The Bury Bar Frame locomotive was an early type of steam locomotive, developed at the works of Edward Bury and Company, later named Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy

Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy

Bury, Curtis and Kennedy was a steam locomotive manufacturer in Liverpool, England.Edward Bury set up his works in 1826, under the name of Edward Bury and Company. He employed James Kennedy, who had gained experience of locomotive production under Robert Stephenson and Mather, Dixon and Company,...

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By the 1830s, the railway locomotive had evolved into three basic types - those developed by Robert Stephenson

Robert Stephenson

Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...

, Timothy Hackworth

Timothy Hackworth

Timothy Hackworth was a steam locomotive engineer who lived in Shildon, County Durham, England and was the first locomotive superintendent of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.- Youth and early work :...

 and Edward Bury

Edward Bury

Edward Bury was an English locomotive manufacturer.Edward Bury was born in Salford, Lancashire, the son of a timber merchant, and was educated at Chester. By 1823 he was a partner in Gregson & Bury's steam sawmill at Toxteth Park, Liverpool, but in 1826 he set himself up as an iron-founder and...

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A major problem was the effect of their weight on the track of the time. Although the engines were much smaller than before, they were increasing in size as more power was needed.

Robert Stephenson had developed the Patentee

Patentee locomotive

This was a revolutionary 2-2-2 steam locomotive type introduced by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1833, as an enlargement of their 2-2-0 Planet type...

 with an extra pair of wheels to distribute the weight. However this brought problems in that the extra length affected road-holding on curves.

Such locomotives used a heavy, rigid frame of timber sandwiched between steel plates. Bury adopted a different approach by keeping to two axles and fabricating a bar frame consisting of two bars approximately 18 inches apart. The top one was of rectangular cross-section, while the lower was round.

Bury engines were also notable for their round topped "haystack" fireboxes and a high boiler pressure for the time of 120 psi. The main problem with them were the breakage of the crank axles associated with the use of inside cylinders.

While criticised for their perceived lack of strength and power they were fast and held the road well. The design was emulated by a number of manufacturers and they lasted on the London & Birmingham Railway until 1855.

In America, where there were immense distances laid with often indifferent track, they were in use until the twentieth century. In addition, their large fireboxes made them particularly suitable for wood burning.

In England, distances were shorter and traffic density was rising, so the trackwork was gradually improving. During the 1840s Stephenson had increased the power in his long boiler locomotive

Long Boiler locomotive

The Long Boiler locomotive was the object of a patent by Robert Stephenson and the name became synonymous with the pattern.-History:It is generally perceived that it arose out of attempts to match the power of broad gauge locomotives within the limitations of the loading gauge of Stephenson railways...

, while in 1847, David Joy

David Joy

David Frederick Joy was a former professional footballer, who played for Huddersfield Town and York City.-References:*99 Years & Counting - Stats & Stories - Huddersfield Town History...

 introduced the Jenny Lind

Jenny Lind locomotive

The Jenny Lind locomotive was the first of a class of ten steam locomotives built in 1847 for the London Brighton and South Coast Railway by E. B. Wilson and Company of Leeds, named after Jenny Lind who was a famous opera singer of the period...

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