Every-day Science: Volume 7. The Conquest of Time and Space

by Henry Smith Williams; Edward Huntington Williams

Stephenson was born on June 9, 1781, in the small colliery village of Wylam, on the river Tyne. His parents were extremely poor, and as the boy was sent to work as soon as he was large enough to find employment of any kind, he was given no education, even to the extent of learning the alphabet. It was only after he had spent many years in the colliery, and had finally worked himself up from the position of "picker" at three pence a day to that of fireman, that he was able to spend the necessary time and pennies to acquire something of an education. Then he attended a night school, learned his alphabet, was able to scrawl his name at eighteen years of age, and a little later could read, write, and do sums in arithmetic.

But if deficient in letters, there was one field in which he had no superior,—that was in the practical handling of a steam-engine. His position in the mine gave him a chance to study the workings of the engines then in use, and at every opportunity, on holidays and after working-hours, he was in the habit of dismantling his engine, and carefully studying every detail of its construction. Thus by the time he had reached his majority he was a skillful engineer, besides having many new ideas that had developed during his examinations of the machinery. But besides his knowledge of engineering, he was an accomplished workman in other fields. He was a good shoemaker, watch-and clock-repairer, and tailors' cutter, at all of which trades he worked at odd times to increase his income. Thus he was a veritable jack-of-all-trades; with the unusual qualification, that he was master of one.

By the time he was twenty-six years old he was holding the position of engineer to a coal-mining company, and had acquired the confidence of his employers to such an extent that he was permitted to build a locomotive for them—a thing that had been his ambition for several years. This was in 1807, the same year that Robert Fulton demonstrated the possibilities of steam navigation.

In the construction of this engine Stephenson introduced several novel features of his own inventing, although on the whole no new principles were involved; and in practice this engine showed several points of superiority over its predecessors. It would draw eight loaded wagons of thirty tons' weight at the rate of four miles an hour on an ascending grade of one in four hundred and fifty feet. But it had two very radical defects—it would not keep up steam and the noise of the steam-pipe exhausting into the open air frightened the horses of the neighborhood to such a degree that the authorities ordered the inventor either to stop running his engine, or suppress its noise. As an experiment, therefore, Stephenson arranged the exhaust pipes so that they opened into the smokestack, where the sound would be muffled. But when the engine was now tried he found to his surprise that this single expedient had solved both difficulties, the exhausting steam causing such an improvement in the draught of his furnace that double the quantity of steam was generated. This discovery helped to simplify later experiments, for the difficulty of keeping up steam had been one of the great obstacles encountered by the inventors.

Stephenson's second locomotive was an improvement over his first in many ways, but it was still far from being the practical machine that was to supplant horse-power. It could haul heavier loads than teams of horses, and was more convenient for certain purposes; but it was no more economical.

As yet the only use to which locomotives had been put was that of hauling cars in coal-mines. Indeed, the only railroads then constructed were those used in mines, the idea of utilizing such roads for passenger and freight traffic not having occurred to anyone until about 1820. Then the Englishman, Thomas Gray, suggested the construction of such a road between Liverpool and Manchester, advocating steam as the motive power. His idea was looked upon as visionary, and as he persisted in his efforts to interest prominent people in the scheme, he came to be very generally regarded as an enthusiastic but somewhat crackbrained fanatic.

But meanwhile the coal railroads were being extended to such lengths that they were assuming the proportions of modern railroads. The motive power on most of the roads was horses, although here and there a traction engine using chain or cable, was employed for certain purposes. In 1825, however, Stephenson began the construction of an improved locomotive, this time at his own modest establishment; and a little later this engine made the trial that really demonstrated the possibilities of steam locomotion, although this was not universally recognized until the success of the Rocket a few years later.

A great deal of excitement and speculation arose throughout the country when the trial day approached. Great crowds assembled from every direction to witness the trial; some, more sanguine, came to witness the success, but far the greater portion came to see the bubble burst. The proceedings began at Busselton incline, where the stationary engine drew a train up the incline on one side and let it down on the other. The wagons were then loaded.

"At the foot of this plane a locomotive, driven by Mr. Stephenson himself, was attached to the train. It consisted of six wagons loaded with coal and flour, next a passenger coach (the first ever run upon a railroad) filled with the directors and their friends, then twenty wagons fitted up with temporary seats for passengers, and lastly came six wagons loaded with coal, making in all twenty-eight vehicles. The word being given that all was ready, the engine began to move, gradually at first, but afterward, in part of the road, attaining a speed of twelve miles an hour. At that time the number of passengers amounted to four hundred and fifty, which would, with the remainder of the load, amount to upwards of ninety tons. The train arrived at Darlington, eight and three-quarter miles, in sixty-five minutes. Here it was stopped and a fresh supply of water obtained, the six coal-cars for Darlington detached, and the word given to go ahead. The engine started, and arrived at Stockton, twelve miles, in three hours and seven minutes including stoppages. By the time the train reached Stockton the number of passengers amounted to over six hundred."

From this description it will be seen that the coal roads had been extended to form interurban railways. In this connection it is interesting to note the increase of traffic that developed on this particular road in the years immediately following the invention of the practical locomotive. When the road was projected it was estimated that its maximum carrying capacity would not exceed 10,000 tons of coal yearly. A few years later, when locomotives had come into use, the regular yearly carriage amounted to 500,000 tons.