Picture from OpenClipart-Vectors

Engineers have been working to improve transport ever since the invention of the steam engine. The steam engine was invented by Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729), who built an 'atmosphere engine' in 1712 that was used to pump water out of mines. Many engineers worked on steam engines, trying to make them more efficient.

The first person to use a steam engine to pull wagons was Richard Trevithick (1771-1833), a Cornish inventor. His first inventions ran on roads, but in February 1804 he used a steam locomotive to pull wagon loads of iron on wooden rails from the Pennydaren Ironworks to the Glamorganshire Canal. The ten mile journey took over four hours. The wooden rails were used for wagons pulled by horses, and were not all strong enough to bear the weight of the locomotive so some of them broke.

Trevithick tried to get other people interested in his steam locomotives. He built one called Catch Me Who Can which went as fast as 12 mph, but it had to be dismantled after it derailed.

George Stephenson (1781-1848) was an engineer who lived in the north east of England. He became interested in steam engines when he worked at a coal mine, where engines were used for pumping water from the mine. His employer agreed to pay for Stephenson to work on a new locomotive, and he built his first one in 1814. Stephenson with his brother James and, later, his son Robert, built a series of railway locomotives, patented a designed for cast iron rails, and surveyed routes for several new railways. Mine owners liked the new engines because they were cheaper than using horses to pull their materials.

The first modern passenger railway was between Manchester and Liverpool, and was opened in September 1830. George Stephenson was the chief engineer for the railway, and had to survey the route. Local landowners did not want the railway to run across their land, and protested that sparks from the engines would set thatched roofs and woods on fire. They said that the noise would stop cows giving milk, and that the engines would explode and kill people. Even Stephenson's friends thought he was mad for suggesting that the trains could run as fast as 20 mph.

The rail owners held a competition to see who could design the best locomotive. George and his son Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) designed the Rocket locomotive, which used a multi-tube boiler to produce more steam than earlier engines. It could go at speed of 36 mph, and won the competition. Even the Rocket was soon out of date, with Robert Stephenson and other engineers continually making new engines with better and faster designs.