for-hire business and attempted to convert the engine into a normal standard gauge steam locomotive, but it was cut up for scrap in 1895 and after Fowler's death in 1898, the locomotive was nothing more than a forgotten memory.

On the 50th anniversary of the locomotive's first failed attempt, a locomotive was heading home after a hard nights work when it and it's crew saw a luminous glow in the tunnel. The glow got bigger and bigger until the shape of an unknown engine appeared, rocketing towards the engine. The crew quickly bailed out in order to avoid the collision....which never came. The next night, an alarm went off in the underground system. A runaway locomotive was seen with no crew on the footplate speeding through the tunnels. The workmen quickly lifted the rails in order for the engine to derail and stop. However, the engine never came. This had happened for a few nights more. Many of the crews began to think that the specter was one of Fowler's designs. Finally, one of Fowler's associates, who couldn't keep it a secret any longer, showed some photographs of the engine to the public. After that, the sightings of the ghostly specter engine stopped. It would be rarely seen. Many of the underground engines say that it's the ghost of Fowler's fireless engine, roaming through the underground system, looking to seek revenge on his designer for banishing him.