Who invented the railway engine?
James Watt invented the first commercially successful steam engine. However, he did not invent the railway engine. Many people contributed to its invention and development over several years.
Stephenson’s Rocket was the winner of the Rainhill Trials in 1829, a critical competition held to select the best design for a locomotive to haul coal wagons at either end of a railway line between Liverpool and Manchester. Due to this trial, George Stephenson received his contract from Stockton and Darlington Railway Company for their line between Shildon and Stockton-on-Tees (1821), which meant that it could transport goods more efficiently than horse-drawn methods.
Robert Stephenson (George’s son) designed a Rocket that won the Rainhill Trials.
The opening ceremony of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway in 1830. George Stephenson’s locomotive, Locomotion No 1, is on the left, with a crowd of people watching from the railway. The first passenger service started shortly afterward. It was a success, and within a short time, many other lines were being planned and built all over England and further afield in Europe and America. One man working at the Liverpool end of George Stephenson’s line, Timothy Hackworth, went to South America to design an engine for use on railways there – initially horse-drawn but later steam-powered. In 1829 he moved to Brazil, where he worked as an engineer designing railways.
In about 1850, John Scott Russell (Scottish engineer) designed the first railway to use steel rails; at the time, other lines were using iron or wooden rails. He also patented an egg-shaped locomotive boiler (with end closures like an egg cut in half).
John Fowler (English civil engineer) was another prominent figure in this development period. Between 1848 and 1862, he developed a form of construction that allowed much larger diameter tunnels to be built compared with those constructed by Marc Isambard Brunel earlier in the century. This meant that railways could pass through hills rather than go around them.
George Stephenson’s engine Locomotion No one was preserved and can now be seen in the National Railway Museum in York.
Timothy Hackworth’s steam locomotive was built for use in Brazil, c1850.
John Fowler (English civil engineer) outside the air shaft of the Severn Tunnel, 1872.
One man working at the Liverpool end of George Stephenson’s line, Timothy Hackworth, went to South America to design an engine for use on railways there – initially horse-drawn but later steam-powered. In 1829 he moved to Brazil, where he worked as an engineer designing railways. George Stephenson’s engine Locomotion No one was preserved and can now be seen in the National Railway Museum in York.
Fowler outside the air shaft of the Severn Tunnel, 1872. The opening ceremony of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway in 1830. George Stephenson’s locomotive, Locomotion No 1, is on the left, with a crowd of people watching from the railway. The first passenger service started shortly afterward. It was a success, and within a short time, many other lines were being planned and built all over England and further afield in Europe and America.
Scott Russell’s egg-shaped locomotive boiler, which he patented in 1849.
In about 1850, John Scott Russell (Scottish engineer) designed the first railway to use steel rails; at the time, other lines were using iron or wooden rails. He also patented an egg-shaped locomotive boiler (with end closures like an egg cut in half). In 1862 James McConnell introduced superheating which increased the efficiency of steam locomotives by about 50%; however, this technique was not used on British railways until 1890.
Around 1860 George and Robert Stephenson moved to what would be known as the London & Brighton Railway, where George became chief engineer and Robert works manager. They were responsible for building many other lines in Britain and abroad: successfully introducing cross-country routes through difficult terrain which could transport heavy goods at high speed without continuous steep gradients. The first line that they started together was from Watford to Camden Town (1858).