1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:04,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: Frye and I'm Tracy V. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:16,000 Speaker 2: Wilson. 5 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: So today's topic has come up on the show before. 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,680 Speaker 1: He came up recently, very briefly, in our self Help 7 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: Books episode. He also came up in our two parter 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,200 Speaker 1: on Sir Humphrey Davy. He was one of the people 9 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: who also invented a minor safety lamp, got involved in 10 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: a rather he did argument over who did it first. 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: But he is most well known for his work on 12 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 1: locomotives and railways. He's often called the father of railways, 13 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: and that is George Stephenson, and we are going to 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: talk about him today. George Stevenson was born on June ninth, 15 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,400 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty one in Wylam, England, which is in the 16 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: county of Northumberland. His parents, Robert and Mabel car Stephenson, 17 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: were quite poor. Robert worked as a fireman at the 18 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: Walam Colliery. This was one of several jobs working in 19 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: coal that he had in his life, and that is 20 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: because coal pits would be opened up very quickly mind 21 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: to exhaustion and then closed, so people had to follow 22 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:17,919 Speaker 1: the trail of new mine openings to make a living. 23 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,559 Speaker 1: That meant consequently, working in coal was a nomadic life. 24 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,360 Speaker 1: George was the second of six children, and when he 25 00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: was born, the Stevensons were living with three other families 26 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: in a small cottage that was less than two yards 27 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:36,480 Speaker 1: from a wooden railway that was used for horse drawn 28 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: carts carrying coal from the mines, and George followed in 29 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: his father's footsteps. He did not go to school and 30 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: he started working when he was a child of eight. 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: This was really quite normal for children in coal mining villages. 32 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:53,480 Speaker 1: Neither of George's parents could read or write, and they 33 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: also had started working when they were just kids. George's 34 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,600 Speaker 1: first job was watching a neighbors cows and horse and 35 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: helping in the garden, but he started colliery work not 36 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: much later. He started out as a picker, meaning he 37 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: picked things like a metal and slate out of the coal. 38 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:12,920 Speaker 1: He then moved on to a job driving one of 39 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,119 Speaker 1: the horses that pulled mine carts, but eventually he moved 40 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: up again and made his way to become his father's assistant. 41 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,280 Speaker 1: George grew up around early steam powered technology, but from 42 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: the blue collar side of it. His father operated a 43 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 1: new Coman atmospheric steam engine at the local colliery. This 44 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: was an engine developed by preacher and inventor Thomas Nukeman 45 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: in seventeen twelve. It was designed to pump water out 46 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: of mines. The water that was pumped out by the 47 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,200 Speaker 1: engine would then be routed to water wheels to provide 48 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 1: power for other equipment. Stevenson became a Newkeman operator when 49 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 1: he was still a teenager. George's siblings also went to 50 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: work when they were still children, and all of the 51 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: boys worked at the colliery. Yeah, his sisters did domestic work, 52 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: but George was also really interested in the world, and 53 00:03:07,080 --> 00:03:10,560 Speaker 1: he was curious by nature. He was absolutely fascinated by 54 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:13,760 Speaker 1: anything mechanical, and he loved to take things apart and 55 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: then put them back together. So working in the mines 56 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: meant that he had a lot of equipment around that 57 00:03:18,760 --> 00:03:21,919 Speaker 1: he could examine and sometimes work on. He would also 58 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 1: create models of engines out of clay. But he also 59 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: loved animals. When he was a boy tending cows, he 60 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: liked to search for birds nests as he went about 61 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: his days, and he really loved blackbirds. In particular, he 62 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: had as a boy a blackbird that became so accustomed 63 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: to him that it became a pet, and it slept 64 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: at the head of his bed each night. He also 65 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: kept rabbits that he caught. There are many stories of 66 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: him throughout his life making friends with wild animals and 67 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: turning them into pets. As he was becoming an adult, 68 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: he decided to go after the education he hadn't been 69 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 1: able to get when he was younger. He had gotten 70 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 1: into his adolescence still not knowing how to read or write, 71 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,120 Speaker 1: but he knew if he wanted to know more about 72 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: the world, he needed to learn. He started taking classes 73 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: at night after his full day shifts at the mines. 74 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: One of his motivations, according to the biography written by 75 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 1: Samuel Smiles in eighteen fifty seven, was that because George 76 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: and the other men at the colliery knew about Napoleon's 77 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: movements in Europe, they wanted more details, but nobody could 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: read the newspaper. He also wanted to learn more about 79 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 1: keeping animals. For all of these things, he was going 80 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: to need to learn how to read. And then, in 81 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 1: addition to matters of personal interest, he knew that if 82 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: he wanted to advance in his career that reading was 83 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: a necessity. To be clear with this, he started at 84 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: the very beginning, and his earliest lessons he had to 85 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,000 Speaker 1: learn the alphabet because he had never been taught even that. 86 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: He was nineteen when he learned to write his name 87 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,719 Speaker 1: for the first time. Once he mastered reading, George also 88 00:05:01,760 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: started taking lessons in arithmetic. This early education set him 89 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: on a path of lifelong learning. He continued to study 90 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: various subjects all through his life, often on his own 91 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: in the evenings after work. Yeah, it sounds based on 92 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: descriptions like he wasn't just casually like, oh, I think 93 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: I'm going to read this book next, Like he was 94 00:05:21,640 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: kind of putting together little curricula for himself and being 95 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: like this month, I'm going to study this, So this 96 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: month I'm going to learn about this, which is quite admirable. 97 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: George met a woman named Francis Anderson during this time 98 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: in his life. She was working as a domestic servant 99 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: in the farmer's home, where George had moved when his 100 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: job took him away from his family home. He and Francis, 101 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: who went by Fanny, got married in November eighteen oh two, 102 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:54,440 Speaker 1: Francis was older than him. I read differing numbers, some 103 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: that said she was nine years older, some that said 104 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: she was twelve, but roughly a decade. He had actually 105 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: wooed her sister Anne unsuccessfully before he and Frances struck 106 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: up a courtship, and this was, by all accounts though, 107 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:09,800 Speaker 1: a very good match, and the pair had a very 108 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: loving marriage. They seemed to be what everybody hopes for 109 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:17,159 Speaker 1: best friends, and they always chose each other's company in 110 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: the evenings and in their spare time over other options 111 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: of places they could be. Knowing that he needed to 112 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: support a family, Stevenson sought to expand his income by 113 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:31,279 Speaker 1: diversifying his revenue streams, meaning he learned a lot of skills. 114 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: He had already learned shoe repair before he met Fanny. 115 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: He had actually resold a pair of her shoes while 116 00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: they were courting, and soon he also added clock repair 117 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:45,160 Speaker 1: to his repertoire. He also, at least according to some accounts, 118 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,719 Speaker 1: started cutting out clothing for the wives of his coworkers 119 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: so they could get right to sewing it up, so 120 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,560 Speaker 1: he had his hands in a lot of activities. Just 121 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: before the wedding, George started working as a brakesman at 122 00:06:58,120 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: Willington Colliery that came with the significant pay bump. A 123 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: brakesman operates the winch at the top of the pit 124 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: that brings the coal up out of a mine. This 125 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: position was considered to be skilled labor, and so that's 126 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: why it came with a pay increase. He also continued 127 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: to take side jobs. At one point, he was so 128 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 1: busy hauling cargo out of the holds of ships that 129 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: he cut back his engine operator hours and his friend 130 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 1: William Fairbain took this dropped hours from him. This extra 131 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: income had good timing since George and Francis had a 132 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: son eleven months after they got married. That was on 133 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: October sixteenth, eighteen oh three. They named their son Robert. 134 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: George really adored Robert, and Robert would become an important 135 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: collaborator with George as an adult. Less than a year 136 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: after Robert's birth, the Stevenson's moved again, this time to 137 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:56,880 Speaker 1: Killingworth for another brakesman position. Uh. Coming up, We're going 138 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: to get to a point in George's biography where his 139 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: life takes some sad turns. So we're gonna pause before 140 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:15,360 Speaker 1: we get into that, and hear from our sponsors. In 141 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,360 Speaker 1: the summer of eighteen oh five, Francis and George had 142 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: another baby, a daughter, but the infant died when she 143 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: was still a baby, although accounts of her age at 144 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: death very quite a bit. Some say that she died 145 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: after just a few weeks, others a few months. But 146 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: Francis also became ill and she died of tuberculosis in 147 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,000 Speaker 1: eighteen oh six. So now George had to raise their 148 00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: son alone, and initially he hired a housekeeper to look 149 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:44,559 Speaker 1: after young Robert, and that was because he had been 150 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: offered a lucrative temporary job in Montrose, Scotland. He may 151 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: have also just needed some time away from his regular 152 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:56,280 Speaker 1: life to deal with his grief, which was considerable. George 153 00:08:56,280 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: made this journey to Scotland on foot, and I looked 154 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,120 Speaker 1: it up on Google Maps and according to that that 155 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: would have been about sixty eight hours worth of walking 156 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:08,120 Speaker 1: one way. When he returned, he learned that his housekeeper 157 00:09:08,360 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: had married his younger brother. That honestly was great, but 158 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,480 Speaker 1: it meant that he did need a new housekeeper to 159 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: help take care of his son. That job was eventually 160 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: filled by his sister Eleanor. The Stevenson family had a 161 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 1: couple of financial and health hardships. Around this time, George's father, Robert, 162 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: had been badly injured in a work accident and suffered 163 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 1: steam burns and the loss of his vision. George saw 164 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: to it that his father's debts were paid and that 165 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: he was set up with everything he needed, and also 166 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,480 Speaker 1: arranged to take care of all of the older Robert's 167 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,679 Speaker 1: expenses for the rest of his life. This, of course, 168 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: significantly depleted the money he had saved up. Yeah, he 169 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: had returned from Scotland with a good bit of money, 170 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: and more than two thirds of it was immediately used 171 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 1: for this effort. Meanwhile, the Napoleonic Wars had led to 172 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,480 Speaker 1: written expanding their militia, and George was selected for conscription. 173 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,079 Speaker 1: He did have the option to pay for his substitute 174 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: to serve in his stead, and he took that option 175 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,800 Speaker 1: because he wanted to stay near his family, particularly his son, 176 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 1: and this was something a lot of wealthy families did 177 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: as a matter of course, but George wasn't wealthy. He 178 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: went broke doing this, and while he did feel like 179 00:10:22,800 --> 00:10:25,560 Speaker 1: it was the right decision to stay with Robert both 180 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: Robert truly, he was also incredibly depressed to find himself 181 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: with nothing. After years of working really hard and moving 182 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 1: up the ladder in the collieries and being really frugal 183 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,680 Speaker 1: and careful with his money, he went right back to 184 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,440 Speaker 1: a brakesman job to keep himself, his son, and his 185 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: father afloat. 186 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 2: He took a. 187 00:10:43,559 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: Temporary job in eighteen oh eight at the Westmore Pit 188 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 1: along with two other brakesmen. The terms of their contract 189 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: gave the three brakesmen their pay based on how many 190 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: loads they could pull in, so Stevenson wanted to find 191 00:10:56,960 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: ways they could increase their productivity and I'll make more 192 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: money from the job. So the first thing he did 193 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:06,200 Speaker 1: was watch the equipment and noted anything that stood out, 194 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: And right away he noticed that the ropes on the 195 00:11:09,559 --> 00:11:13,600 Speaker 1: winding machine wore out much more quickly at the Westmore 196 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: Pit than on average, so he deduced that they were 197 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:22,240 Speaker 1: probably encountering more friction than was normal. He got permission 198 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: to make some changes to the pulley system on the winch, 199 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,840 Speaker 1: and this led to an immediate improvement in the system. 200 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,200 Speaker 1: He got in the habit of taking the machinery he 201 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: was in charge of apart on Saturdays at the end 202 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: of every work week then he would clean it and 203 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: reassemble it, and as a consequence, that machine stayed in 204 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: tip top shape all of the time, and Stevenson became 205 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: an expert at every inner working. In nineteen ten, a 206 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,080 Speaker 1: new pit was opened at Killingworth. This was known as 207 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:54,000 Speaker 1: the High Pit and it had a new come in 208 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,559 Speaker 1: engine to pump the water out of the mine shaft. 209 00:11:56,679 --> 00:12:00,680 Speaker 1: But that engine was problematic. It never succeeded in clearing 210 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 1: the water from the pit, no matter how hard its 211 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: operators tried, so if the water couldn't come out of 212 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: the pit, they couldn't go down and mine it. George, 213 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 1: who was back at Killingworth as a brakesman at this point, 214 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: would often stop by the pit and watch this new 215 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: coman try and fail to pump. And he had actually 216 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: told some of the mind managers when he saw this 217 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: engine installed that he thought it was defective, but he 218 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 1: was also just a brakesman, so his council was not 219 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: really considered in the decisions of the mechanics. He also 220 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: told one of the shaft sinkers those are the people 221 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: that drill down and create the shafts, that he thought 222 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:40,600 Speaker 1: he could probably fix that machine. After weeks of no progress, 223 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: with that engine. The sinker mentioned to his pause that 224 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: George Stevenson thought that he had a solution, and after 225 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: that information ran up the chain of command, it was 226 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 1: decided that letting a brakesman try his hand at a 227 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:57,000 Speaker 1: repair couldn't make things anything worse. According to the Smiles biography, 228 00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:00,319 Speaker 1: mining manager Ralph Dodds told George, quote, We'll give you 229 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: a fair trial and you must set to work immediately. 230 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:06,319 Speaker 1: We are clean, drowned out and cannot get a step further. 231 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: The engineers hereabouts are all bet and if you really 232 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: succeed in accomplishing what they cannot do, you may depend 233 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: on it. 234 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 2: I will make you a man for life. 235 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: So George, as we've established, was very familiar with nukeman engines. 236 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: He had worked with them from the time he was 237 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: a teenager. He had hands on experience tinkering with them 238 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,920 Speaker 1: in those early jobs. He insisted that he had to 239 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:33,280 Speaker 1: pick the team of mechanics that he was going to 240 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: work with. That caused some bruised egos. He also said 241 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: his team needed to be of all one political affiliation. 242 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:44,679 Speaker 1: They either all needed to be Whigs or they all 243 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,600 Speaker 1: needed to be Tories to avoid unnecessary friction and bickering 244 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:53,240 Speaker 1: among them. Holly did not find out which party they 245 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: kind of landed on. I'm kind of curious, was were 246 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: George's affiliations just flexible? I feel like George was not 247 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 1: terribly interested in politics. Okay, he was interested in engines. 248 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. 249 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: Once he had assembled his team, they took the entire 250 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:16,560 Speaker 1: engine apart, piece by piece, and this was a huge machine, 251 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: so it was a significant undertaking. Three days later the 252 00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: whole thing was back together, and at first it did 253 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: not seem like it was going to work any better 254 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: than when it first started. But within two days the 255 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: water in the mine had been completely pumped out. Ralph 256 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: Dodds made good on his promise. He gave Stevenson a 257 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: gift of ten pounds and then promoted him to the 258 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: role of engine men at. 259 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 2: The High Pit. 260 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: That came with a much higher salary than he had 261 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: ever gotten before. His responsibilities and income grew even more 262 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 1: the following year when the High Pit's engine right was 263 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,280 Speaker 1: killed in an accident and George inherited that job. Yeah, 264 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: he kind of moved into the position of management over 265 00:14:57,560 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: the other mechanics. Throughout all of his career, accomplishments and promotions. 266 00:15:03,600 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: George had sought out teachers to improve his knowledge, and 267 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,920 Speaker 1: he really wanted to improve his math skills. He would 268 00:15:10,920 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: get arithmetic assignments from this friend of his, John Wigham, 269 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: who was very skilled at math, and he would work 270 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:19,840 Speaker 1: out problems during downtime at work or in the evenings, 271 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,240 Speaker 1: and then he would present them to John for correction. 272 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: Wigham also taught George how to draw up plans and 273 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,880 Speaker 1: basic mechanical diagrams, and then the two men actually worked 274 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: together from a book to learn the laws of mechanics, 275 00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: which is the most charming, sweet thing I've ever heard. 276 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 1: Over the years, George was also seeing to his son, 277 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: Robert's education, and when he had still been earning a 278 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:45,880 Speaker 1: pretty meager wage, he had made the decision that Robert 279 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: would get an education. George later wrote, quote, in the 280 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: earlier period of my career, when Robert was a little boy, 281 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: I saw how deficient I was in education, and I 282 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: made up my mind that he should not labor under 283 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,360 Speaker 1: the same defect, but that I would put him in 284 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:05,520 Speaker 1: a good school and give him a liberal training. I was, however, 285 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: a poor man, and how do you think I managed. 286 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: I betook myself to mending my neighbor's clocks and watches 287 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: at night after my daily labor was done, and thus 288 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: I procured the means of educating my son. In eighteen fifteen, 289 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: when Robert was twelve, he started attending a day school 290 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:25,880 Speaker 1: in Newcastle. Yeah, in addition to all those side jobs, 291 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: this increase in pay really really helped make this plan 292 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:34,320 Speaker 1: come to fruition. This step in Robert's education also, though, 293 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: offers another glimpse into the ways that George continually sought 294 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,720 Speaker 1: to expand his own knowledge. So Robert would go to 295 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: school during the day, and then in the evenings George 296 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: would sit with Robert and review his homework. But this 297 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: wasn't a case of his father helping exactly, George was 298 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: taking the opportunity to follow along with Robert's studies so 299 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: that he could learn the same mathematical concepts that his 300 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: son was being taught. Or Che also gave his son 301 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,159 Speaker 1: assignments like building a sun dial for their cottage, so 302 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: that he would learn to apply his knowledge to practical uses, 303 00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:11,120 Speaker 1: and Robert, with the help of his father, did gain 304 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: enough of an understanding of astronomy and math to make 305 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,720 Speaker 1: that sun dial. They hung it outside their cottage and 306 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 1: George pointed it out to everyone who visited. He was 307 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: very proud of it, and it moved to Robert's home 308 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:28,440 Speaker 1: later in life. One of George Stevenson's first big achievements 309 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 1: as an inventor happened after he had visited another colliery 310 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:35,680 Speaker 1: to see their mobile steam boiler. This is a proto 311 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: locomotive invented by John Blankensop. Blankensop's wheeled steam boiler was 312 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:45,159 Speaker 1: intended to bring coal out of the mines, but that 313 00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: was a big ask. That Memphis machine had to be 314 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: able to run on the rails that had been tracked 315 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,919 Speaker 1: into the mine. But there were concerns about it that 316 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,040 Speaker 1: while it was powerful, it would never really have enough 317 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: grip to pull itself and a load of hole Blankensop 318 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,439 Speaker 1: came up with a solution, which was a ratchet wheel 319 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: that had teeth that would set into a special track 320 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: called a rack rail that had holes in it at 321 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: intervals matching up with the wheel teeth. Blankensop's engine was 322 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: really a marvel. It was natural for every engineer and 323 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 1: mechanic in England to want to see it, and it 324 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:25,680 Speaker 1: was ingenious, but it also had problems. The rack rail 325 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: tended to take a lot of strain, It needed a 326 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:31,600 Speaker 1: lot of repairs, and the one that Stevenson had gone 327 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: to look at had a boiler explosion not long after that. 328 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: While the coal industry was very interested in the idea 329 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:42,119 Speaker 1: of a locomotive, they were also a bit wary of 330 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,920 Speaker 1: the whole field up to that point. Yeah, anytime there's 331 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: a big, you know, disruptive change in technology, it's scary, 332 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 1: especially if it explodes. Horses worked just fine, and this 333 00:18:55,359 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: one came with obvious danger. This was not Stevenson's first 334 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,359 Speaker 1: experience with the idea of a mobile steam engine. He 335 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: had been thinking about these kinds of machines for a 336 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: while because the coal industry was really the driving force 337 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: behind their development, and a lot of people had been 338 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,240 Speaker 1: talking about them. Stevenson thought there had to be a 339 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:17,679 Speaker 1: way to make a mobile steam boiler that didn't have 340 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: the issues of reliability that Blankensops did, and he started 341 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: thinking about how the problem with the cogs might be solved. 342 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: He made a serious and methodical study of Blankensop's engine 343 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: and all of the other engine attempts that had been 344 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: developed in the early nineteenth century, and he made a 345 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: list of all of their shortcomings and then he set 346 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,240 Speaker 1: out to create something that would transcend all of those problems. 347 00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:42,680 Speaker 1: And when he went to the owners of the Killingworth 348 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: Minds to tell them that he wanted to invent a locomotive, 349 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 1: that word didn't exist, yet they gave him the money 350 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:53,480 Speaker 1: to do it. To be clear, that word, of course, 351 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: wasn't in use for railroad vehicles. It existed as a word, 352 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: but it was going to soon change. Stevenson in his 353 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: sh we called his project a traveling engine. Over the 354 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: course of several months, Stevenson and his crew worked to 355 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: bring together the machine, and the result was the Blucher, 356 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: which debuted on July twenty fifth, eighteen fourteen. It is 357 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: said to have been named after Gebhard Lebrech van Blucher, 358 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:21,640 Speaker 1: who defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in eighteen thirteen. 359 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:25,919 Speaker 1: Blucher outperformed the steam engines that inspired it, and it 360 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:29,600 Speaker 1: was able to haul thirty tons of coal distributed among 361 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:32,399 Speaker 1: eight wagons, at a rate of four miles an hour. 362 00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: It was put into work right away at the Killingworth Colliery, 363 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,439 Speaker 1: but Stevenson was not entirely happy with the Bluecher. Some 364 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: parts of the mechanic of it were kind of cramped. 365 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:45,239 Speaker 1: It would make them difficult to work on if there 366 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:48,080 Speaker 1: was need for repair, and it wasn't always the smoothest 367 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: in terms of movement. 368 00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 2: It would sometimes make. 369 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,840 Speaker 1: These jerky lurches forward as the various cylinders driving it 370 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:58,840 Speaker 1: fired one after another. Additionally, the important question of whether 371 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:02,479 Speaker 1: this machine was more efficient and cost effective than carts 372 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 1: pulled by horses was very much in doubt. Stevenson really 373 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:09,439 Speaker 1: looked at the Bluecher as a first draft, and he 374 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: really thought he could do better, so he kept working. 375 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: The major revision he made to the design was the 376 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:21,440 Speaker 1: steam blast. This is the process of redirecting exhaust steam 377 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:23,080 Speaker 1: up the engine's chimney. 378 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 2: The fuel for the engine was coal. 379 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: Burning coal heated the water in the boiler and that 380 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: created the steam that drove the pistons inside the cylinders, 381 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: which turned the wheels. Prior to redirecting it, the steam 382 00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 1: had run through the engine cylinders and the words of 383 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:43,200 Speaker 1: biographers Smiles quote was at first allowed to escape into 384 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 1: the open atmosphere with a hissing blast, to the terror 385 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: of horses and cattle. And watching the Blucher and analyzing 386 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: its performance, Stevenson noticed how much more power this steam 387 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: blast had than the smoke that left the chimney that 388 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:01,359 Speaker 1: bented off of the fire that heated the boiler. But 389 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: Stevenson suspected correctly that if he could run that steam 390 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: into the chimney through a pipe, then the air that 391 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: was pulled in after it would increase the draft. That 392 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: would significantly increase the intensity of the combustion in the furnace, 393 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: kind of like a bellows would at a forge. It 394 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,480 Speaker 1: would create more energy. After initially testing this idea on 395 00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: the Blucher, Stevenson started working on a second engine with 396 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: the steam blast incorporated into the design from the start, 397 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: and he patented this new design on February twenty eighth, 398 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:39,880 Speaker 1: eighteen fifteen. The next several years were prolific for Stevenson 399 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: as an inventor. He built an estimated sixteen locomotives at Killingworth. 400 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:48,920 Speaker 1: One of these locomotives, the Killingworth Billy, which Stevenson built 401 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: in eighteen sixteen, is in the collection of the Stevenson 402 00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: Steam Railway Museum. It is the oldest surviving locomotive built 403 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: by Stevenson, and this is in part because he would 404 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,040 Speaker 1: offer take apart earlier models to make new ones, so 405 00:23:03,119 --> 00:23:05,840 Speaker 1: there are not a lot of survivors among those reported. 406 00:23:05,880 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: Sixteen witnessing a number of horrific mining accidents in which 407 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: workers were injured and killed. Being very aware of the 408 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,920 Speaker 1: danger of fire damp that's methane gas that becomes highly 409 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,080 Speaker 1: flammable when mixed with air. That all led Stevenson to 410 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,200 Speaker 1: think about ways to improve the safety in the tunnels. 411 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: In one instance, he went right into a colliery Maine 412 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 1: that was on fire and asked for six brave men 413 00:23:32,119 --> 00:23:35,080 Speaker 1: to follow him so they could douse the flames. He 414 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: quickly worked with the volunteers to build a wall to 415 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: seal off the main, choking the fire out by depriving 416 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:45,720 Speaker 1: it of air. There were still several fatalities that day, 417 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,480 Speaker 1: but if George had not plunged into the pit with 418 00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: the idea to wall off this fire, a lot more 419 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: people would have died. In eighteen fifteen, George gave a 420 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: demonstration of the first iteration of a safety lamp that 421 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,160 Speaker 1: he had devised to allow illumination of mining pits while 422 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: preventing fires. His lamp, which involved a glass cylinder that 423 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,639 Speaker 1: was then encased in a tin sleeve, allowed air to 424 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 1: enter only through small holes. It had a slide on 425 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 1: the bottom that could be moved to, in his words, 426 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: regulate the quantity of air to be admitted. By the 427 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: time the design was refined. It also had several of 428 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: what he called capillary tubes that released air through a 429 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 1: series of apertures. A flame could not successfully make it 430 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,919 Speaker 1: through these tubes. Stevenson's lamp design, nicknamed the Jordie, was 431 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:36,040 Speaker 1: soon in regular use at Killingworth and other mines in 432 00:24:36,119 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: northern England. Of course, soon after that, Sir Humphrey Davy 433 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:43,639 Speaker 1: revealed his own safety lamp, and soon a battle was 434 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: being waged over who had invented it first. 435 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:48,800 Speaker 2: The supporters of each. 436 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,840 Speaker 1: Man became locked in a passionate debate about who should 437 00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:56,920 Speaker 1: get this accolade. Stevenson's working class upbringing worked against him 438 00:24:56,960 --> 00:25:01,200 Speaker 1: in scientific circles. A lot of the era of gentlemen scientist, 439 00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: a lot of them had lots of extra money lying around. 440 00:25:04,359 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: It seemed impossible that a colliery worker, and yes, even 441 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: one who had engineered these huge step forward and locomotive engines, 442 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,439 Speaker 1: could be an inventor on the same level of the 443 00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: renowned chemist an inventor Sir Humphrey Davy. Davey was given 444 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:23,000 Speaker 1: a two thousand pound award by the coal owners of England. 445 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:26,400 Speaker 1: They gave Stevenson a mere one hundred guineas as kind 446 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: of a consolation prize. Stevenson was insulted, and his friends 447 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: and supporters were furious and urged him to set that 448 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: record straight. Yeah, he apparently spoke very much with an accent. 449 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,199 Speaker 1: He did not sound like a refined gentleman from London, 450 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: and that really hurt him when he spoke about this invention, 451 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: even though he actually was first. That urging of his 452 00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,920 Speaker 1: friends resulted in a letter which was published in the papers, 453 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:56,359 Speaker 1: and then it was also published later as part of 454 00:25:56,359 --> 00:26:00,080 Speaker 1: a collection of many correspondences and documents on the MA. 455 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,000 Speaker 1: In George's open letter, which was dictated to his son, 456 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: he opened with quote, several of my friends having expressed 457 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,240 Speaker 1: a wish that I would lay an engraved plan of 458 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,240 Speaker 1: my safety lamp before the public, with as correct an 459 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:15,679 Speaker 1: account of the dates of that invention as I am able, 460 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 1: I have resolved to do so, and he included in 461 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,680 Speaker 1: this his designs was kind of a little pamphlet. He 462 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: notated the date of October twenty first, eighteen fifteen as 463 00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: the first time he tested his lamp in the mine, 464 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,280 Speaker 1: which was successful, with other tests following in the weeks 465 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,680 Speaker 1: directly after showing that he was working on his lamp 466 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: well before anyone knew of Davy's efforts, so he could 467 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:42,480 Speaker 1: not have copied him. Supporters in Northern England, through a 468 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: committee led by the Earl of Strathmore, CJ. Brambling, collected 469 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: money and awarded Stevenson one thousand pounds and a silver watch. 470 00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:54,120 Speaker 1: He was given these at a formal dinner. If George 471 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,439 Speaker 1: was chagrined that he didn't get enough recognition for his lamp, 472 00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: he didn't really need to worry. He was about to 473 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: embark on a series of projects that would really change 474 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: the world, and we'll get to that after a sponsor break. 475 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,600 Speaker 1: As the hubbub over the lamp debate died down, Stevenson 476 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,399 Speaker 1: turned his focus to the roads and railways used for 477 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: coal transport. This was a time when none of these 478 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,399 Speaker 1: things were standardized, and rail tracks were run right on 479 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:32,080 Speaker 1: the roads. As a matter of course, you can still 480 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: sometimes find roads that also have rail tracks embedded in them, 481 00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: but this was the only way you could find a 482 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,160 Speaker 1: rail At this point, Mines tended to put together their 483 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: own rails to carry coal out, and these were often 484 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:45,240 Speaker 1: bumpy and they caused needless wear and tear on the 485 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:49,040 Speaker 1: engines and cars because the rails would shift and cause bouncing. 486 00:27:49,080 --> 00:27:52,919 Speaker 1: None of them were really purpose designed. Those rails were 487 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: also often made of cast iron. That meant that they 488 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:56,879 Speaker 1: were brittle, so that. 489 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 2: Too needed to be considered. 490 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:02,119 Speaker 1: Stevenson worked to redesign the way that tracks were laid 491 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: so that they were smoother and less likely to break, 492 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: and he redesigned the wheels of locomotives so that they 493 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: worked better on these newly designed tracks. He also redesigned 494 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: the pistons and cylinders in the engine so that they 495 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: doubled as springs, which reduced the jerking and bouncing of 496 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: the engine when it did encounter bumps. In eighteen twenty, 497 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: Stevenson got married for a second time to a woman 498 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: named Elizabeth Heindmarsh. Betty, as she was called, was a 499 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: farmer's daughter. Betty's brother had introduced the two of them 500 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: a little more than a year before. There's not a 501 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 1: lot of information about Betty, but the two of them 502 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: seemed to have been very happy together. That same year 503 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,360 Speaker 1: that he got married eighteen twenty, he was hired to 504 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: build a brand new railway which needed to be eight 505 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: miles long. This was for the Hetton Colliery and the 506 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:54,480 Speaker 1: project took two years. The new line opened on November eighteenth, 507 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:57,640 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty two, and it was the first railway intended 508 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:01,800 Speaker 1: exclusively for use by engine and not animal drawn carts, 509 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 1: although some carts probably ran on it. George had sort 510 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 1: of invented an entirely new career in this move. He 511 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 1: was a builder of railroads. The next big railway project 512 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:18,280 Speaker 1: to come George Stevenson's way was the Stockton and Darlington Railway. 513 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: Stevenson did the survey work to lay out the path 514 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: of the railway himself, with several assistants. This project was 515 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:27,960 Speaker 1: to be twenty five miles long, so the survey work 516 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: took some time. Construction started in eighteen twenty three, and 517 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,840 Speaker 1: Stevenson's newly formed company, Stevenson and Company, was contracted to 518 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 1: build three steam engines for it. By this point, his 519 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: son Robert was working with him. One evening, over a 520 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: bottle of wine, Stevenson reportedly told his son and another 521 00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 1: man named John Dixon, quote, I venture to tell you 522 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:53,160 Speaker 1: that I think you will live to see the day 523 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,000 Speaker 1: when railways will supersede almost all other methods of conveyance 524 00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: in this country, when mail coaches will go by railway, 525 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,680 Speaker 1: and railroads will become the great highway for the King 526 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:06,720 Speaker 1: and all his subjects. The time is coming when it 527 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: will be cheaper for a working man to travel upon 528 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:13,200 Speaker 1: a railway than to walk on foot. I know there 529 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,200 Speaker 1: are great and almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered, but 530 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: what I have said will come to pass as sure 531 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,960 Speaker 1: as you live. I only wish I may live to 532 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,200 Speaker 1: see the day, though that I can scarcely hope, for 533 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,920 Speaker 1: as I know how slow all human progress is, and 534 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,640 Speaker 1: with what difficulty I have been able to get the 535 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 1: locomotive thus far adopted, notwithstanding my more than ten years 536 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: successful experiment at Killingworth. Yeah, he knew, he knew these 537 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,520 Speaker 1: were going to become important. The Stockton and Darlington line 538 00:30:44,560 --> 00:30:47,520 Speaker 1: opened on September twenty seventh, eighteen twenty five, with an 539 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:53,280 Speaker 1: engine named Locomotion pulling a passenger car called Experiment. Stevenson 540 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: drove the locomotion himself, and the people riding aboard Experiment 541 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,520 Speaker 1: were the first passengers to be conveyed by a steam 542 00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:04,080 Speaker 1: locomotive at times it moved as quickly as twelve miles 543 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: per hour. It seemed a dizzying speed at the time, 544 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,600 Speaker 1: although often it moved at a much slower pace of 545 00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,760 Speaker 1: four to six miles per hour. This railway was a 546 00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:16,720 Speaker 1: huge success, although the experiment passenger coach ended up being 547 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,960 Speaker 1: run by a contractor company and it was often drawn 548 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: by a horse rather than a steam engine. And while 549 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: initially this line was open for use by anyone who 550 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:28,920 Speaker 1: had a horse drawn wagon, it was sort of like 551 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 1: a public street. That policy was eventually rolled back because 552 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: it caused problems as more and more loads were running 553 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,200 Speaker 1: on the line via steam engine way too dangerous for 554 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: horses to be involved. In eighteen twenty six, the Liverpool 555 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 1: and Manchester Railway Act was passed in Parliament. After several 556 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:50,680 Speaker 1: years of preparations and surveying, This funded construction of the 557 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:54,880 Speaker 1: first ever intercity railway. George Stevenson had been on the 558 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 1: project since the summer of eighteen twenty four. As principal engineer. 559 00:31:59,040 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: He picked up the work of survey or named William James, 560 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:05,560 Speaker 1: who had conducted earlier analysis of the land and determined 561 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,920 Speaker 1: a path for the railway, but by the time Stevenson 562 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,120 Speaker 1: was brought on William James was in debtors prison. Stevenson 563 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: attempted to perform a new survey with some changes to 564 00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:19,280 Speaker 1: the route, but he ran into trouble with landowners who 565 00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:22,320 Speaker 1: did not want him or a railway on their property. 566 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: These were not people angrily shaking fists. They were making 567 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: serious threats and brandishing guns. So he ended up turning 568 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: in a revised version of James's work, and that was 569 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:38,560 Speaker 1: a mistake. James had been sloppy. He was a little 570 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:42,360 Speaker 1: bit it sounds like a flim flam man. There were 571 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:45,040 Speaker 1: errors in his survey and it was just not an 572 00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:48,160 Speaker 1: accurate representation of the land that the line was supposed 573 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: to pass through, and that meant that the cost estimate 574 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: that Stevenson had prepared based on the survey was also 575 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,040 Speaker 1: deeply flawed. He had underestimated its total cost by about 576 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,880 Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. He was questioned about 577 00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:05,000 Speaker 1: it all before the House of Commons and it became 578 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:08,280 Speaker 1: apparent he didn't really know what was going on with 579 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: that planned route. He was fired and replaced by brothers 580 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,760 Speaker 1: George and John Rennie, and after they ran into problems 581 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: with the board of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company. 582 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,480 Speaker 1: They were booted and Stevenson was back on the project, 583 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: although there were ongoing internal struggles. The surveyor that had 584 00:33:27,320 --> 00:33:30,760 Speaker 1: been brought on when the Rennies were hired, Charles Blackervignol, 585 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 1: quit because he and Stevenson did just not get along. 586 00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:38,440 Speaker 1: This was all such a huge and high stakes undertaking, 587 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,560 Speaker 1: it is kind of understandable that tensions would run high 588 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:45,880 Speaker 1: and people might clash, but it eventually shook out. This 589 00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 1: was a large enough project that Stevenson divided it into 590 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: thirds and assigned a construction superintendent to each ten mile section. 591 00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: Those were Joseph Locke, William Alcard and John Dixon. Stevenson 592 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: moved to Liverpool for the construction of the line and 593 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:06,760 Speaker 1: the work began. One of the most challenging segments, and 594 00:34:06,840 --> 00:34:10,240 Speaker 1: an area that had been much discussed during the hearings 595 00:34:10,239 --> 00:34:13,320 Speaker 1: on the survey, was a bog known as chat Moss. 596 00:34:14,080 --> 00:34:17,040 Speaker 1: The initial plan was that the bog would be drained, 597 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,600 Speaker 1: but that turned out to be impossible. Stephenson came up 598 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:23,560 Speaker 1: with the idea to float the railway on the bog. 599 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: After embankments had been shored up with dry Moss. It 600 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: took a lot longer than expected, and Stephenson was urged 601 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,080 Speaker 1: to abandon this whole plan numerous times, but he carried on, 602 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: employing hundreds of men to haul materials to dump into 603 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:42,440 Speaker 1: the bog and till this has finally worked. The floating 604 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,960 Speaker 1: railway worked and was often noted as being the. 605 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 2: Smoothest part of the line. 606 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:51,080 Speaker 1: This was not the only instance where the railway had 607 00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:54,960 Speaker 1: to cross less than ideal land to complete its course, 608 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: and there were sixty four bridges and viaducts built for 609 00:34:58,560 --> 00:35:04,040 Speaker 1: the project. Yeah, that Chatmoss Bridge is still there. Stevenson 610 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:06,719 Speaker 1: had made the shift away from cast iron for the 611 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,840 Speaker 1: rails and rod iron was used for the line. This 612 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:13,000 Speaker 1: was much more reliable. It was smoother than cast iron, 613 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,120 Speaker 1: and that was because it could be laid in much 614 00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:19,960 Speaker 1: longer lengths. He also established the gauge the distance between 615 00:35:20,080 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 1: rails at four feet eight and a half inches that's 616 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:27,600 Speaker 1: one four hundred and thirty five millimeters. There are a 617 00:35:27,680 --> 00:35:30,640 Speaker 1: number of different stories as to why that was the measurement. 618 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:34,360 Speaker 1: Some of them are quite fanciful and delightful. As we mentioned, 619 00:35:34,400 --> 00:35:38,400 Speaker 1: earlier railways and roads had not been standardized. Mining rails 620 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,560 Speaker 1: could be anywhere from four to five feet wide. The 621 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: most popular version of the story is that it was 622 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,919 Speaker 1: pretty standard for wagon wheels to be set at that width, 623 00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 1: like they would fall inside the rails, so if you 624 00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:53,759 Speaker 1: were sharing the road with a train, both vehicles could 625 00:35:53,800 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: work on it. That was what Stevenson had used at 626 00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: Killingsworth Colliery, and he continued to use it after that, 627 00:36:00,719 --> 00:36:04,360 Speaker 1: and this number eventually became known as the Stephenson gauge, 628 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:06,839 Speaker 1: and it was adopted as a standard gauge in the 629 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,880 Speaker 1: UK Gage Act of eighteen forty six. It's also standard 630 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:12,719 Speaker 1: for the most part around the world. I think I 631 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,799 Speaker 1: read a statistic that fifty five percent of railways still 632 00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:20,400 Speaker 1: use it. As the railway was under construction, another matter 633 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:23,960 Speaker 1: of debate arose, which was who would build the locomotives 634 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:28,680 Speaker 1: for it. Would it actually use steam locomotives. There had 635 00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,880 Speaker 1: been a push for the use of fixed engines along 636 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:35,400 Speaker 1: the length of the line that would power winched cables 637 00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:38,760 Speaker 1: that would attach to the various vehicles and propel them forward. 638 00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: Stevenson lobbied against this idea with just a lot of fervor, 639 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 1: and of course Stevenson wanted to be the one to 640 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: build the locomotives for the line. There were other contenders, though, 641 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: and a contest was announced with a five hundred pound 642 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,719 Speaker 1: prize to see who could build the best locomotive. This 643 00:36:56,880 --> 00:36:59,760 Speaker 1: was also a test to see if locomotive power really 644 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: was that's the best way. As early work on the 645 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:07,719 Speaker 1: Liverpool in Manchester rail was underway, George's favorite collaborator, his 646 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:11,399 Speaker 1: son Robert, was out of the country. Robert had been 647 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,279 Speaker 1: in South America since the summer of eighteen twenty four, 648 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:18,280 Speaker 1: and that travel happened for two reasons. One, the silver 649 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,960 Speaker 1: and gold mines in South America were in desperate need 650 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:24,880 Speaker 1: of engineers, and two Robert had been ill for some time, 651 00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,360 Speaker 1: possibly with tuberculosis. It gets mentioned, but it's unclear, and 652 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,799 Speaker 1: his doctor had suggested that he spend time in a 653 00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: warmer climate. So off he went. And when Robert returned 654 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: to England in late eighteen twenty seven, he was immediately 655 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: put to work on the design and construction of a 656 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:45,799 Speaker 1: new locomotive for this contest. Robert designed an engine known 657 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,560 Speaker 1: as Rocket in close collaboration with his father. At this point, 658 00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: Robert was working in their locomotive shop and George was 659 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:55,040 Speaker 1: in Liverpool and continuing to work. 660 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 2: On the railway. 661 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,799 Speaker 1: The Rocket and the other competitors got to Liverpool for 662 00:37:59,840 --> 00:38:03,839 Speaker 1: the the Rainhill Trials in October of eighteen twenty nine. 663 00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,359 Speaker 1: There were five competitors total, including the Rocket, the sam 664 00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: Peril built by Timothy Hackworth, the Novelty built by the 665 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:17,320 Speaker 1: engineering firm of Brathwaite and Ericson, the Perseverance from Timothy 666 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:21,920 Speaker 1: Burstall of Edinburgh, and the Cycloped built by Thomas Brandreth. 667 00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:27,440 Speaker 1: The Cycloped was immediately eliminated because it used horse power, 668 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,560 Speaker 1: which was against the rules of the competition, but it 669 00:38:30,600 --> 00:38:33,520 Speaker 1: really was no competition. None of the other engines could 670 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,080 Speaker 1: even finish and they had to withdraw. The Rocket not 671 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:39,960 Speaker 1: only competed the trial, it hit twenty nine miles an 672 00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:42,319 Speaker 1: hour at one point, and it handily whipped through the 673 00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:46,319 Speaker 1: trials like pushing and pulling carts filled with stones. When 674 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:50,360 Speaker 1: the Liverpool and Manchester line opened on September fifteenth, eighteen thirty, 675 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,360 Speaker 1: Stevenson Locomotives were the engines that ran it. Yeah, that 676 00:38:54,360 --> 00:38:56,879 Speaker 1: one's kind of funny because a lot of people rode 677 00:38:56,920 --> 00:38:59,440 Speaker 1: in saying they were going to participate, but only this 678 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:03,040 Speaker 1: handful actually finished anything that they could bring and there 679 00:39:03,160 --> 00:39:06,480 Speaker 1: was another entry. I'm using air quotes because it was 680 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: pulled by two guys. It wasn't even a forest power 681 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:11,959 Speaker 1: and they were like no, no, no, no, no, don't 682 00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:15,839 Speaker 1: even get on the track. From that moment, George Stevenson 683 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,279 Speaker 1: was so in demand that he had to constantly turn 684 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:23,160 Speaker 1: down jobs. He worked on multiple railway lines that slowly 685 00:39:23,160 --> 00:39:27,680 Speaker 1: connected all of England's major municipalities. He also consulted and 686 00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:30,600 Speaker 1: worked on many projects both in Europe and North America. 687 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:34,760 Speaker 1: When the Institute of Mechanical Engineers was founded in eighteen 688 00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:38,200 Speaker 1: forty seven in London, he was the group's first president. 689 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 1: By that point, his second wife, Betty, had died, and 690 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,680 Speaker 1: he was as retired as someone who seems dedicated to 691 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,439 Speaker 1: their work ever is. After he was widowed a second time, 692 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:51,920 Speaker 1: he became even more interested in things he had long loved, 693 00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: like gardening and cultivating unusual flora. He invented a method 694 00:39:56,719 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: to grow a perfectly straightened cucumber. He basically grew the 695 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,200 Speaker 1: fruit in a glass tube, so his retirement sounds kind 696 00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:07,799 Speaker 1: of idyllic. On July twenty sixth, eighteen forty eight, he 697 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:10,239 Speaker 1: read a paper at a meeting of the Institute of 698 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:14,360 Speaker 1: Mechanical Engineers titled on the Fallacies of the Rotary Engine. 699 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 1: That was the last time he attended a meeting. Stevenson 700 00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:21,560 Speaker 1: died on August twelfth, eighteen forty eight, after about a 701 00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:25,160 Speaker 1: fever in Chesterfield, where he lived at the end of 702 00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,719 Speaker 1: his life. All the businesses closed on the day of 703 00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: the funeral, and there was a parade of railroad workers 704 00:40:31,160 --> 00:40:34,480 Speaker 1: that followed his casket to Trinity Church where he was buried. 705 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:37,680 Speaker 1: Of course, his son went on to also do a 706 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,520 Speaker 1: lot of great things. Perhaps we will do an episode 707 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,440 Speaker 1: on Robert in the future. I don't know yet. There 708 00:40:43,440 --> 00:40:46,520 Speaker 1: are memorials to George Stevenson all over the world in 709 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:49,400 Speaker 1: various places, because he really did change the world for 710 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:50,280 Speaker 1: better or worse. 711 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:53,040 Speaker 2: We think about the railroad. 712 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,880 Speaker 1: Barons in the US, and maybe it feels like for 713 00:40:55,960 --> 00:41:00,799 Speaker 1: worse but progress. I have a que listener mail that 714 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:05,239 Speaker 1: references my Ben Franklin plan. Oh hurray, I wrote our 715 00:41:05,360 --> 00:41:08,120 Speaker 1: self help episodes, and since he first came up in 716 00:41:08,120 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: the self help episode for me, not first, but recently, 717 00:41:11,680 --> 00:41:12,879 Speaker 1: I thought it would be a good way to book 718 00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:16,480 Speaker 1: end it. This is from our listener Kelsey, who writes, Hi, 719 00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:20,160 Speaker 1: Holly and Tracy, Happy New Year. I'm listening to you 720 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:23,120 Speaker 1: discuss your endless quest to get rid of stuff and 721 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:26,680 Speaker 1: not to accumulate more stuff while very slowly unpacking from 722 00:41:26,680 --> 00:41:29,640 Speaker 1: my trip home for Christmas. I am very lucky to 723 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:32,560 Speaker 1: have such generous friends and family, but the prospect of 724 00:41:32,560 --> 00:41:35,120 Speaker 1: finding places for the new stuff and needing to pare 725 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:37,879 Speaker 1: down the old stuff to make room is paralyzing. 726 00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:39,680 Speaker 2: Baby, I feel you. 727 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: I guess we share Ben franklin struggle with orderliness. I 728 00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:46,200 Speaker 1: disagree with him that you're a more virtuous person if 729 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:48,799 Speaker 1: you're tidy, but sometimes it's nice if your life at 730 00:41:48,880 --> 00:41:52,040 Speaker 1: least looks like it's in order. Thanks for the spooky, 731 00:41:52,160 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: timely inspiration to just try. We'll never be Marie Condo, 732 00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,800 Speaker 1: but I'm sure we can approach the orderliness we desire, 733 00:41:58,880 --> 00:42:01,719 Speaker 1: if only for a little while until we inevitably have 734 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,920 Speaker 1: to do a stuff purge again. Thanks for making history 735 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:07,919 Speaker 1: interesting and relevant to our present lives. I hope twenty 736 00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:11,200 Speaker 1: twenty six treats you both well. Attached our pictures of 737 00:42:11,239 --> 00:42:14,040 Speaker 1: my very good boy Scooter, who I adopted last summer. 738 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,760 Speaker 1: He's my second black cat, and from my own scientific research, 739 00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:21,880 Speaker 1: I can confirm that black cats are the best. Kelsey, 740 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,359 Speaker 1: black cats are the best. There's a reason that black 741 00:42:24,360 --> 00:42:29,600 Speaker 1: cats are delightful, and it's because of a recessive allele 742 00:42:29,719 --> 00:42:34,960 Speaker 1: called the non Agouti allele in their genetics, which eliminates 743 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:37,040 Speaker 1: it's actually a recessive gene, but it's very common, so 744 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:41,920 Speaker 1: don't let recessive confuse you. It eliminates the striping that 745 00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:45,520 Speaker 1: you would find in non solid color cats, particularly dark 746 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:51,799 Speaker 1: color cats, and it also is related to how dopamine 747 00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: receptivity happens in utero, so there is actually some science 748 00:42:57,080 --> 00:43:00,879 Speaker 1: behind the idea that black cats tend to be really sweet. Anyways, 749 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,040 Speaker 1: our ones are really sweets, la meet it. They're sweet 750 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: and Scooter is cute as pie. He looks like he 751 00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:13,600 Speaker 1: might get into some adorable trouble. There is one particular 752 00:43:13,640 --> 00:43:16,359 Speaker 1: picture of him on his back and what I call 753 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:20,440 Speaker 1: baby harp seal position because we have a cat that 754 00:43:20,480 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: doesn't a lot and he looks so sweet and I 755 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,560 Speaker 1: just tint a pet a litt dubbie. Now he's precious. 756 00:43:25,600 --> 00:43:27,400 Speaker 1: I have no doubt he is an angel and an 757 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:30,040 Speaker 1: absolute delight. Thank you so much for writing to us. 758 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:32,319 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us and share 759 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:34,840 Speaker 1: your pet pictures. You don't have to have pet pictures. 760 00:43:34,960 --> 00:43:36,799 Speaker 1: You can just write to us. He can't send us 761 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:39,719 Speaker 1: pictures if you want or not. You can do that 762 00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:43,360 Speaker 1: at History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can also 763 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,799 Speaker 1: find the show on the iHeartRadio app and subscribe there 764 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:55,680 Speaker 1: or anywhere you listen to your favorite podcasts. Stuff you 765 00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,840 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. For 766 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:03,560 Speaker 1: more podcasts iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 767 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:05,520 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.