George Stephenson (1781–1848)
Civil and mechanical engineer
George Stephenson’s work in civil and mechanical engineering greatly influenced our railway system. He envisioned a national network of tracks with a standard width and gentle slopes. Many of the routes he planned and the structures he built are still in use today. Because of his pioneering efforts, he is known as the father of the railways.
George Stephenson was born in Wylam, near Newcastle upon Tyne. He didn’t have a formal education, but at 18, he paid for his own lessons in reading, writing, and arithmetic. He quickly showed a talent for mechanical work.
In his early career, he worked with various industrial machines, especially at coal mines in the North East. This was during the start of the industrial revolution when new technologies like steam engines and fixed rails were being developed.
In the early 19th century, Stephenson had several jobs in the North East and Scotland, working on and maintaining early industrial machines. These were tough times, especially after his first wife died in 1806.
Things improved in 1811 when Stephenson fixed a problem with a Newcomen engine at a mine owned by wealthy businessmen. Impressed by his skills, they put him in charge of all their machinery and paid him £100 per year.
For the next ten years at Killingworth colliery, Stephenson worked on many projects related to steam engines, locomotives, and rails. He built his first steam locomotive, Blucher, which was the first to use flanged wheels on smooth iron rails. During this time, he developed ideas that would make him famous in the railway industry.
Father of the railways
In 1821, the Stockton & Darlington Railway was approved. Edward Pease, its main promoter, wanted to improve transport between coal mines in County Durham and trade routes to London. The line was initially meant for horse-drawn carriages. However, after seeing George Stephenson’s work with rails and steam engines at Killingworth, they hired him as the engineer. George and his son Robert planned the railway, making it the first in the world designed for locomotives. The first iron rail was laid on May 23, 1823, and the 26-mile line opened on September 27, 1825, with the locomotive Locomotion No1. The original plan for horse-drawn carriages influenced George’s use of the ‘standard gauge’ of 4ft 8 1/2 inches between the rails.
Stephenson’s success with the Stockton & Darlington Railway made him sought after for other railway projects. He was soon hired by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway as their chief engineer, bringing his assistant Joseph Locke. Stephenson knew that to make engines efficient, the tracks needed to be as level as possible. Building the Liverpool & Manchester Railway involved major engineering feats, like the Sankey Viaduct, the skew bridge at Rainhill, the Wapping Tunnel, and the Olive Mount cutting. The Rainhill Trials in October 1829 proved the advantages of locomotive power when the Rocket, built by Robert Stephenson & Co, showed that engines could be fast and reliable. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the first intercity railway in the world, opened on September 15, 1830, with George driving the Rocket in the ceremony.
The success of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway solidified George Stephenson’s reputation. He worked on many railway projects in the north midlands and south Pennines during the 1830s, including connecting the Liverpool & Manchester Railway to Birmingham (the Grand Junction Railway) and Leeds (the Manchester & Leeds Railway). By the 1840s, George stepped back from railway engineering to focus on mining. Younger engineers like his son Robert Stephenson, Joseph Locke, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel continued to advance railway construction. George was a founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and became its first President in 1847, shortly before his death in Chesterfield on August 12, 1848.
Did you know?
George Stephenson’s use of the ‘standard gauge’ was influenced by horse and carts. Carts were traditionally made with 5ft between the wheels, in proportion with the size of an average work horse. Early trackways for use by horse and cart used a dimension of around 4ft 8in, By the time Stephenson was designing the S&DR and the L&MR this dimension was already a well recognised measure. A gauge of 4ft 8 1/2in is still used today as the standard for railways around the world, including ours.