![]() In 1838, Birmingham was connected to London, and in 1841, passengers could take the train from the capital to Bristol. ![]() Unknown Artist (Public Domain) Railway Mania It was now merely a question of time before all of Britain had access to the railways. Goods were also carried on the line where a single train could carry 20 times the cargo of a canal boat and reach its destination eight times faster. Soon the line was carrying 1,200 passengers every day. The line was a roaring success (despite the death of William Huskisson MP, run over by a locomotive on the very first day). The L&MR directors immediately commissioned Stephenson to make four more Rocket locomotives, and their train line was opened on 15 September 1830. Running with flanged wheels on smooth cast iron rails, Rocket's top speed was at least 48 km/h (30 mph), not great today but astounding for the people of the mid-19th century and something that had never been seen or experienced before. Stephenson's Rocket was essentially the sum of all the inventions up to that point regarding steam engines. The winning locomotive was Rocket, designed by George Stephenson's son Robert Stephenson (1803-1859). The directors organised a competition, inviting inventors to the Rainhill Trials where their machines would be extensively tested for speed, reliability, ability to pull carriages, and total fuel and water consumption. The problem was the directors of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company (L&MR) did not have any locomotives for their line. Soon the Liverpool to Manchester line was carrying 1,200 passengers every day.Ī new railway line was built from Liverpool to Manchester in 1829, the world's first inter- city railway. The railways, then, could serve two customer bases: freight companies and passengers. A second area of potential was private travellers obliged to use horse-drawn stagecoaches, which were slow and uncomfortable. Investors and company owners saw that a cheaper but faster alternative to canals would reduce the time taken to reach markets for their goods and open up new markets if a network were built bigger and better than the existing canal system. Another problem was that canals were very expensive to build. It was usually quicker to transport goods from one continent to another than from one inland town to another. Taking into consideration the necessity to go through lock systems where the terrain rose or fell, the average speed of a canal boat on its journey from one destination to another was around 4.8 km/h (3 mph). Canal boats could transport goods safely and relatively cheaply, but the problem was the speed. Rivers were obviously limited to where they ran but a canal system was built to specifically connect large urban centres. Traditionally, goods in larger quantities were transported across Britain by river and canal boats. Transportation was one area where a brand-new power source could really change how things were done. The driving force behind the Industrial Revolution was commercial enterprise and the search for profit. The railways could potentially serve two customer bases: freight companies & passengers. The idea of a steam-powered railway train was born. The inventor solved the problem in 1803 by having his vehicle run on purpose-built tracks of its own. Trevithick's machine was pretty good, but his real problem was the poor condition of the roads at that time. In 1801, Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) invented the first steam-powered vehicle. Engineers continued to improve the engine until it worked using a pressure high enough to create the power capable of moving large weights with a minimum amount of fuel. James Watt (1736-1819) worked on Newcomen's design, and by 1778, he had greatly reduced the fuel consumption of the steam engine. In 1712, Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) adjusted Savery's design and greatly increased the power. In 1698, a steam-powered pump was invented by Thomas Savery (c. The steam engine was perhaps the most important invention of the Industrial Revolution and without it, fast-moving trains would not have been possible. Hugh Llewelyn (CC BY-SA) The Steam Engine
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