trevithick

Richard Trevithick was born in Illogan Cornwall in 1771.
He started work for his father at Wheal Treasury mine and very soon it was revealed that he had an aptitude for engineering. After making important improvements to the Bull Steam Engine Trevithick was promoted to the engineer of the Ding Dong mine at Penzance. While there he developed a high pressure engine that was soon in great demand in Cornwall and South Wales for raising copper ore and coal from the mines. Trevithick also began to experiment to produce a steam locomotive.
His first steam loco was in fact a miniature and by 1796 had manufactured one that worked. The boiler and engine were in one piece; hot water was put into the boiler and a red hot iron was placed into a tube underneath; thus raising the steam.


	Trevithick then began working on a full sized road steam engine and by 1801used it to take a party of friends on a short journey. This loco became known as Puffing Devil but it could only go on short trips as he was unable to find a way to keep up a head of steam for any length of time. Despite these early setbacks Trevithick travelled to London to show off his road locomotive. In 1803 a company called Vivian & West agreed to finance more experiments. Trevithick exhibited his new loco in London but after a couple of days the loco developed serious problems that prevented it from pulling a carriage. The sponsors were disappointed with the lack of success and withdrew from the project. A new sponsor was soon found and in 1804 Trevithick produced the world's first steam engine to run successfully on rails. The locomotive with its single vertical cylinder, 8 foot flywheel and long piston rod, managed to haul ten tons of iron seventy passengers and five wagons from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal. During this journey the locomotive reached speeds of five miles an hour.

	The Penydarren locomotive only made three journeys and each time the seven ton steam engine broke the cast iron rails. Trevithick's sponsor Samuel Homfray came to the conclusion that this method of transport was far too costly for his business so he withdrew his support from the project. Trevithick was now employed by Christopher Blackett who owned the

Wylam Collieryin Northumberland. A five mile wooden wagonway had been built in 1748 to take coal from Wylam to the River Tyne and Blackett wanted a locomotive that would replace the use of horse-drawn coal wagons. The Wylam locomotive was built but at five tons was far too heavy for Blacket's wooden track.
Trevithick returned to his native Cornwall and there developed a new locomotive which he called Catch Me Who Can (shown above.) In 1808 Trevithick erected a circular railtrack in London and during the summer of that year people could ride on his locomotive for a fare of one shilling. Once again the problem with the breaking of cast iron rails forced him to abandon his enterprise.

Totally now without financial backing Richard Trevithick had to abandon his plans to develop a steam locomotive so he now found work with a company who paid him to develop a steam dredger to lift waste from the bottom of the river Thames. He was paid by results receiving sixpence for every ton lifted but finding it an unprofitable venture he accepted an offer to work as an engineer in Peru. After some initial difficulties Trevithick's steam engines were very successful and he was able to buy himself into some silver mines. However war broke out and he was forced to flee the country leaving behind all his new found wealth. Trevithick eventually ended up in Columbia where he met George Stephenson who was building a railway in that country. Stephenson generously gave Trevithick the fare back to England.
All future projects failed for one reason or another and Trevithick died in poverty at the Bull Inn at


	Dartford on 22nd April 1833 and was buried in Dartford churchyard.