The biography of George Stephenson, nicknamed the "father of the railways", is full of a wide variety of events. The English mechanical engineer is known primarily for having invented a steam locomotive. The solutions he found turned out to be so successful that the Stephenson gauge is still the standard on the roads of many countries of the world.
Stephenson: Career Start
George Stephenson was born in 1781 in the English Wylam, County Northumberland. His father was a simple miner. From an early age, the future famous inventor worked for hire. Stephenson's childhood passed near the wooden track, which was used to export coal from the mine. This path of several miles became the prototype of the future railway.
At the age of 18, Stephenson learned to read and write. He persistently engaged in self-education, which allowed him to become a steam engine mechanic.
At the beginning of the 19th century, he got a job as a coal mine engineer. His wife Fanny in 1803 gave birth to a son, who was named Robert. Stephenson devoted the entire next decade to the study of steam engines, after which he decided to engage in their design. At thirty years old, George became the chief coal mine mechanic. In 1815, he designed the original mine lamp.
Steam Engine Designer
The inventor set himself the task of facilitating the labor of exporting coal from the mine to the surface. To begin with, Stephenson created a steam engine that pulled the trolleys with a strong rope. Stephenson set to work with great enthusiasm. He faced a difficult task: it was necessary to create a steam engine that could pull a very large weight and move much faster than an ordinary horse.
The inventor completed a successful locomotive designed to tow coal-laden trolleys along a track. Customers considered its development the most successful.
Stephenson's invention used friction between the wheels and a smooth metal rail to create traction. Stephenson's locomotive was capable of pulling a train weighing up to 30 tons. This car was named after the Prussian general Blucher, who proved himself in the Battle of Waterloo.
Since that time, the construction of locomotive technology has become for George Stephenson a matter of his life. Over the next five years, he designed and built a dozen locomotives. His developments have received worldwide recognition. In 1820, Stephenson was invited to design an eight-mile railroad that was supposed to serve the Hatton Coal Mine. In this project, it was supposed to abandon the combined traction, excluding the use of the muscular strength of animals. This railway was the first to use only the mechanical traction of a steam locomotive.
In 1822, Stephenson began designing the railway, which was to connect Stockton and Darlington. A year later, the inventor founded the world's first steam locomotive factory. In September 1825, a brand new locomotive driven by the inventor himself pulled a train weighing 80 tons. A steam locomotive with wagons filled with coal and flour overcame a distance of 15 kilometers in two hours. In some areas, the composition accelerated to 39 km / h. An experimental passenger carriage was also attached to the train, where members of the project acceptance committee were traveling.
On top of success
Engaged in the construction of the railway to Darlington, George Stephenson was convinced: even a slight rise reduces the speed of the train, and on slopes a conventional brake becomes ineffective. The inventor concluded that when designing railways, significant relief irregularities must be avoided.
With each new project, the experience of building tracks for locomotives was enriched with new finds and technical solutions. Stephenson was able to solve the most difficult problems in the construction of embankments, viaducts and bridges. He used metal rails in combination with stone supports. This made it possible to increase the locomotive speed.
One of the projects proposed by Stephenson caused serious objections from those landowners whose financial interests he directly affected. As a result, during the hearings in parliament, this option was rejected. Legislators decided to accept it for execution only after substantial processing. I had to radically change the route along which the railway ran.
When conducting comparative tests of different locomotives, the victory remained with the Stephenson machine. He presented his steam locomotive with the loud name "Rocket" for this contest. The Stephenson steam locomotive was the only one to successfully complete complex trials. The “Rocket” that won in that competition went down in the history of technology.
Gradually, the idea of railway communication was accepted in society, and Stephenson established the status of one of the most experienced and skillful designers of locomotive equipment.
