Richard Trevithick.
Richard Trevithick (13 April 1771 – 22 April 1833) was a
British inventor, who was born in Illogan,
Cornwall. He was the son of a mine engineer, and as a child would watch
steam engines pump water out of the deep
tin and
copper mines which were common in Cornwall. As an adult, he set about improving upon the design of steam engines, by making smaller, lighter engines with stronger
boilers that would generate higher steam pressures and thus more power.
In 1801, he put one of his new compact steam engines on wheels. This "road locomotive", which became known as the
Puffing Devil, was one of the world's first road
vehicles to move under its own power and carry passengers (it was preceded by the
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot's "steam wagon"), and was an early forerunner to the
car. He demonstrated it to the public on Christmas Eve with his cousin
Andrew Vivian at the controls. His road locomotive ran through the streets of
Camborne in Cornwall, taking his friends on short trips. However, it lacked the ability to keep up steam pressure for prolonged periods, and so had little practical use.
London Steam Carriage
London Steam Carriage (Brogen Replica)
In 1803 he built another early self propelled road vehicle, the "London Steam Carriage" which was basically a
stagecoach fitted with a steam engine. It attracted much attention from the public and press, but it proved more expensive to run than a conventional horse-drawn carriage and so failed to catch on.
The following year, Trevithick built the world's first railway steam
locomotive. Trevithick's locomotive had no name and was used at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks near
Merthyr Tydfil in
Wales, and pulled up to 10 wagons at speeds of around 5 mph (8 km/h). It first ran on 21 February 1804. Although it worked, it was not financially successful as it was too heavy for, and kept breaking the rails (which were designed for horse-drawn trains). Trevithick had also built an earlier experimental locomotive at
Coalbrookdale in England but little is known about it.
1803 LOCOMOTIVE. This is a full scale replica of the first steam railway locomotive in the world. This replica is in Telford Central Station, [[Telford, Shropshire.]]
Trevithick also built
steamboats, river dredgers and
threshing machines.
Trevithick was a pioneer whose inventions were ahead of their time. Despite publicity stunts such as running a steam locomotive called
Catch me who can on a circular track in
London, Trevithick found it difficult to persuade investors to fund his locomotive building.
Trevithick's No. 14 engine, built by Hazeldine and Co., Bridgnorth, about 1804, and illustrated after being rescued circa 1885; from Scientific American Supplement, Vol. XIX, No. 470, Jan. 3, 1885
In 1816 Trevithick moved to
Peru to work as a mine engineer, and to build locomotives to serve them. Although initially successful, civil war broke out in 1826 and he was eventually forced to return to Britain penniless.
Despite his inventive
genius and world first achievements, Trevithick died in poverty and obscurity, with his achievements being largely unrecognised.
External links
Trevithick, Richard
Trevithick, Richard
Trevithick, Richard
Trevithick, Richard
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