science · 13 July 1779 · 245 years ago
birth
Born 13 Jul 1779; died 9 Jan 1843 at age 63.
English coal-mine official and inventor who was probably the first to build a commercially useful steam locomotive dependent on friction between wheels and rails (as prevails in modern times) as opposed to using a geared track. He tested this method by experimenting with a test carriage loaded with weights and moved by men turning handles. Once satisfied that a friction-driven design was feasible, he began building and improving a satisfactory locomotive. He patented this design on 13 Mar 1813. The same year, his locomotive, Puffing Billy, began to pull coal trucks on a five mile line from a mine at Wylam, Northumberland, to dockside on the River Tyne. It was the first locomotive to haul 50-ton coal wagons. The track was damaged by the locomotive's weight so it was soon rebuilt on eight wheels but later reverted to four, perhaps after stronger cast-iron edge rails were laid in about 1828. Puffing Billy was retired 6 Jun 1862. It is now preserved at the Science Museum, London.
OnThisDay.net