George Stephenson

EARLY LIFE George Stephenson was born on 9 June His home was at Wylam, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Near where he lived there were coal mines. George's father worked at a coal mine. He looked after steam engines, used to pump water out of the mine.coal minessteam engines

FARTHER AND SON George Stephenson built many railways. His son Robert helped him. George paid for Robert to go to school, and to university in Edinburgh. Father and son did homework together, so George could learn more too. Robert spent three years in South America, before coming home to help build the Rocket.

Stephenson rocket The Rocket had four wheels. It pulled a tender, a water tank on wheels. A fire burning coke heated water in a boiler to make steam. The steam power drove the wheels.tendercoke The Rocket could pull a train full of people along the new railway

Why is George famous George Stephenson was an engineer. He built steam locomotives for the first railways. Sometimes people call him 'the Father of the Railway'.engineerlocomotives

When did he live?  George Stephenson was born in At this time Britain was starting to change from a land of farms and small villages to a land of factories and big cities. We call this change the Industrial Revolution. By the time George Stephenson died in 1848, its new railways and factories had made Britain the richest country in the world.Industrial Revolution

George the engineer  George was very clever. He invented a lamp for miners to use underground. But his real interest was in steam engines.steam engines  Some steam engines drove machines in factories. One or two were made to run on wheels, along roads. Steam powered road engines were slow and could not go up hills.  George worked out that a steam engine needed to run along rails.

Liverpool to Manchester  In 1829, another railway was planned, between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester. Not everyone was pleased. Some farmers did not want the railway to cross their fields.  George Stephenson built the railway. He built track across a bog called Chat Moss. The owners of the railway wanted to find the best locomotive. They offered a prize of £500. Trials were held at Rainhill, near Liverpool. Crowds came to watch. Trials

Locomotion No. 1  In 1825 a new railway was opened between the towns of Stockton and Darlington. George and his men built the track and the locomotive. It was the first passenger steam railway in the world.locomotive  George drove the first train. The engine was called 'Locomotion No. 1'. It pulled a train with 450 passengers at a speed of 15 miles an hour.

The first railway accident  Sadly, there was an accident on this great day. William Huskisson, a member of the government, was knocked down by the Rocket. He was the first person to be killed by a train.

The railway opens  On 15 September 1830, the Manchester to Liverpool railway was opened. People cheered for the Rocket and the other locomotives on the railway. George Stephenson was famous.

 Only 3 locomotives took part in the trials in October They ran backwards and forwards along a track.trialstrack  'Novelty' was a favourite with the crowd. Another locomotive was called 'Sans Pareil', which means 'without equal'. But both engines kept breaking down.locomotive