Railway Engineers D Stephens. Stephenson George: biography, career, personal life. George Stephenson biography briefly

Biography

Carier start

George Stephenson was born in Wylam. Wylam, Northumberland County), 15 kilometers from Newcastle upon Tyne (eng. Newcastle upon Tyne) in a miner's family.

From the age of 8 he worked for hire. Stephenson's entire childhood was spent along a several-mile-long wooden track road that was built last year from Wilham to the River Tyne. It was used to transport coal from the mine on horse-drawn trolleys and was in fact the ancestor of modern railways. At the age of 18, he learned to read and write and, through persistent self-education, acquired a specialty as a mechanic in steam engines. That year, Stephenson got a job as a coal mine operator. Over the next ten years he studied steam engines. In 2010, he stopped working only on servicing steam engines and began designing them independently. At the age of 31, he was appointed chief mechanic of the coal mines. Here Stephenson developed a mine lamp of an original design, called the “Geordie Lamp”. (It was invented almost simultaneously with the “Davy lamp”, proposed by the English scientist Humphry Davy. It is still not known which of the designs was the first.)

Steam locomotive design

Steam locomotive "Blücher", 1814

Stephenson steam locomotive built for the Hetton Mines in 1822 and operated until 1903.

Locomotive steam locomotive.

To make it easier to transport coal to the surface, he first built a steam engine that pulled the cars using a rope. And in the year Stephenson designed his first locomotive, designed to tow cars with coal for a mining railway. This was the world's first successful experience in building a locomotive that used friction between smooth wheels with flanges and smooth metal rails to create traction. He could drive a train with a total weight of up to 30 tons. The car was named "Blücher"(German) Blucher) in honor of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (German). Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher ), famous for his victory in the battle with Napoleon at Waterloo.

From then on, the construction of steam locomotives became the main business of his life. Over the next five years, Stephenson built 16 more cars.

Stephenson's expertise was recognized and that year he was involved in the design and construction of a 13-kilometer (8-mile) railway line from Hatton Colliery. Hetton) to Sunderland (eng. Sunderland). It used combined traction: in one direction (down) the train moved under the influence of gravity, and back (up) it was pulled back with the help of a steam locomotive. This road was the first on which it was possible to completely abandon the muscular power of animals in favor of mechanical traction.

Stephenson's student Joseph Locke Joseph Locke) became chief engineer of many of England's railways, including Grand Junction Railway - GJR; later - a member of Parliament.

Stephenson's steam locomotive built in 1825 "Locomotion No. 1" has survived to this day. It was used for its intended purpose until 1857 and is now on display at the Darlington Railway Museum.
In the year, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the creation of the steam locomotive "Rocket", a working copy of it was built in England. It differs slightly from the original with a shortened chimney. This is because over the past century and a half the height of the mound at Rainhill has increased. Rainhill) increased noticeably, leaving less clearance under the bridge.
George Stephenson's portrait appeared on the Bank of Great Britain's Series E £5 banknotes. These banknotes were in circulation from June 7 of the year to November 21 of the year.

Literature

Zabarinsky P. Stephenson. (From the series “The Life of Remarkable People”) - M: Magazine and Newspaper Association, 1937. - p. 366.
Virginsky V.S. Stephenson George. 1781–1848 - M: Nauka, 1964. - p. 214.
Abramov Ya. George Stephenson and Robert Fulton, their lives and scientific and practical activities // Gutenberg. Watt. Stephenson. Fulton. Daguerre Niepce. Edison. Morse. Biographical narratives. (From the series “The Life of Remarkable People. Biographical Library of Florenty Pavlenkov”) - Chelyabinsk: Ural, 1996. - p. 438 - ISBN 5-88294-066-4

Notes

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See what "George Stephenson" is in other dictionaries:

George Stephenson George Stephenson ... Wikipedia

Stephenson, Stephenson (Stephenson) George (9.6.1781, Wileham, Northumberland - 12.8.1848, Tapton House, Chesterfield), English designer and inventor who laid the foundation for the development of steam railways. d. transport. Born into a miner's family, from the age of 8... ...

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson D ... Wikipedia

Stephenson (Stephenson) George (9.6.1781, Wilham, Northumberland, 12.8.1848, Tapton House, Chesterfield), English designer and inventor who laid the foundation for the development of steam railways. d. transport. Born into a miner's family, from the age of 8 he worked... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Surname. Famous bearers: Stephenson, George (1781 1848) famous English engineer and designer who made a major contribution to the development of steam locomotive engineering. Stephenson, Robert (1803 1859) English civil engineer, son of George Stephenson. See also... ... Wikipedia

STEPHENSON (Stephenson) George (1781 1848) inventor who laid the foundation for steam railway transport. From 1814 he built steam locomotives, created the first practically usable models, including the Rocket (1829). Built the first iron... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Stephenson, George- STEPHENSON (Stephenson) George (1781 1848), English inventor who laid the foundation for steam railway transport. Since 1814 he built steam locomotives, created the first practically usable models: Movement (1825) for the railway... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

The railroad, which self-taught inventor George Stephenson spent his entire life creating, eventually made holes in the border walls dividing states, and capital, technology, means of production, and labor poured through them.

Scientist Coal Miner

He was born on June 9, 1781 in the northeast of England in the family of a coal miner. He worked from the age of 8 - first as a shepherd on a farm, and then as a laborer in a mine, helping his father and older brother feed their ever-growing family. As was customary among miners, he did not go to school for a day, since coal miners have no need for learning.

However, he had other plans for his future. At the age of 18, he taught himself to read and write. Having received the position of fireman of a steam engine, take arithmetic lessons from one of the mine mechanics. And at the age of 21, having mastered the operating principle of a machine that pumped water out of a mine, pumped air underground and dragged buckets of coal to the surface, he himself became a mechanic. That is, a highly qualified specialist who had more privileges and received a large salary. There was also more free time now, and George Stephenson devoted all this time to technical self-education. He wanted to create steam engines himself for a wide variety of industrial needs.

In 1812, Stephenson took a job at Killingworth Colliery as chief engineer with a very respectable salary of £100 a year. By this time, he had already become proficient in both mathematics and kinematics, had an excellent understanding of the principle of operation of a heat engine, and, naturally, knew how to read and make drawings. His first significant invention was an explosion-proof miner's lamp, called the "Geordie lamp". Moreover, he created it without knowing chemistry at all, relying only on intuition and very dangerous experiments. Stevenson, at his own peril and risk, went down to the bottom of the mine, filled the vessels with explosive gas coming out of the cracks, and then set up micro-explosions in the laboratory, trying to cut off the flash inside the lamp from the atmosphere outside it.

iron Horse

But his main task was, of course, the creation of a locomotive engine based on Watt's steam engine. Contrary to popular belief, Stephenson did not invent the steam locomotive. And he was not the first to make a working model of a steam locomotive. Such models, which had more theoretical than practical meaning, appeared in the Old World at the beginning of the 18th century.

A qualitative leap occurred after Watt created an effective steam engine, developed not intuitively, but based on the theory of heat engines. The greatest success in “pre-Stephens” steam locomotive building was achieved by the Scot Richard Trevithick. He not only built a wonderful steam locomotive that reached speeds of up to 7 km/h, but was also the first to use metal rails. However, his brainchild did not receive practical application. Trevithick built a circular road in London with a radius of 50 meters and drove the car in a circle, attracting onlookers. Soon the cast iron rails collapsed, and that was the end of it all.

Trevithick found many followers in England in the early years of the 19th century. But all their cars remained unclaimed.

Stephenson built his first steam locomotive, called Blücher, in 1814. This machine was by no means superior in operational characteristics to the Trevithick locomotive. The speed was low. The locomotive rattled terribly because it used gears rather than connecting rods as a transmission. However, the draft force was quite decent - 30 tons. And this is the main thing, since it made it possible to use the car at the mine to transport trolleys with coal.

Over the course of five years, Stephenson, constantly improving the design and operational parameters of the “iron horses,” built 16 steam locomotives. The latest samples were so successful that they were used in coal mines until the beginning of the twentieth century, transporting 100-ton trains with coal. At the same time, Stephenson worked to improve the track lines, achieving their reliability, trouble-free operation and increasing their service life. It was Stephenson who introduced the system of embankments still in use today, on which rails and sleepers were laid.

Locomotive number one

In 1820, the owners of the Hetton mines commissioned Stephenson to implement a grandiose project for those times: to build a railway between the mines and the pier on the River Wear, 13 km long. Moreover, the road had to pass through terrain with complex hilly terrain and cross not only small rivers, but also wetlands.

“Construction of the Century” under the direction of Stephenson lasted 3 years. When the road was put into operation, skeptics in industrial circles in England (and they were the majority) quickly became convinced of the economic efficiency of the new type of transport. And Stephenson was ordered to build the Stockton-Darlington road, 40 km long. Initially, this road was intended to transport coal, but the inventor was able to convince the customer to introduce passenger transportation on the line.

The work was completed in 1825. And on September 27, a historical event took place - the opening of the world's first public railway. The first voyage was made by the designer himself, driving the steam locomotive Locomotion No. 1, specially designed for this route. The average speed was 15 km/h, and in some sections the train accelerated to 39 km/h.

By that time, George Stephenson was already an entrepreneur - in 1823, together with his grown-up son Robert, also a talented designer, he opened the world's first locomotive-building plant in Newcastle. It was there that Locomotion No. 1 was launched into series. The roles of father and son in this enterprise were distributed as follows: the father was the general designer and president of the company, and the son was the manager, CEO. 20-year-old Robert showed his best side, recruiting qualified workers, looking for the necessary equipment, setting up production based on modern technologies, and establishing connections with suppliers of raw materials. He was involved in both financial and legal issues.

The work was completed in 1825. And on September 27, a historical event took place - the opening of the world's first public railway. The first voyage was made by the designer himself, driving the locomotive Locomotion No. 1, specially designed for this route.

The enterprise brought in solid profits, the lion's share of which, obsessed with the idea of intertwining the entire country with a network of high-speed railways, Stephenson directed to the development of new models of steam locomotives and research in the field of track management and traffic safety.

Rocket launch

Stephenson's company always chose revolutionary projects. This was precisely the case with the construction of a 56 km railway line between Manchester and Liverpool. This is the first road on which trains ran strictly on schedule.

Stephenson, who led a powerful group of surveyors and designers, did a tremendous job. Construction, which lasted 5 years, required a huge investment for those times in the amount of 400 thousand pounds, for which a joint-stock company was founded. The economic effect of the introduction of the new road in 1830 was amazing. In the first three months it carried 71,950 passengers, 2,630 tons of coal, 1,432 tons of other cargo and generated a net income of 14,432 pounds.

Stephenson solved the problem comprehensively, paying equal attention to the design of steam locomotives, rolling stock and engineering structures serving the line, and the development of a signaling system, and the creation of operational and repair services. On a relatively small, by modern standards, route, 64 bridges and viaducts were built, and a 2.5 km long tunnel was drilled. The Olive Mount excavation in the rock, 25 meters deep and almost 3 km long, is also impressive. During its laying, 360 thousand cubic meters of stone were removed.

He solved the problem comprehensively, paying equal attention to the design of steam locomotives, rolling stock and engineering structures serving the line, and the development of a signaling system, and the creation of operational and repair services.

By that time, Stephenson already had competitors in England who had mastered the production of steam locomotives. And since the project was given national status, a competition was organized among manufacturers. And in October 1829, the “steam locomotive races” that went down in world history took place.

Four models were accepted for testing: Stephenson's Rocket, Jon Ericsson's New, Timothy Burstall's Perseverance, and Timothy Hackworth's Incomparable. The commission formulated a number of criteria by which competing steam locomotives were compared, and determined the lower limits of the parameters that had to be exceeded.

The tests continued for a whole week - to the wild delight of the public. The locomotives ran back and forth along a mile and a half section of road. “Rocket” showed not only a record speed of 50 km/h, but also maximum draft force. Stephenson's steam locomotive also surpassed its competitors in such an important parameter as reliability: mechanics continuously repaired various mechanisms of the “Novelty”, “Perseverance” and “Incomparable”, while the “Rocket” was always ready to take off.

High tech

Stephenson was considered the undisputed authority in the field of railway transport not only in England, but throughout the world. He was entrusted with the construction of railways in Belgium and Spain, where he was received by kings, and parliamentarians organized sumptuous dinners in honor of the coal miner's son. The design office created by Stephenson in London was the world's largest scientific and technical center for railway construction. Stephenson owned several mines and shares in a number of large enterprises.

Along with entrepreneurship, Stephenson was also actively involved in engineering. In 1838 he was elected Vice-President of the Mechanics Section by the British Science Association. And in 1847 he became the first president of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers IMechE. Stephenson willingly attended meetings of scientific and engineering societies of British universities.

On July 26, 1848, he made his last report at a meeting of the Birmingham Mechanical Institute. And two weeks later he was gone.

George Stephenson created an entire industry - the railroad. Without this industry there would be no industrial revolution, there would be no modern information world. Grateful descendants erected many monuments to him. His bust stands in the hall of fame of Westminster Abbey - next to the bust of Shakespeare.

Plan:

1 Biography
- 1.1 Career start
  - 1.1.1 Steam locomotive design
- 1.2 Career blossoming
- 1.3 Decline of career
2 Stephenson's students
3 Interesting Facts

Introduction

George Stephenson(English) George Stephenson; 9 June 1781, Wylam, Northumberland - 12 August 1848, Chesterfield, Derbyshire) - English inventor and mechanical engineer.

He gained worldwide fame thanks to the steam locomotive he invented. Considered one of the “fathers” of railways. The track gauge he chose, 1435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches, the so-called “Stephenson” or “normal gauge”), became the most common in Western Europe and is still the standard on the railways of many countries around the world.

1. Biography

1.1. Carier start

George Stephenson was born in Wylam. Wylam, Northumberland County), 15 kilometers from Newcastle upon Tyne in a miner's family.

From the age of 8 he worked for hire. Stephenson spent his entire childhood along a several-mile-long wooden track road built in 1748 from Wylem to the River Tyne. It was used to transport coal from the mine on horse-drawn trolleys and was in fact the ancestor of modern railways. At the age of 18, he learned to read and write and, through persistent self-education, acquired a specialty as a mechanic in steam engines. In 1802, Stephenson took a job as a coal mine operator. In 1803, his wife Fanny gave birth to a son, who was named Robert. Over the next ten years, George studied steam engines. In 1812, he stopped only servicing steam engines and began designing them independently. At the age of 31, he was appointed chief mechanic of the coal mines. Here Stephenson in 1815 developed a miner's lamp of an original design, called the "Geordie Lamp". (It was invented almost simultaneously with the “Davy Lamp”, proposed by the English scientist Humphry Davy. It is still not known which of the designs was the first..)

1.1.1. Steam locomotive design

Steam locomotive "Blücher", 1814

Stephenson steam locomotive built for the Hetton Mines in 1822 and operated until 1903.

To make it easier to transport coal to the surface, he first built a steam engine that pulled the cars using a rope. And in 1814, Stephenson designed his first locomotive, designed to tow coal cars for a mining railway. This was the world's first successful attempt at building a locomotive that used friction between smooth flanged wheels and smooth metal rails to create traction. He could drive a train with a total weight of up to 30 tons. The car was named "Blücher"(German) Blucher) in honor of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (German). Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher ), famous for his victory in the battle with Napoleon at Waterloo.

From then on, the construction of steam locomotives became the main business of his life. Over the next five years, Stephenson built 16 more cars.

Stephenson's experiments were recognized and in 1820 he was involved in the design and construction of a 13-kilometre (8 mi) railway line from Hatton Colliery. Hetton) to Sunderland (eng. Sunderland). It used combined traction: in one direction (down) the train moved under the influence of gravity, and back (up) it was pulled back with the help of a steam locomotive. This road was the first on which it was possible to completely abandon the muscular power of animals in favor of mechanical traction.

In 1821, planning began on the Stockton-Darlington railway. Stockton and Darlington Railway - S&DR). The original project called for the use of horse traction to move coal carts along metal rails. After consulting with Stephenson, company director Edward Peace Edward Pease) agreed to change plans and switch to steam traction. In 1822 Stephenson began work. In 1823, he founded the world's first steam locomotive plant in Newcastle, where already in September 1825 a new locomotive was ready, called "Active"(English) Active), and later renamed to "Locomotion No. 1"(English) Locomotion No. 1). The opening of the line took place on September 27, 1825. Locomotive, managed by Stephenson himself, carried a train loaded with 80 tons of coal and flour. The train covered 15 kilometers (9 miles) in about two hours, showing an average speed of about 7.5 km/h, but in some sections it accelerated to 39 km/h (24 mph). In addition to the cargo, the train included an open passenger car, the Experiment. Experiment), in which members of the acceptance committee were traveling. This was the first case in world practice of using a steam-powered railway to transport passengers.

1.2. Career blossoming

"Rocket". Drawing from the 1830s.

Original steam locomotive "Rocket" in the Science Museum, London.

Train on the Liverpool-Manchester line

Passenger carriage on the Liverpool-Manchester line

Section of road through Chat Moss swamp

Already during the construction of the Stockton-Darlington railway, Stephenson became convinced that the slightest rises significantly reduce the speed of the locomotive, and on slopes primitive brakes become ineffective. Based on these observations, Stephenson came to the conclusion that large uneven terrain should be avoided on new railways in the future. When designing the Bolton Ley line Bolton and Leigh Railway) and Liverpool-Manchester (eng. Liverpool and Manchester Railway - L&MR ) Stephenson solved complex problems of railway technology: he laid several complex excavations, embankments, bridges and viaducts designed to smooth out the longitudinal profile of the track, and used iron rails on stone supports to increase the speed of the locomotive. Project L&MR caused serious discontent among landowners whose interests it affected, and was rejected during parliamentary hearings. At the next session, the significantly revised draft was accepted for execution. The difficulty was that the change in route led to the need to lay a line through the Chet Moss peat bogs. Chat Moss).

In 1829, when construction L&MR was already nearing completion, it was decided to conduct comparative tests of several locomotives from different suppliers in order to select the best one. Stephenson entered his steam locomotive into the competition " Rocket"(English) Rocket). His opponents were:

"Cycleped"(English) Cycloped) Thomas Shaw Brandreth Thomas Shaw Brandreth)
"Novelty"(English) Novelty - New) Jon Ericsson John Ericsson) and John Braithwaite (eng. John Braithwaite)
"Perseverance"(English) Perseverance - Perseverance) Timothy Burstall (eng. Timothy Burstall)
"San Parey"(English) Sans Pareil - Incomparable) Timothy Hackworth (eng. Timothy Hackworth)

On October 6, 1829, in front of a large crowd of people, a race took place that went down in history as the Rainhill Trials. Rainhill Trials).

Stephenson's locomotive was the only one to successfully complete all tests. It achieved an average speed of 12 mph (~19 km/h) with a load of 13 tons. At the same time, the maximum speed reached 30 miles per hour (~48 km/h). Stephenson's brilliant victory "Rockets" made it perhaps the most famous mechanism in the history of technology.

The opening ceremony of the Liverpool-Manchester railway, which took place on September 15, 1830, became a very important event on a national scale. It was attended by many members of the government, including the Prime Minister, the Duke of Wellington. The celebration was overshadowed by the tragic death of Liverpool MP William Huskisson. Wanting to talk to Wellington, who was standing on the other side of the track, Huskisson tried to cross the tracks, not paying attention to the approaching train, and was hit by Stephenson's "Rocket" and died on the way to the hospital, becoming the first person in the world to be run over by a steam locomotive. However, the new railway was generally received positively by the public.

1.3. Decline of a career

In 1836, Stephenson established a design office in London, which became a scientific and technical center for railway construction. Being a conservative person, he was inclined to offer time-tested and therefore more reliable options. But often the routes or construction projects he chose turned out to be more expensive than his opponents proposed. So, when designing a railway line West Coast Main Line Joseph Locke Joseph Locke) proposed to build in a straight line between Lancaster and Carlisle. At the same time, the highest point of the line was at an altitude of 914 feet (~279 m) above sea level. The option proposed by Stephenson involved laying a significantly longer line through Ulverston. Ulverston) and Whitehaven (eng. Whitehaven). After comparing both options, Lok's project was chosen.

In 1847, Stephenson became the first president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Institution of Mechanical Engineers - IMechE ). By this time, he had practically retired, supervising only the construction of railway tunnels North Midland Railway and mining in Derbyshire. Having discovered undeveloped coal seams, Stephenson invested most of his funds in their development.

Steam locomotives began to be built according to Stephenson's designs in other countries. He belonged to those lucky inventors who had the opportunity to see their ideas realized during their lifetime.

Stephenson died on 12 August 1848 at Tapton House. Tapton House) in Chesterfield (Derbyshire).

2. Stephenson's students

George Stephenson

George Stephenson's son Robert (1803-1859) took an active part in his father's projects, starting with the creation "Locomotion No. 1". Subsequently he became a prominent locomotive engineer.

Stephenson's student Joseph Locke Joseph Locke) became chief engineer of many of England's railways, including Grand Junction Railway - GJR; later - a member of Parliament.

3. Interesting facts

Stephenson's steam locomotive built in 1825 "Locomotion No. 1" has survived to this day. It was used for its intended purpose until 1857 and is now on display at the Darlington Railway Museum.
In 1979, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the creation of the steam locomotive "Rocket", a working copy of it was built in England. It differs slightly from the original with a shortened chimney. This is because over the past century and a half the height of the mound at Rainhill has increased. Rainhill) increased noticeably, leaving less clearance under the bridge.
George Stephenson's portrait appeared on the Bank of Great Britain's Series E £5 banknotes. These banknotes were in circulation from June 7, 1990 to November 21, 2003.

Stephenson and Russia:

There is a claim that Nicholas I visited England in his youth, where in 1816 he met Stephenson, tried himself as a fireman and took a ride on a steam locomotive.
On September 15, 1830, the specially sent French mathematician, physicist and engineer G. Lame attended the opening ceremony of the Liverpool-Manchester railway line. During a business trip, he met Stephenson. Returning to Russia, I read a series of two lectures on the topic as part of public readings organized by M. S. Volkov at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers "Building Railways in England" .

How you can get into a firefight while building a railroad, which “Rocket” turned out to be the best in the 19th century, and what else George Stephenson invented besides the steam locomotive, the site explains in the “History of Science” section.

“In our age, when there are so many helpless people who, despite their education, can support their existence solely with the help of a “place” and a “salary,” the biography of a man who owes exclusively to his own hard work is especially instructive. George Stephenson is mentioned in the old edition of ZhZL, published in 1893, 45 years after the engineer’s death.

In biographies of our hero it is often written that he is a good example of how much can be achieved despite conditions and circumstances. This is generally true, although all his inventions were related to what he had been dealing with since birth.

The house where Stephenson grew up

E. Hodgson/Wikimedia Commons

The fact is that Stephenson was born into a miner's family who lived in a small village near Newcastle - the center of British industry. His factories needed coal, and our hero’s family, his village, like dozens of others like him, lived by working in the mines. Moreover, the father of the future inventor worked not only with his hands, but also with his head: he serviced the pump pumping water out of the mine.

The family lived poorly, and at the age of eight George had to start working part-time, looking after cattle. Of course, in such conditions, school was out of the question, but this did not particularly upset the boy: simple duties left him enough time to explore the world around him, make mill wheels, carts and small models of cars that were used in the mines. Neighbors were going to see his toy mechanisms, made from scrap materials and still working.

A few years later, Stephenson realized that the work in the fields to which he was transferred when he grew up a little was not for him, and he tried to get into the mines. Our hero succeeded, he worked as a coal sorter, a horse driver, a fireman's assistant... With every change of place, he came closer to his dream - to work with machines. By the time it came true, George was only 15 years old, but he already understood the structure of machines no worse than his father. He knew that they were imperfect, but he could not understand the drawings in order to show the engineer what could be improved, and this pushed the future inventor to engage in self-education. He also found a teacher who helped him master literacy and arithmetic.

Stephenson gained experience, received promotions that gave him more money and some free time, got married, but did not give up his studies. Like many engineers, especially self-taught ones, he thought about the problem of a perpetual motion machine, even assembled one, which, of course, did not work. But the wall clock worked, which Stephenson managed to repair, which earned him fame among his neighbors. Life was getting better, the Stephensons lived relatively well, and they had a son. But in 1806, the inventor’s wife died, and he was left to take care of his son (he, it must be said, did not disappoint his father and followed in his footsteps, becoming a famous engineer).

Stephenson's first significant invention was the mine safety lamp, which could replace the lamps and candles that sometimes caused explosions in mines that killed miners. The principle of operation of this lamp, in which the flame was closed from the environment (gases accumulating in coal mines) with a wire mesh, was proposed almost simultaneously with Stephenson by the famous English chemist. Thanks to the fame of the latter, the invention was called the “Davy lamp” (although its primacy is disputed; the German chemist Theodor Grotthus shared his ideas for a safe lamp with Davy).

Humphry Davy (left) and Stephenson (right) miner's lamps

Samuel Smiles/Wikimedia Commons

In the strict sense of the word, Stephenson was neither the inventor of the railway nor the creator of the first steam locomotive. Since childhood, George had seen wooden tracks along which horses pulled carts of coal. Many ports had wooden or iron tracks, and attempts to replace horses with a steam engine were made even before our hero took up this problem. The engineers, however, were faced with a host of problems, including the belief that the adhesion between smooth rails and smooth wheels would not be enough to carry any significant load, and both surfaces would need to be made of gear. This opinion was also shared by the owner of the mines where Stephenson spent his childhood. Already a well-known practical engineer, he returned to his native place to look at the car and immediately advised making the wheels and rails even. The owner of the mines listened to him and things went better.

So our hero took up what most glorified him - the production and improvement of steam locomotives. He proposed straightening the railway tracks as much as possible, making excavations and embankments, and placing wooden sleepers under the rails, which reduced shocks and vibrations that harmed the mechanisms. Although his first steam locomotive was assembled in 1815, only seven years later the owners of the mines also became interested in the invention. Work on the railway line, the success of which many did not believe, ended in Stephenson’s triumph: his locomotives moved, and even relatively quickly, carrying coal and members of the commission accepting the work in trailers.

This was followed by collaboration with Edward Peace, who was going to build a railway line and invited Stephenson as chief engineer. Despite the opposition of the authorities and local landowners who did not trust the “damned machine”, they carried out their project (this line, Stockton - Darlington, was the first to carry passengers), and then together they founded a factory for the production of steam locomotives, which made it possible to produce them in greater quantity and better quality.

Opening of the Stockton–Darlington railway line, 1825

The next project, the Manchester-Liverpool road, could have cost Stephenson his life. And we are not talking about an accident, but about the opposition of land owners. Fearing a decline in the price of their lands, they did their best to obstruct the construction of the road and threatened the engineers. There were also shootouts. Colleagues also caused problems for the inventor: either they did not trust him, or they were jealous, they tried in every possible way to interfere with the matter. While defending his case, Stephenson also acted as a speaker, proving to members of parliament that his plans were feasible.

Shortly before the opening of the line, in October 1829, the time had come to decide the previously postponed question of the method of transportation: should it be horses or steam locomotives. Stephenson, insisting on the latter, proposed announcing a competition for the best locomotive design, which was supposed to attract other inventors. It was necessary to determine the winner in practice. This is how what is now known as the Reinhil competition took place. High demands were placed on steam locomotives, which were not met by any of the previously assembled locomotives. As a result, five models were prepared for testing, and among them was the steam locomotive “Rocket” by Stephenson. It turned out to be the only locomotive that passed all the tasks of the competition without breakdowns. After this test there was no longer any doubt that steam locomotives would run between Manchester and Liverpool.

Stephenson's famous "Rocket", Science Museum, London

William M. Connolly/Wikimedia Commons

After this, Stephenson began to be invited to other countries, to Belgium and Spain, to design railway lines. There the miner's son was met by the kings, he gave instructions to the engineers. Returning to England, the elderly inventor left his business and retired.

“He had a rare lot not only to see the work accomplished, to the service of which he gave his life, but also to receive during his lifetime the appreciation he deserved. England was proud of Stephenson, where not so long ago they looked at him as a madman; his name was spoken with respect wherever the railways penetrated, spreading unusually quickly throughout the globe.”

Called "Stephens" or "normal gauge", Stephenson's chosen track gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches (1435 mm) remains the standard on railroads throughout much of the world to this day, and the most common in Western Europe.

George Stephenson was born on June 9, 1781, in Wylam, Northumberland, 15 km from Newcastle upon Tyne. He was the second child of Robert and Mabel Stephenson; both parents could neither read nor write. The firefighter father earned too little for George to pay for school.

By the age of 17, Stephenson had become a machinist and realized the importance of being educated and enrolled in night school. Only when he reached adulthood did he learn to read, write and arithmetic. In 1801, George began servicing lifting equipment in a coal mine. A year later he married Frances Henderson and moved east of Newcastle, where he and his wife lived in a single-occupancy cottage. In search of additional income, Stephenson repaired watches and made shoes.

His son Robert was born in 1803, and in 1804 the family moved to the area near Killingworth, where the head of the family again took up work as a mine hoist operator. Soon the couple suffered a bitter loss: their daughter Fanny, born in 1805, lived only a few weeks. Frances herself died in 1806, presumably from consumption.

In search of a new job, George went to Scotland. He left his son in the care of a local woman for several months. Stephenson quickly returned home, probably because his father had become blind in a mining accident. George settled back into a cottage near Newcastle, where his unmarried sister Eleanor moved in to help raise his child.

Having seriously taken up the study of steam engines, George in 1811 managed to successfully repair one of them at his workplace - and began to gradually move up the career ladder. By the age of 31, he became the chief mechanic of coal spears. In 1815, Stephenson introduced a miner's lamp of an original design, the Georgie Lamp.

Stephenson designed his first locomotive - for towing coal cars along a mining rail road - in 1814. Its rail carriage, named "Blücher" in honor of the Prussian general Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, could drive a train weighing up to 30 tons. Having devoted his entire life to the construction of steam locomotives, George introduced 16 new machines over the next five years.

The mechanical engineer married for the second time on March 29, 1820, to Betty Hindmarsh. Apparently, the marriage was happy, but childless. Betty died in 1845.

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In 1820, Stephenson was involved in the design and construction of a 13-kilometer railway line. The road from Hatton Colliery to Sunderland was the first on which mechanical traction completely replaced animal muscle power. In 1823, George founded the first locomotive factory in the world. By 1825, the plant had completed a locomotive called “Active,” which was later renamed “Locomotion No. 1.” For the first time in the world, a passenger carriage called “Experiment” was included in the train.

Even during the construction of the Stockton-Darlington Railway, Stephenson came to the conclusion that large uneven terrain should be avoided in the future. Engaged in the design of the Liverpool-Manchester and Bolton-Lea lines, the English civil engineer included several excavations, embankments, viaducts and bridges in the project, and also intended to use iron rails on stone supports. Due to serious dissatisfaction from landowners, the Liverpool-Manchester Project had to be reworked, including changing the route and laying lines through peat bogs.

In 1829, when the Liverpool-Manchester line was almost ready, tests were carried out on several locomotives from different manufacturers, including the Rocket steam locomotive from George. Only Raketa was able to overcome all the tests. The grand opening of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway took place on September 15, 1830. The event was overshadowed by the death of William Huskisson, who tried to cross the tracks and was hit by the Rocket.

Stephenson established a design office in London in 1836. Conservative-minded, George often proposed in his scientific and technical center more reliable options for routes or structures, which turned out to be more expensive than the options of his opponents. For example, in the fight for the right to build the West Coast Railroad, Stephenson lost to Joseph Locke.

Almost retired, George became the first president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847.

On January 11, 1848, Stephenson tied the knot for the third time, at St. John's Church in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The chosen one was Ellen Gregory.

George contracted pleurisy and died on August 12, 1848, at Tapton House, Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

It is alleged that the All-Russian Emperor Nicholas I (Nicholas I), during a visit to England in his youth, met Stephenson in 1816, took a ride on a steam locomotive and tried himself as a fireman.

The steam locomotive "Locomotion No. 1" was used for its intended purpose until 1857. It is currently on display at the Darlington Railway Museum.