Civil and mechanical engineer
The combination of George Stephenson’s achievements in both civil and mechanical engineering has directly influenced much of our railway infrastructure. He foresaw a national network of lines, running at a ‘standard gauge’ with minimal gradients. Routes he surveyed and structures he designed and built are still in use today. For this pioneering work he is known as the father of the railways.
1799: George himself pays for lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic.
1802：George Marres Frances Henderson。
1803:罗伯特,唯一的儿子乔治和弗朗西斯是薄熙来rn.
1806: Frances Stephenson dies.
1814：乔治在泰恩州纽卡斯尔靠近纽卡斯尔附近的Killingworth Polliery建造他的第一个蒸汽机车。
1815：2月：乔治获得改进蒸汽机车的专利，排气蒸汽在火上提供射线，纯粹通过粘附工作。
1819：乔治监督达伦姆Co.Co.Co.Coderam的铁路建设，这将涉及由文具蒸汽发动机的蒸汽机车和绳索运输。
1820：3月29日，斯蒂芬森第二次嫁给;伊丽莎白哈德马什。
1821: 19 April, Stockton & Darlington Railway authorised.
1823：S＆DR的建设开始。预期对机车的需求随着铁路的发展，乔治斯蒂芬森在泰恩州纽卡斯尔的公司罗伯特·斯蒂芬森＆公司设立了建造和供应机车发动机。
1824: George establishes George Stephenson & Son, ‘an office for engineering and railway surveying’ with his son Robert appointed as chief engineer.
1824：乔治任命工程师到利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路，但被视为铁路在议会失败的计划被驳回。
1825: 27 September: S&DR opens using steam locomotives from Robert Stephenson & Co.
1826：为利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路担保。Stephenson重新任命首席工程师。
1830:9月15日：利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路开业。
1830's: George acts as engineer to several railways.
1845: George Stephenson retires from railway engineering. His second wife Elizabeth dies.
1847: George founds the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is appointed its first President.
1848: 11 January, Stephenson marries a third time to Ellen Gregory, his housekeeper. 12 August: George dies at Chesterfield and is buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity church.
George Stephenson was born at Wylam, near Newcastle upon Tyne. Without a formal education, at the age of 18 Stephenson paid for his own lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic and quickly displayed considerable mechanical aptitude. His early career was spent working on different types of industrial machinery particularly at collieries in the North East at a time when the industry was expanding rapidly to satisfy the demand of the mills and factories at the start of the industrial revolution. New technologies such as steam engines and fixed rails for easy transportation were being developed for its exploitation.
During the early 19th century, George Stephenson held a number of different jobs around the north east and in Scotland, working on and looking after these early industrial machines. These were hard times, particularly after his first wife (and mother of Robert) died in 1806. However, things began to change when in 1811 Stephenson successfully identified and then fixed a problem with a Newcomen engine which had been installed at a mine belonging to a group of wealthy and influential north east businessmen. They were so impressed with Stephenson’s ability and approach, they put him in charge of all machinery at all of their pits, and paid him an annual salary of £100 per year. For the next ten years while at Killingworth colliery George Stephenson undertook many different experiments and projects relating to steam engines, locomotives and rails, including building his first steam locomotive, Blucher, the first to use flanged wheels rolling on a smooth iron rail. During this time he formulated the ideas that would inform his work on the early railways for which he was to become famous.
Father of the railways
In 1821 the Stockton & Darlington Railway was authorised. Edward Pease, its chief promoter, wanted to enhance transport links between collieries in County Durham and trade routes to London. The line was originally designed to be hauled by horses. However, having been convinced by Stephenson’s experiments with rails and steam engines at Killingworth, the Stockton & Darlington Railway recruited him as engineer to the new railway. George, assisted by his son Robert, surveyed the line and drew up plans for a railway which was to be the first in the world designed specifically to use locomotives. Parliament passed the Stockton & Darlington Railway Act and the first iron rail was laid on 23 May 1823. The 26 mile line of the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened for traffic on 27th September 1825, running Locomotion No1, built at Robert Stephenson & Co in Newcastle. The influence of the original plan for the railway for use by horse and cart influenced George’s use of what was to become known as ‘standard gauge’. – 4ft 8 1/2 in between the rails.
Stephenson的成功与斯托克顿和达林顿铁路享受意味着他对其他刚刚岭铁路项目的需求很多。他很快被利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路招募，被任命为他们的总工程师带着他的助理约瑟夫洛克。Stephenson理解，为了最大限度地效率，必须保持梯度。为了保持尽可能水平，建立利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路包括主要的土木工程在未见的规模上，例如在Sankey高架桥，雨艇上的偏斜桥，游艇隧道和橄榄山的切割。Railhill试验于1829年10月在新铁路上定居了一次，由Robert Stephenson＆Co建造的新铁路作为火箭，证明发动机可以快速可靠。利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路 - 世界上第一家街道铁路 - 1830年9月15日开放，伟大的仪式，乔治在游行中开车火箭。
The success of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway secured George Stephenson’s position, and he became associated with many railway projects mainly in the north midlands and south Pennines during the 1830s, including linking the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with lines to Birmingham (the Grand Junction Railway) and Leeds (the Manchester & Leeds Railway). By the 1840s George Stephenson stepped back from railway engineering, concentrating instead on his interests in mining. Younger engineers such as his son Robert Stephenson, Joseph Locke and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were driving the construction and development of the railway forward. During this time he was a founder of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and was appointed its first President in 1847, shortly before his death in Chesterfield on 12 August 1848.
你知道吗？
George Stephenson’s use of the ‘standard gauge’ was influenced by horse and carts. Carts were traditionally made with 5ft between the wheels, in proportion with the size of an average work horse. Early trackways for use by horse and cart used a dimension of around 4ft 8in, By the time Stephenson was designing the S&DR and the L&MR this dimension was already a well recognised measure. A gauge of 4ft 8 1/2in is still used today as the standard for railways around the world, including ours.