I've got some locomotions

Comemortive Stamp of George Stephenson
(1781-1848)

     I have a great passion for railway history and today marks the 234th birthday of George Stephenson, the renowned innovator of the steam locomotive.  When I found out about this my mind was quickly thrown back to grade 12 in high school, when I took a general Western Civilization course.  Upon arriving at the Industrial Revolution, we were told that George Stephenson build the Rocket, the grandfather of modern steam engines.  In actual fact, George Stephenson's son, Robert, was the one behind the Rocket, though his father did build another engine known as Locomotion.  So determined was I to prove that this was wrong that I brought one of my train encyclopaedias to class to make my point!  This was rekindled when the text book for one of my classes said the same thing, so I wrote an entire essay for my final assignment outlining the history of the steam locomotive from Watt's steam engine to the Rainhill Trials.

An artist's rendering of Trevithick's famous wager along the Pen-y-Darren Tramway in 1804.

     Though Stephenson and his son are often remembered for bringing the steam locomotive to the forefront of public transport, few seem to remember Richard Trevithick the Cornish inventor and mining engineer.  Trevithick's Puffing Devil set the stage for people like Stephenson to get in on the railway game by proving that the steam engine had the power to pull goods and passengers.  This was cemented February 1804 when Trevithick was challenged to use his innovation to haul 11 tons across the 10 mile Pen-y-Darren Tramway to Glamorganshire Canal in Abercynon.
     Though not quite the epic that was Rainhill, Pen-y-Darren wager is something that too needs to be remembered and shood be noted as an important stepping stone in the evolution of railways.  I'm not trying to undermine George Stephenson's efforts, I'm merely showing that he wasn't the one who kicked off the railway boom.  Even Stephenson recognized the importance of Trevithick and supported his predocessor in his later years when Trevithick fell into hard times.

J. M. Turner's Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway (1839).

Bibliography
"Cifunderground." Cifunderground. Accessed June 9, 2015.

 "Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway." Joseph Mallord William Turner. Accessed June 9, 2015.
 
"Stamp Catalog : Stamp ‹ Industrial Revolution- George Stephenson, Railways." Stamp: Industrial Revolution- George Stephenson, Railways (United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland) (Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution) Mi:GB 2739,Sg:GB 2920,WAD:GB043.09,Un:GB 3255. Accessed June 9, 2015.