George Stephenson
George Stephenson, (1781-1848). British engineer. He worked as an engineer in the mines and in 1815 built his first locomotive, the Blucher, which could pull 30 tons of coal at 6.4 km per hour (4 mph). He was appointed to build a locomotive for the Stockton—Darlington railway in 1822. This made its historic first journey on 27 September 1825, being the first loco-motive to carry passengers and goods. In 1826 Stephen-son constructed the 64 km Liverpool—Manchester railway. A competition was held to decide the loco-motives to be used on this line and in 1829 Stephenson won the £500 prize with the Rocket, a machine de-signed by his son Robert (1803-59). This famous loco-motive reached a speed of 57.6 km per hour (36 mph). Robert, who later became a famous civil engineer is also well known for his Britannia railway bridge (1850) over the Menai Strait.
“Every part of the scheme shows that the man has applied himself to a subject of which he has no knowledge and to which he has no science to apply. Report of the Parliamentary Commission considering George Stephenson’s proposed Liverpool—Manchester railway (1825)”
