The Life of George Stephenson and of his Son Robert Stephenson: Comprising Also a History of the Invention and Introduction of the Railway LocomotiveSmiles, Samuel
History
The Life of George Stephenson and of his Son Robert Stephenson: Comprising Also a History of the Invention and Introduction of the Railway Locomotive
The steam-carriage shortly became the talk of the town, and the public
curiosity being on the increase, Trevithick resolved on inclosing a
piece of ground on the site of the present Euston station of the London
and Northwestern Railway, and admitting persons to see the exhibition
of his engine at so much a head. He had a tram-road laid down in an
elliptical form within the inclosure, and the carriage was run round
it on the rails in the sight of a great number of spectators. On the
second day another crowd collected to see the exhibition, but, for
what reason is not known, although it is said to have been through one
of Trevithick's freaks of temper, the place was closed and the engine
removed. It is, however, not improbable that the inventor had come to
the conclusion that the state of the roads at that time was such as to
preclude its coming into general use for purposes of ordinary traffic.
While the steam-carriage was being exhibited, a gentleman was laying
heavy wagers as to the weight which could be hauled by a single
horse on the Wandsworth and Croydon iron tram-way; and the number
and weight of wagons drawn by the horse were something surprising.
Trevithick very probably put the two things together--the steam-horse
and the iron-way--and kept the performance in mind when he proceeded
to construct his second or railway locomotive. In the mean time,
having dismantled his steam-carriage, sent back the phaeton to the
coach-builder to whom it belonged, and sold the little engine which had
worked the machine, he returned to Camborne to carry on his business.
In the course of the year 1803 he went to Pen-y-darran, in South Wales,
to erect a forge engine for the iron-works there; and, when it was
finished, he began the erection of a railway locomotive--the first ever
constructed. There were already, as above stated, several lines of rail
laid down in the district for the accommodation of the coal and iron
works. That between Merthyr Tydvil and Cardiff was the longest and most
important, and it had been at work for some years. It had probably
occurred to Trevithick that here was a fine opportunity for putting
to practical test the powers of the locomotive, and he proceeded to
construct one accordingly in the workshops at Pen-y-darran.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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