Today in Technology History

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February 21

This is a full-scale reproduction of the first locomotive.Today is the anniversary of the first test drive for a steam locomotive.

Richard Trevithick (pronounced TREH-vih-thik) was born in 1771, the son of a miner. He grew up impressed by the steam engines used in the local mining operations, and in the 1790s he began designing a steam-powered locomotive.

Now, why would anyone build a locomotive -- a vehicle that is confined to railway tracks? Why not design a vehicle that could drive anywhere?

Indeed, Trevithick did start by building steam-powered carriages that did not need rails, one of which he drove through the streets of London in 1803. Such carriages were impractical for personal transportation, but it was clear that steam engines could be useful for hauling coal and other materials. And since railway tracks were already used for transporting goods (dragged by teams of horses), it made sense to adapt steam-powered vehicles to the rails.

So Trevithick found a sponsor and built a locomotive. Since his sponsor was Samuel Homfray, the owner of the Penydarren Ironworks in Wales, Trevithick named his locomotive the Penydarren.

Homfray bet another businessman 1,000 guineas that Trevithick's locomotive could carry a load of iron along nine miles of track. On February 21, 1804, he won that bet, when the Penydarren hauled 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers. The trip took four hours.

Despite this success, Trevithick's locomotive was too heavy: it cracked the very rails it was riding on. Although he continued to work on locomotives for several years, he was never able to make them practical or profitable. He died in 1833.

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