trevithick We should start our story at the beginning with the work of Cornishman RichardTrevithick who shortly after building and testing the worlds first steam powered car inCamborne in 1801 built the very first railway locomotive at Coalbrookdale inStaffordshire in 1802. The pioneering ironworks at Coalbrookdale was the ideal placeto build and try out this first rail locomotive as it was probably the first carriageway tobe equipped with iron rails. The gauge was 4 foot two inches.Not much is known of this first experiment other than the fact that this firstlocomotive did not run for long, as there was an accident, which was followed by anenquiry. The whole episode was hushed-up and the locomotive converted into astationary engine. Although records of this locomotive are scarce it is assumed that itwas similar to the later one built for use at Pen-y-Darren (see below).Next Richard turned to passenger transport. He took out a patent for a passengercarrying steam road carriage, also describing other uses for his new high pressureengines. The steam carriage was assembled at Felton's carriage works at LeatherLane, London, many of the engine components having been brought from Cornwallwhere they were made. The engine may have been tested in another machine calledthe Tuckingmill locomotive which was reported to have been stuck on the roadbetween Camborne and Redruth 'because its wheels could not get sufficient grip of the road', but for which unfortunately no drawings are known to have survivedThe first run was from the coach works through Liquorpond Street (now ClerkenwellRoad) into Gray's Inn Road, then past Lords Cricket ground (which at that time wasnear Dorset Square) to Paddington and Islington before returning to Leather Lane.Whilst the experiment was considered successful technically and the vehicle couldhave been developed, it proved unpopular mainly because it terrified horses. It wasfor this reason that the media and public largely ignored its significance. The aim of building the carriage in London was to demonstrate to Londoners the powers of Trevithick's patented high pressure steam engine in a road vehicle. He had alreadydemonstrated the ability of his steam engine to power a locomotive (1801), sotogether with his cousin and partner, Andrew Vivian, they judged the time to be rightto profit from the patent in a road vehicle.During a trip on a subsequent evening, Trevithick and his colleague crashed thecarriage into some house railings and as a result of this and lack of sales the vehiclewas scrapped, the engine being sent to work in a mill making hoops for beer barrels.Ultimately the project to build a steam powered passenger carrying veicle was not asuccess. It was too expensive and it needed two men and a bag of coal to do what ahorse drawn vehicle could do with one man and a bag of hay.In 1804 Richard convinced Samuel Homfray, the owner of the Pen-y-Darrenironworks near Dowlais, South Wales, to let him build another steam locomotive.Homfray gave the go ahead and even had a wager with neighbouring ironmaster,Anthony Hill, for 500 guineas (£525) that Richards locomotive would haul 10 tons of iron over the 9 miles of the Pen-y-Darren tramway to Abercynon. Richards enginedesign, had a single vertical cylinder, 8 foot flywheel and long piston-rod, and wascompleted and ready for its first run on February the 14th.

People came from far and wide to witness the first running of this the second railwayengine. The wagons were loaded with iron, and 70 men also climbed on board and inthis air of great excitement, the engine started on it's journey. Unfortunately, like bothRichards steam car and first locomotive, disaster soon struck. The chimney of thelocomotive struck a low bridge and both were destroyed. Now as part of the wagerSamuel Homfray had given an undertaking that in the event of any mishap orbreakdown, Richard would repair the engine unaided, and in a short time Richard hadcleared the debris, repaired the chimney, and was back on board and underwayreaching a speed of five miles an hour to his destination at Abercynon.Samuel Homfray had won the wager and the world had its first Railway.Unfortunately the weight of the Locomotive, which had no form of suspension,proved too much for the plate-way as it continuously broke the iron rails and so couldnot be put to permanent use, and like the first engine is believed to have beenconverted into a stationary engine.News of Richard's success at Pen-y-Darren reached Christopher Blackett the ownerWylam Colliery (Newcastle), who ordered a locomotive from Richard to run on afive-mile wooden wagon way which had been built by the mine in 1748 to take thecoal from Wylam to the River Tyne. The engine was built at Whinfield's Foundry,Gateshead owned by Trevithick's agent for the North East John Whinfield. It isbelieved that other Trevithick engines may have been built at this foundry andTrevithick himself mentions in January 1805 that he expected to visit Newcastle tosee some of his 'travelling engines'. There is also a report that a William Chapman hadsuch a locomotive, fitted with roughened wheels as stated in the Trevithick andVivian Patent of 1802, stored at his ropeworks in Tyneside. Richard sent John Steelewho had worked with him on the building of the locomotive at Pen-y-Darren tosupervise the construction of the Wylam engine. When completed it weighed five tonsand proved to be too heavy for the wooden wagon way and was left to rust. Richardseems to have become disillusioned with this further set back and ceased to work onlocomotives. However, Davis Giddy of Trendrea in St. Erth. For many years theMember of Parliament for Helston, persuaded him to have another go in 1808. It isbelieved that Davis Giddy arranged for a piece of land known as Bedford NurseryGrounds, now Euston Square to be used to demonstrate the device. This locomotivewas built to try and get the general public interest in this new form of transport. It wasrun on a purpose built circular track pulling an open four-wheeled carriage. This took place between 8th July and 18th September 1808 with tickets costing two shillings(10 pence). On the 3rd of August, Richard won a large bet when he raced it against aracehorse and won. A letter in the London Times dated October 16

1829, says that"public expectation rose to a high pitch : nothing less was talked of, nor thought of."However nothing came of this design and Trevithick was later to accuse Watt and hispartner, Matthew Boulton, of using their influence to persuade Parliament to pass abill banning his experiments with steam locomotives.But in 1813 Blackett, again contacted Richard and asked him to supply anotherlocomotive as he had been working on replacing the wooden track with a 5 foot gaugeiron one. Richard Trevithick told Blackett that he was to busy to build it, however, theScience Museum in London has a plan showing a Trevithick style locomotive similarto the design of his first Wylam Engine

but with a shorter boiler and larger wheels. The gearing is 3:2 instead of 2:1 used onthe built locomotive. As the gauge of this locomotive is 5 feet, it would imply that itwas designed for use at Wylam.Blackett then instructed William Hedley the superintendent of Wylam Colliery, toconstruct one. Was this based on or used parts from the locomotive supplied byTrevithick? This was not a complete success and in Hedley's own words 'It wentbadly, the obvious defect being want of steam'.It was probably this machine that was seen by George Stephenson and after inspectingit declared he could make a better one himself!George Stephenson was born in 1781 in a cottage, which stood beside the woodenwaggonway that carried the coal from the Wylam colliery to the River Tyne. Georgelike Richard Trevithick grew up in the new age of the steam Engine, but whereasRichard's father was the Mine Engineer at the Wheal Treasury mine in Cornwall,George's was a simple Durham coal miner.When Richard showed an aptitude for engineering his father took him to work alongside him and it was not long before he was appointed as engineer at the DingDong mine in Penzance. George on the other hand started his employment on a localfarm, herding cows but in 1795 at the age of fourteen he joined his father at thenearby Dewley Colliery working underground. He knew he could do better forhimself and in 1799 he began to attend evening classes to learn to read and write. Healso showed an aptitude for engineering and earned extra money, in the eveningsrepairing clocks and watches.Meanwhile, Richards father had died in 1797 and Richard Jnr. was so respected thathe was immediately elected as leading engineer in the mining district at the age of twenty six. In the same year he married Jane Harvey the daughter of John Harveyowner and operator of the Hayle Iron foundry.In 1802 the year Richard built the first steam locomotive, George got married to aservant girl called Frances Henderson. He was also promoted to colliery engineman.His interest in learning continued and he would spend every Saturday taking thewinding engine to pieces and then putting it back together again. His son Robert wasborn a year later and in 1805, George took his young son to see Richard Trevithick when the steam locomotive was being put together. The world of steam engineers wasa close one and the young engineman had met and discussed locomotives withTrevithick and the others whilst they were working on the new locomotive that was torun on the waggonway that passed his fathers front door.When the trial failed with the breaking of the wooden rails all went quiet for a while.In 1808, George moved to Killingworth Colliery where four years later he waspromoted to become the colliery's engineer. He was at Killingworth when the secondattempt to build a locomotive for the Wylam waggonway again failed. But George,convinced that locomotives were the future persuaded his boss Nicholas Wood to lethim have a go at building one.A year later in 1814 he had succeeded in building a steam powered loco which