Peter Tate

Peter Tate (1792-1879) was a civil engineer, responsible for notable works on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway.

He became Engineer to the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway in March 1844 after the death of John Blackmore.

1879 Obituary

'DEATH OF MR. PETER TATE.
The death is announced, at an advanced age, of Mr. Peter Tate, one of pioneers of the railway system, and whose services as an engineer in this locality many years ago are not yet forgotten. Mr. Tate was a native of Newcastle, having been born there in 1792. He began active life as a carpenter in the service of the Dunn family, Townely Colliery, but his mechanical engineering capacity soon raised him above the position of a workman. His talent became known to some of the promoters of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, the construction of which was begun about half a century ago, and he was appointed an assistant engineer of the company; and his ability having been proved on many important occasions, and tho authorities of the railway having reason to repose the greatest confidence in him, he was chosen chief engineer — a position which he continued to hold for many years.

'The engineering works which he planned and successfully accomplished in connection with the railway to which he had devoted his services were numerous, and soon gained him a considerable reputation. Without at all hindering the traffic, he widened Corbridge tunnel, and he achieved a triumph of engineering skill in the reconstruction of Haltwhistle bridge, after a portion of one of its abutments had been carried away by a flood. When the wooden bridge Scotswood was burned down the remarkable skill and energy of Mr. Tate quickly provided a substitute. In three weeks, conformity with his plans and under his superintendence, there was erected a temporary girder bridge on which the traffic was safely conducted until the completion of the existing iron structure, the plans of which were prepared by him.

'Mr. Tate's mechanical and inventive genius was directed to extending the facilities for the working of the traffic on railways, and to him are due the invention of the engine turn-table, which was soon adopted throughout the entire railway system of the country, and the designing of the gates which are placed at the level crossings on railways. His connection with the railway, in the construction and improvement of which he had had so useful a part, continued until about seven years ago, when the appreciation of his employers found expression in a handsome present made to him by the directors, and a letter written in their name by Mr. I. L. Bell, M.P.

'His inventive capacity was not confined to the railway system for which he had done done so much, and he claimed to have been the originator of the idea of increasing the power of scullers and the swiftness of their skiffs by the use of the "outrigger."

'The period of Tate's active life was completed some years ago, but his services are still remembered. He was one of the last of the links which connected the present with the period which is associated with the achievements of George Stephenson, of whom he was an intimate acquaintance. Mr. Tate's death took place on Thursday night, the 20th ult., at his residence, Rosemond House, Heaton.'

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