Steam Trains
History: KS3, topic 11.1.7
Steam Trains
The Industrial Revolution also saw the invention of the steam train, which made travel across the country much easier, and provided thousands of jobs.
Richard Trevithick
- The invention of steam engines allowed for the invention of steam trains, which made travel across Britain much easier.
- In 1804, an engineer called Richard Trevithick built the first functioning steam train, though it was very slow, travelling at less than 3 miles an hour.
George Stephenson
- It took several decades for a faster, more effective steam train to be built.
- This was achieved in 1829 by George Stephenson, a self-taught engineer from Newcastle.
- He had designed a steam train that was capable of travelling up to thirty miles per hour.
The Railway Age
- Stephenson’s steam train was launched the following year on the newly-completed Liverpool to Manchester railway, which began the Railway Age in Britain.
- This railway was the first in the world that travelled between two cities.
Expansion of the railway network
- Trains continued to develop and improve; they could achieve speeds of up to sixty miles per hour by the 1840s and, by 1850, over six thousand miles of track had been laid across the country.
Test yourself on Steam Trains
How many miles of track had been laid across Britain by 1850?
What was significant about the launch of Stephenson's steam train in 1830?
When was the first functioning steam train invented?