Steam locomotive

Locomotion

In 1801, British engineer Richard Trevithick invented a steam engine that changed everything. Using high-pressure steam, he built a steam-powered carriage, and then in 1808 the world’s first steam RailRoad locomoTive, Catch Me Who Can. It hauled 70 people and a load of coal along a railroad track.

Rocket hauled 13 tons of loaded wagons to win the 1829 competition. After Trevithick’s locomotive, inventors got to work designing beTTeR ones. Rocket, designed by Robert Stephenson, won a competition to find the best of the bunch in 1829. It steamed into the history books at 30 mph (48 km/h).

Connecting rods driven by pistons turned the wheels and moved the engine forward.

Far faster and stronger than horses, steam locomotives triggered a transportation revolution that sped people and goods across the world. How it changed the wor ld

The engine that put transportation on the RIGHT TRACK

Building railroads

The new locomotives could now transport coal for the new steampowered machines, as well as the goods they made, and thousands of miles of railroad tracks began to be laid. The world’s first intercity railroad, between the British cities of Liverpool and Manchester, was built in 1830.

The East and West Coasts of the United States were connected by the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.