Текст 8. George and Robert Stephensons

George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson were pioneering railway engineers and inventors of the 'Rocket', the most famous early railway locomotive.

George Stephenson was born on 9 June 1781 near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. His father was an engineman at a coalmine. Stephenson himself worked at the mine and learned to read and write in his spare time. He gained a reputation for managing the primitive steam engines employed in mines, and worked in a number of different coalmines in the northeast of England and in Scotland.

In 1814, Stephenson constructed his first locomotive, 'Blucher', for hauling coal at Killingworth Colliery near Newcastle. In 1815, he invented a safety lamp for use in coalmines, nicknamed the 'Geordie'.

In 1821, Stephenson was appointed engineer for the construction of the Stockton and Darlington railway. It opened in 1825 and was the first public rail- way.

“Robert Stephenson and Company” was a locomotive manufacturing com- pany founded in 1823 in Forth Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England by George Stephenson and his son Robert. It was the first company set up specifically to build railway engines.

In 1826 George Stephenson was made engineer for the Liverpool to Man- chester Railway. In October 1829, the railway's owners staged a competition at Rainhill to find the best kind of locomotive to pull heavy loads over long distances. Thousands came to watch. Stephenson's locomotive 'Rocket' was the winner, achieving a record speed of 36 miles per hour. It was built at the Forth Street Works of “Robert Stephenson and Company” in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is the most famous example of an evolving design of locomotives by Robert Stephenson that became the template for most steam engines in the following 150 years. The locomotive was preserved and is now on display in the Science Museum in Lon- don. Though the ‘Rocket’ was not the first steam locomotive, it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day. This locomotive engine had two notable improvements – a multi-tube boil- er and a separate firebox.

The opening of the Stockton to Darlington railway and the success of 'Rocket' stimulated the laying of railway lines and the construction of locomotives all over the country. George Stephenson became engineer on a number of these projects and was also consulted on the development of railways in Belgium and Spain.

George Stephenson died on 12 August 1848 in Chesterfield in Derbyshire.

His son Robert worked with his father on many of his projects.