21 episodes

George Stephenson did not invent the steam engine, that was due to Newcomen and later to James Watt. He did not invent the steam locomotive, that was due to a number of people including Cugnot, Trevithick and others. He did not invent the Railway. Railways or tramways had been in use for two hundred years before Stephenson.

The reason why Stephenson was known as ‘The father of the steam locomotive’ was that he took a primitive, unreliable and wholly uneconomic device and turning it into an efficient machine not very different to those which ran until fifty or so years ago, married it with the iron rail and alone, and against considerable opposition,began, via the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and then the London and Birmingham Railway, the development of steam railways in England and the world.

George Stephenson began life in 1781 in the worst and poorest of all circumstances, he did not learn to read until he was twenty years old, but he, together with his son Robert, became the foremost engineers in the railway world.

If, in the middle years of the nineteenth century you wanted to build a railway, then, if you wanted it big bold and imaginative you might go to Mr. Brunel. If you wanted it to pay however, you would go to the Sephensons. (Summary by AJM)

George and Robert Stephenson by Samuel Smiles (1812 - 1904‪)‬ LibriVox

    • Arts
    • 1.0 • 1 Rating

George Stephenson did not invent the steam engine, that was due to Newcomen and later to James Watt. He did not invent the steam locomotive, that was due to a number of people including Cugnot, Trevithick and others. He did not invent the Railway. Railways or tramways had been in use for two hundred years before Stephenson.

The reason why Stephenson was known as ‘The father of the steam locomotive’ was that he took a primitive, unreliable and wholly uneconomic device and turning it into an efficient machine not very different to those which ran until fifty or so years ago, married it with the iron rail and alone, and against considerable opposition,began, via the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and then the London and Birmingham Railway, the development of steam railways in England and the world.

George Stephenson began life in 1781 in the worst and poorest of all circumstances, he did not learn to read until he was twenty years old, but he, together with his son Robert, became the foremost engineers in the railway world.

If, in the middle years of the nineteenth century you wanted to build a railway, then, if you wanted it big bold and imaginative you might go to Mr. Brunel. If you wanted it to pay however, you would go to the Sephensons. (Summary by AJM)

    Introduction Part 2

    Introduction Part 2

    • 30 min
    Chapter 1 Newcastle and the Great Northern Coal Field

    Chapter 1 Newcastle and the Great Northern Coal Field

    • 19 min
    Chapter 2 George Stephenson's Early Years

    Chapter 2 George Stephenson's Early Years

    • 35 min
    Chapter 3 Engineman at Willington Quay

    Chapter 3 Engineman at Willington Quay

    • 29 min
    Chapter 4 The Stephensons at Killingworth

    Chapter 4 The Stephensons at Killingworth

    • 27 min
    Chapter 5 Early History of the Locomotive

    Chapter 5 Early History of the Locomotive

    • 49 min

Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

Top Podcasts In Arts

Fresh Air
NPR
The Moth
The Moth
99% Invisible
Roman Mars
Fashion People
Audacy | Puck
Fantasy Fangirls
Fantasy Fangirls
McCartney: A Life in Lyrics
iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries