A history of the growth of the steam-engine . and inventors were gradually prepar-ing, as has been seen, to combine these two principal ele-ments into one system. Railroads had been introduced inall parts of Great Britain, some of them of considerablelength, and-involving the interests of so many private indi-viduals that they were necessarily constructed under theauthorization of legal enactments. In the year 1805 theMerstham Railway was opened to trafiic, and it is statedthat on that occasion one horse drew a train of 12 wagers,carrying 38 tons of stone, on a down gradient of 1 in 120,at the
A history of the growth of the steam-engine . and inventors were gradually prepar-ing, as has been seen, to combine these two principal ele-ments into one system. Railroads had been introduced inall parts of Great Britain, some of them of considerablelength, and-involving the interests of so many private indi-viduals that they were necessarily constructed under theauthorization of legal enactments. In the year 1805 theMerstham Railway was opened to trafiic, and it is statedthat on that occasion one horse drew a train of 12 wagers,carrying 38 tons of stone, on a down gradient of 1 in 120,at the rate of 6 miles per hour. 174 THE MODERN STEAM-ENGINE. RicitAED Teevithick was the first engineer to applysteam-power to the haulage of loads on the railroad. Trev-ithick was a Comishman by birth, a native of was naturally a skillful mechanic, and was placed by hisfather with Watts assistant, Murdoch, who was superin-tending the erection of pumping-engines in Cornwall; andfrom that ingenious and accomplished engineer young Trev-. Eichard Trevithick. ithick probably acquired both the skill and the knowledgewhich, with his native talent, enterprise, and industry, ena-bled him to accomplish the work which has made him was soon intrusted with the erection and managementof»large pumping-engines, and subsequently went into thebusiness of constructing steam-engines with another en-gineer, Edward Bull, who took an active part, with the STEAM-LOCOMOTION ON RAILROADS. 175 Homblowers and others, in opposing the Boulton & Wattpatents. The J;ermination of the suits which established thevalidity of Watts patent put an end to their business, andTrevithick looked about for other work, and, .not longafter, entered into partnership with a relative, AndrewVivian, who was also a skillful mechanic ; they together de-signed and patented the steam-carriage already referred success was sufficiently satisfactory to aw^iken strongconfidence of a perfect success on the now c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookidc, booksubjectsteamengines
