George Stephenson
1781 – 1848 British engineer, inventor
Self-taught engineer known as the father of the railways, whose locomotive Rocket set the pattern for the steam railway.
George Stephenson began as a colliery worker and taught himself to read as an adult while working with mine engines. He built the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public line to use steam locomotives, and then the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first to link two big cities entirely by steam. With his son Robert he built the locomotive Rocket, which won the 1829 Rainhill Trials and set the design of the steam engine for a century. He also promoted the track gauge that became the standard across much of the world.
Connections
- rival of Isambard Kingdom Brunel — Rival railway engineer; Brunel's broad gauge lost out to Stephenson's standard gauge.
- rival of Isambard Kingdom Brunel — Rival railway engineer; Stephenson's standard gauge won out over Brunel's broad gauge.
In the timeline
- 1825 The public railway the pioneering engineer
- 1825 The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens the engineer
- 1829 Stephenson's Rocket wins the Rainhill Trials the builder
- 1830 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opens the engineer