Museum of Science and Industry

Two 19^th century polar expedition ships, which never came home, were fitted with locomotive engines of the type used on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, a talk at MOSI will show.  

The free lecture by William Battersby and Peter Carney at 6.30pm on 30 March will discuss the little known role of Planet-type locomotives and other 19^th century engineering innovations, in the doomed Franklin expedition to the Arctic of 1845. Sir John Franklin and 128 men never returned from the expedition.

MOSI is based in the buildings of the former Liverpool Road station, which opened in 1830 as part of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, and is now the oldest surviving passenger railway station in the world.

The Planet locomotive was designed by Robert Stephenson in 1830 and operated on the Liverpool & Manchester railway. MOSI has a working replica in its collections.

Battersby and Carney, both experts on the Franklin expedition, will highlight the stories of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, originally the ‘bomb ships’, which were extensively modified by leading engineers and inventors in 1845 for use by the expedition. Ex-railway locomotive engines, thought to be of the Planet type which once operated on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, adapted as engines for the ships’ propellers, were amongst numerous modifications. 

Michael Bailey, chairman of the Newcomen Society said: “This is a little-known and fascinating story which shows how locomotives and other 19^th century engineering innovations helped to support the Franklin expedition. There are no original Planet locomotives which survive so if the ships are ever found it would be fascinating to compare them with our own Planet replica here at the Museum.”

The Canadian Government is currently searching for the ships, which never returned from the expedition.

The talk is part of a series of free lectures organised by the Newcomen Society.  It is held at 6.30pm, 30 March in the Power Hall, MOSI, Liverpool Road, Castlefield, Manchester M3 4FP

For media enquiries please contact: Sarah Roe, MOSI press and publicity officer on Tel: 0161 606 0176, m: 07847 372647

Peter Carney grew up in Birmingham before gaining a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Liverpool University.  He has a lifelong interest in archaeology and his fascination with the 1845 Franklin expedition is at the centre of a wide ranging interest in the history and technology of the Victorian era.  He has sailed on the tall ship Prince William and dived on the Great Barrier Reef.  Peter is currently employed in the Information Technology department of a freight forwarding company he lives in East Sussex close to the sea. 

William Battersby grew up in Cheshire and was educated at Stockport Grammar School.  He read Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London where he graduated with First Class Honours. He works in finance and over the last few years has carried out a great deal of original research into several aspects of the Franklin Expedition. He's married with three children and lives in London. He's a private pilot, flying a Super Dimona motor-glider and a Diamond Star. His theory about the source of the lead observed in members of the Franklin Expedition has been described as a major step forward in Franklin Expedition studies and his biography of James Fitzjames, Franklin's commander on HMS Erebus, will be published in July 2010.

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