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 It was left to a man named Richard Trevithick to develop high pressure steam engines, and after it the first useful steam engine. His engine was lighter and more compact. By 1803 he built the first one, dubbed the New Castle, and on February 21, 1804 put it to it’s first test. It hauled ten tons of iron ore and seventy men on a tramway for a distance of ten miles. Two other engines were built by Trevithick from 1803 - 1808. The limiting factor for these engines was the iron rails in use at the time. The rails couldn’t support the engines, so he abandoned the project. By 1825 George Stephenson ran the first commercial passenger train. On September 27 of that year his locomotive, the Locomotion, pulled 450 passengers from Darlington to Stockton, England at 15 MPH. This event marked the beginning of the railroad as a true transportation method. In 1829, he built the Rocket, which could travel 36 MPH. Farmers violently opposed the first rail lines with the understandable fear that rail transportation would eliminate the need for horses. The farmers depended on the sale of oats, which the horses ate, for their livelihood. Their fears were unfounded - horses continued to be important for many years after. The Rocket served as a prototype for later engines. It had two drive wheels, which in later engines increased this number to four. As the technology improved, large engines could have as many as fourteen drive wheels. Leading trucks were added to aid in steering over the rails. Trailing trucks were added to some engine designs to aid in staying on the rails at higher speeds. Engine designations used the number of wheels to identify them. A 2-4-2 engine had two wheels on the leading truck, four driving wheels, and two wheels on the trailing truck. Its introduction, along with corresponding improvements in rolling stock, rail, and further steam engine technology fueled a world-wide railroad building explosion, which in turn aided the Industrial Revolution in changing the way the world’s economy functioned. Steam engines had many virtues. Fuel - wood or coal, water, were locally available everywhere, and they were simple in construction. The engines were very durable, operating in bad conditions well, and handling abuse. Tank engines carried all their fuel and water needed on themselves. Larger ‘tender’ engines needed a tender to carry wood/coal and water. Some Twentieth Century engines used oil for fuel. The first North American locomotive was called the Sourbridge Lion. It was run in 1829 at Honesdale, Pennsylvania. It’s impossible to calculate how important the steam locomotive was to world history. The railroad moved manufactured goods, people, minerals, agricultural products, and mail. The locomotive made travel easier and cheaper. It took the first step in making the world smaller. Steam engines were primarily used up until W.W.II. Because of their durability and ability to tolerate abuse, they didn’t die fast. Many ‘steamers’ were still in use yet in the 1950’ and 1960’s in many parts of the world. Steam Car History Back To Transportation History |