Trevithick called this engine ‘Catch me who can.’ It ran
on a circular track railway in London in 1808. The drawing is on a
ticket, for those who came to look or dared to take a ride.
Anyone interested in steam will be fascinated by the story of
Richard Trevithick, Englishman who invented the high-pressure
engine and the first railway locomotive.
Trevithick was born in 1771, before the American Revolution, and
died in 1833. An erratic genius of immense physical strength, he
made his first models of high-pressure engines in 1797, one
stationary and one a little locomotive.
Steam exhausting from the cylinder went straight into the
atmosphere. There was no condenser, and by this means Trevithick
avoided a patent which had been issued earlier to James Watt.
In 1801, Trevithick built the first full-sized road locomotive
in Britain. In a test on Christmas Eve, it successfully carried men
uphill. A few days later, however, it was taken off the road
because of a mishap, and placed under a shed. The driver and crew
repaired to a nearby inn for food and comfort. They had such a good
time they forgot about the engine. The water boiled away, the iron
became red hot, and the engine and the shelter both burned.
Trevithick went on to invent the Cornish boiler. He traveled to
South America and fought for Simon Bolivar, the liberator, for whom
he invented a carbine.
His amazing story is told in a soft-bound book, ‘Richard
Trevithick,’ well illustrated. Order from Stemgas Publishing
Company, Box 328, Lancaster, PA 17604. $3.50 postpaid.
TREVITH1CKS, PORTABLE STEAM ENGINE.
