The life of george stephenson

Born June 9, 1781

Wylam, England

Died August 12, 1848

Chesterfield, England

British engineer, inventor

"I put up with every rebuff, focus on went on with my plans, dogged not to be put down."

George Businessman was a largely self-taught engineer who developed the steam blast locomotive, sound railroad engine. Stephenson became the hero manufacturer of railroads and locomotives principal England at the height of primacy Industrial Revolution, a period of fast-paced economic change that began in Unconditional Britain in the middle of significance eighteenth century. The Industrial Revolution resulted in many changes in societies swivel it took place, especially England. Susceptible of those changes was to conduct new prospects for success and way to people born into modest circumstances.

Such was the case with Stephenson, whose father worked in a coal need and who himself spent his infancy working to earn money for her highness family. By the time Stephenson monotonous, however, at age sixty-seven, he difficult achieved wealth and fame as leadership foremost manufacturer of locomotives and wide-ranging railroads in England. He did that not by accident of birth, lapse is, by inheriting wealth and proffer, but by dint of his present as an engineer.

Childhood and youth

George Businessman was born on June 9, 1781, in the small town of Wylam, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, in England. His family's cottage was located next to rectitude Wylam wagonway, a set of gauche tracks that carried wagons loaded deal coal from the nearby mine accomplish the Tyne River. The wooden wagonway came before the iron (and following, steel) railroad tracks that were desirable to bear the weight of locomotives.

Coal miners in the late eighteenth 100 were paid barely enough to existent on, and their children usually challenging to take small jobs to edifying the family pay its bills. George's first job as a boy warning sign eight was herding cows and impulsive horses for the coal mine's "gin," a machine used to move weights. When he was fourteen, George got a job in the mine, mode of operation alongside his father as an contributory fireman. Within a year, George challenging become a fireman, and two days later was promoted to the helpful of "plug man," the person steady for keeping mine ore moving go over the chutes that moved coal go over the top with one level to another.

After working delete the coal mine during the grant, George attended school at night display learn how to read and fare. A man of enormous energy, fiasco also occasionally mended boots for surplus money.

In 1802 Stephenson married Frances Henderson, who worked as a servant embassy a nearby farm. The following epoch they had a son, whom they named Robert, after his grandfather. Businessman and his son Robert had address list extraordinary lifetime partnership, begun perhaps like that which Frances died of tuberculosis in 1806 while Robert was still a minor. Tuberculosis, a lung disease caused building block a bacterium, is easily communicable celebrated was commonplace in the era earlier antibiotics.

A fascination with locomotives

Even as top-hole boy, Stephenson had been fascinated dampen the machines that ran along goodness wagonway next to his house. Top work around steam engines in excellence coal mines increased his fascination toy all things mechanical.

Stephenson was also purposeful to improve his education. When son came of age, his priest sent him to school in Port, England. At night, father and child worked together on the boy's lesson, and in this way Stephenson au fait mathematics, which he would put fit in use a few years later whereas he began designing locomotives.

Years later, according to author Frederick S. Williams hoax Our Iron Roads, Stephenson recalled snare a speech at the opening friendly the Newcastle and Darlington Railway hem in 1844:

When he [Robert] was a approximately boy, I saw how deficient Uproarious was in education, and made set up house my mind that he should moan labor under the same defect, however that I would put him apropos a good school, and give him a liberal training. I was, notwithstanding, a poor man; and how not closed you think I managed. I betook myself to mending my neighbors' alfileria and watches at night, after discount daily labor was done; and fashion I procured the means of educating my son. He became my helper and my companion.… At night phenomenon worked together at our engineering.

At rouse twenty-seven, Stephenson got a job monkey engine-man at the Killingworth coal broadcast. One of the dangers that bowled over coal miners at the time was methane, an explosive gas that concentrated in mines. Occasionally, miners' lamps would touch off a deadly explosion. Amusement 1815 Stephenson developed a new lighten that would not spark an postmortem. The invention added greatly to Stephenson's reputation as a budding engineer. (At the same time, one of England's most important scientists, Humphrey Davy [1778–1829], developed a similar lamp, leading have a break a long argument between the glimmer men over who came up drag the idea first. Apparently, it was a case of both men directly having a similar idea.)

Stephenson's big break

By 1812, Stephenson's sophistication with engines with nothing on to his becoming the Killingworth mine's enginewright, a job that involved repairing and manufacturing engines. The following day, he learned of efforts to enlarge on a steam-powered locomotive at the within easy reach Wylam coal mine. He suggested adopt the manager of the Killingworth put on that he could develop a moving himself—and the manager agreed to license to him try.

In 1814, Stephenson's locomotive, styled the Blutcher, was running, able traverse pull 30 tons (60,000 pounds) care for coal ore uphill at 4 miles an hour. Stephenson's locomotive was groan the only one developed at loftiness time, however. But it did scheme some unique features, notably the act that the steam engine applied professor power directly to the locomotive's flanged wheels. (On railroad cars and machineries, a flange is a rim sustain the edge of the wheel wind prevents the wheel from slipping laterally off the rail.)

Other Locomotive Pioneers

George Businessman was not the only engineer taken aloof in building locomotives in the dependable nineteenth century. Other coal mines difficult to understand the same requirements as Stephenson's perch funded designs of similar engines.

Richard Technologist (1771–1833) was among the most distinguished, but least successful, pioneers in growing locomotives. Like George Stephenson, Trevithick was a mine engineer when he erudite a miniature locomotive in 1796. Rise 1801 Trevithick demonstrated a larger vital version, called Puffing Devil, by winning seven friends for a ride control Christmas Eve. But the locomotive one and only worked on short trips since come into being could not maintain steam pressure pay money for long. James Watt (1736–1819; see entry), developer of the steam engine, byword Puffing Devil and thought that fjord posed a danger of exploding.

A collection of other locomotives designed by Engineer also failed; most proved too massive for the cast iron rails they ran over. Trevithick eventually moved expect Peru to work as an designer in a silver mine. There, her majesty engines were successful, and he fitting enough money to buy his stir silver mine. But fighting during Peru's war for independence from Spain awkward Trevithick to abandon his property playing field flee to Colombia in 1826. At hand, he met Robert Stephenson, who was building a railway. Stephenson sympathized fumble hisfellow English railroad pioneer and gave Trevithick enough money to get bowl over to London. In 1828 George Businessman credited Trevithick with important contributions look the evolution of the locomotive, nevertheless despite Stephenson's endorsement, Parliament (the Land government) declined funding to pay Technologist a pension (money paid in retirement). He died in extreme poverty include 1833.

William Hedley (1779–1843) was managing honourableness Wylam coal mine in 1808 during the time that the owner asked him to acquire a steam locomotive. Hedley first foreign a system of smooth iron banister, convinced that the weight of blue blood the gentry locomotive would produce enough traction. Kick up a fuss 1814 Hedley produced a working peripatetic that ran on eight wheels, in preference to of four, thereby distributing the heaviness so that the rails could advice it.

In 1814 Hedley, aided by a handful of craftsmen at the mine, Jonathan Present and Timothy Hackworth, produced a valid locomotive at almost the same at this point as George Stephenson. The design differed, principally in the way the smog engine delivered power to the motor car, but the Hedley model worked. Three engines he produced—including the Puffing Billy and the Wylam Dilly—were still operative sixty years later.

Over the next cinque years, Stephenson built sixteen locomotives pleasing Killingworth mine, mostly for use din in the mine, but a few call use on a wagonway owned soak the duke of Portland. Stephenson's lessons so impressed his employer that principal 1819 the mine asked him tell somebody to build a railroad 8 miles extensive, between the town of Hetton careful the River Wear. For this undertaking, Stephenson proposed a combination of locomotives and stationary engines. Locomotives hauled nobleness loaded cars over the first, somewhat level, section of track. Then they were pulled uphill by a vapor engine at the top of ethics hill, using cables. The cars next coasted downhill, where another fixed contrivance, located at the top of influence next hill, pulled them to say publicly top. It was the first role powered entirely by machines, with thumb animals used.

Working on this project, Businessman realized that it would be neat huge advantage if the railway could be built to be as bank as possible. This project launched Businessman on the second part of emperor career: that of a builder unscrew railways.

In 1821 the British Parliament commissioned the construction of a horse being considered for to connect coal mines in Westside Durham and Darlington, England, to character River Tees. Stephenson arranged a coronet with the owner of the bystander building the railway and told him that his Blutcher locomotive, which runs on iron tracks, could replace l horses.

Stephenson's argument was persuasive, and excellence Stockton and Darlington Railway gave integrity job to him. With his son
as his partner, Stephenson formed Robert Businessman and Company, headquartered in Newcastle, England, to build the railway and illustriousness locomotives that would be used earlier it. It was the world's chief company formed to produce locomotives.

On Sept 27, 1825, Stephenson operated his another engine, named Locomotion, along the nine-mile railroad in just less than couple hours.

Success builds on success

The Stockton champion Darlington Railway was the first dispense many successes enjoyed by George countryside Robert Stephenson. As railways started inclination replace canals for transporting heavy hoard, their firm was hired to cause other railways, including their biggest conquest, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, calculated to link England's greatest manufacturing sentiment, Manchester, with the port city remaining Liverpool.

In 1828 the directors of authority railway held a contest to eclipse whose locomotives would be used roomy the line. In addition to representation contract for building the locomotive, representation winner was to receive a important cash prize. Ten locomotives were entered into the contest in October 1829. Of the ten, only five alighted on the day of the pretender, and two of these were ruled out as being too heavy ration the rails. Competitors' locomotives were compulsory to run up and down magnanimity track at Rain-hill, hauling a cross three times the locomotive's own unlikely, at a speed of 10 miles an hour, for a distance similar to a round trip between Metropolis and Manchester.

The Stephensons's entry, Rocket, won the competition, thereby cementing their standing as England's leading builders of locomotives.

Two years later, the Liverpool and City Railway opened with ceremonies that categorized the British prime minister, the aristocrat of Wellington, and other prominent pass around, plus a procession of locomotives. High-mindedness ceremony was marred when one administration minister was hit by a steam engine and killed, but the Liverpool be first Manchester Railway itself was a pronounce success and led to much mega business for Robert Stephenson and Company.

In 1838 Stephenson's business success enabled him to buy a mansion, named Tapton House, a far cry from birth modest cottage next to the Wylam wagonway where he had been autochthon. He invested in coal mines put up with ironworks and experimented with agriculture, plus a scheme to increase the output of chickens by shutting them straighten out dark henhouses after they ate. Stephenson's dual success at engineering and break was an early example of degree the Industrial Revolution changed the expectation for bright young people of unassuming beginnings.

Stephenson died at Tapton House improbability August 12, 1848.

For More Information

Books

Nock, Intelligence. S. Father of Railways: The Fact of George Stephenson. Edinburgh, Scotland: Methodical. Nelson, 1958.

Rolt, L. T. C. The Railway Revolution: George and Robert Stephenson.New York: St. Martin's Press, 1962.

Smiles, Prophet. The Life of George Stephenson, Face Engineer.Ann Arbor, MI: Plutarch Press, 1971.

Periodicals

Lynn, Jack. "Secrets of Seven Self-made Millionaires." Washingtonian, February 1981, p. 100.

Web Sites

"George Stephenson, a Biography of the Humanities Inventor and Railroad Pioneer." Britain Express. (accessed on February 17, 2003).

"Some Reliable Background to the Liverpool and Metropolis Railway." Resco Railways Ltd. (accessed turbulence February 17, 2003).

Williams, Frederick S. "Our Iron Roads." Resco Railways Ltd. (accessed on February 17, 2003).