A Locomotive is an engine that can travel under its own power, not pulled by horses, for example. But we usually think of it as running on tracks, or tramways, as they were first called. In 1804, Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), an English inventor, designed a train to pull coal wagons in a Welsh colliery. Trevithick was convinced that steam engines had a great future and later travelled to Peru and Costa Rica, where he introduced steam engines into the silver mines.
In 1802, Richard Trevithick patented a “high pressure engine” and created the first steam-powered locomotive engine on rails. Trevithick wrote on February 21, 1804, after the trial of his High Pressure Tram-Engine, that he “carry’d ten tons of Iron, five wagons, and 70 Men…above 9 miles…in 4 hours and 5 Mints.” Though a ponderous-sounding journey, it was the first step toward an invention that would utterly change man’s relationship to time and space.
George Stephenson and his son, Robert, built the first practical steam locomotive. Stephenson built his “travelling engine” in 1814, which was used to haul coal at the Killingworth mine. In 1829, the Stephenson built the famous locomotive Rocket, which used a multi-tube boiler, a practice that continued in successive generations of steam engines. The Rocket won the competition at the Rain-hill Trials held to settle the question of whether it was best to move wagons along rails by fixed steam engines using a pulley system or by using locomotive steam engines. The Rocket won the £500 prize with its average speed of 13 miles per hour (without pulling a load, the Rocket attained speeds up to 29 miles per hour), beating out Braithwaite and Erickson’s Novelty and Timothy Hackworth’s Sans Pareil. The Stephenson incorporated elements into their engines that were used in succeeding generations of steam engines.
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