Join us for another Café Scientifique after the summer break
A Talk on Brunel’s Revolutionary Atmospheric Railway from Exeter to Newton Abbot
A Presentation by Colin White, courtesy of Tess Walker and the Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum
Colin White recounts the extraordinary story of Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s most ambitious – and short-lived – project: the Atmospheric Railway.
In the 1840s, Brunel set out to transform rail travel on the South Devon Railway with an innovative system powered not by steam, but by air pressure. Stationary pumping engines created a vacuum in a pipe laid between the rails, pulling trains silently and smoothly across the steep gradients and dramatic coastline. It was conceived as a daring alternative to smoke-belching locomotives, offering speed, efficiency, and quiet operation.
Despite its brief life, Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway endures as a striking example of Victorian ambition. In this engaging talk, Colin White traces its dramatic rise and fall – a story of invention, optimism, and the risks of pioneering new technology. The presentation also challenges popular myths, distinguishing fact from fiction in the history of Brunel’s boldest railway venture.
Colin White began his career as a military radio engineer at STC/ITT/Nortel in Paignton. Later, he became an academic, working in the Physics Department of Portsmouth University researching in microwave antenna designs. Before his retirement he redirected his research into physics and computer applications in the sports science arena.
He is the author of ‘Projectile Dynamics in Sport – Principles and Applications’ published by Routledge. Since retirement he has worked as a STEM ambassador on outreach activities; lecturing, demonstrating and entertaining at professional institutes, universities, schools (recently primary schools), science clubs and festivals.
Colin always aims to both inform and entertain; but not necessarily in that order!
Entry £2.50 on the door, including hot drink.