FIG. 93.—TREVITHICK’S LOCOMOTIVE, 1804. THE FIRST TO RUN ON RAILS.
The father of the locomotive and the first inventor of the Nineteenth Century who directed his energy to its development was Richard Trevithick, of Camborne, Cornwall. In 1801 he built his first steam carriage, adapted to carry seven or eight passengers, which was said to have ““gone off like a bird”,” but broke down, and was taken to the home of Capt. Vivian, who afterward became a partner of Trevithick. An old lady, upon seeing this novel and, to her, frightful engine, is said to have cried out: ““Good gracious! Mr. Vivian, what will be done next? I can’t compare it to anything but a walking, puffing devil.”” On the 24th of March, 1802, Trevithick and Vivian obtained British patent No. 2,599 for their steam carriage, and a second one was built in 1803 which was popularly known as Capt. Trevithick’s “Puffing Devil.” In 1804, at Pen y Darran, South Wales, a third engine was built, which was the first steam locomotive ever to run on rails. It is seen in the illustration, [No. 93]. It had a horizontal cylinder inside the boiler, a cross head sliding on guides in front of the engine, the cross head being connected to a crank on a rear gear wheel, which in turn meshes with an intermediate gear wheel above and between two other gear wheels on the running wheels. A fly wheel was on the crank shaft. The steam was discharged into the chimney, and the whole engine weighed five tons, and it ran, when loaded, at five miles an hour. In 1808 Trevithick built a circular railway at London within an inclosure, and charged a shilling for admission to his steam circus and a ride behind his locomotive. The engine here employed was the “Catch Me Who Can,” and had a vertical cylinder and piston, without the toothed gear wheels shown in the illustration.
FIG. 94.—BLENKINSOP’S LOCOMOTIVE, 1811.
In [Fig. 94] is shown Blenkinsop’s locomotive of 1811. This was employed at the Middleton Colliery in hauling coal. It had cog wheels engaging teeth on the side of the rail. The fire was built in a large tube passing through the boiler and bent up to form a chimney. Two vertical cylinders were placed inside the boiler, and the pistons were connected by cross heads, and, by connecting rods, to cranks on the axles of small cog wheels engaging with the main cog wheels. It drew thirty tons weight at three and three-quarter miles an hour.