4186 x 4282 px | 35,4 x 36,3 cm | 14 x 14,3 inches | 300dpi
Weitere Informationen:
The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR), which opened in 1825, was the world's first permanent steam locomotive hauled public railway. by wealthy local wool merchant Edward Pease, the S&DR was authorised by Parliament in 1821 and was initially intended to be an ordinary horse-drawn plateway, which were then commonplace in the United Kingdom. However, George Stephenson had been perfecting his engines at Killingworth for about seven years, and had built the Hetton colliery railway. With a deputation from Killingworth, he persuaded Edward Pease, on the day that the Act received Royal Assent, to allow him to resurvey the route and work it, at least partly, by steam. Accordingly, a new Act of Parliament was obtained approving Stephenson's changes to the route, and a clause added to permit the use of "loco-motive or moveable engines". This latter clause narrowly escaped being struck out of the bill due to officials not understanding the meaning. The bill also included provisions for transporting passengers though, at the time, they were regarded as little more than a sideline. He had given up on the "steam springs" that were proving unsuccessful at Hetton, but retained other improvements, such as the direct connection of the pistons by crank rods, though the wheels were coupled by gears. He also made improvements to the track to overcome the problems with settling of the stone blocks on which they were laid, and used T-section malleable iron in fifteen foot lengths, for the rails, pioneered by John Birkinshaw at Bedlington Ironworks in 1820. Initially Stephenson's son Robert assisted him, but then went to join William James in surveying a proposed new line between Liverpool and Manchester. George and Robert, with Edward Pease and Michael Longridge (owner of Bedlington Ironworks) together established a company at Newcastle-on-Tyne, to manufacture locomotives, which became Robert Stephenson and Company.
