page_title: George Stephenson
section_title: Stockton and Darlington Railway
hierarchical_section_title: George Stephenson / Stockton and Darlington Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: The Experiment - the first Railway carriage. This was delivered to the Stockton and Darlington Railway the day before the opening on 27th September 1835. George Stephenson had it built in Newcastle and it was used to convey the directors. The rest of the 600 passengers were conveyed in coal wagons provided with benches. After the opening. the Experiment was let to contractors who used it as a horse drawn carriage, starting 10th October 1825, covering the twelve miles between the two towns in two hours at a flat rate of one shilling. Passengers were allowed 14lbs of luggage free.
context_page_description: George Stephenson was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for improvement. Self-help advocate Samuel Smiles particularly praised his achievements. His chosen rail gauge, sometimes called 'Stephenson gauge', was the basis for the 4 feet 8 ¹⁄₂ inches standard gauge used by most of the world's railways.
  Pioneered by Stephenson, rail transport was one of the most important technological inventions of the 19th century and a key component of the Industrial Revolution. Built by George and his son Robert's company Robert Stephenson and Company, the Locomotion No. 1 is the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825. George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830.
context_section_description: In 1821, a parliamentary bill was passed to allow the building of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR). The 25-mile (40 km) railway connected collieries near Bishop Auckland to the River Tees at Stockton, passing through Darlington on the way. The original plan was to use horses to draw coal carts on metal rails, but after company director Edward Pease met Stephenson, he agreed to change the plans.
  Stephenson surveyed the line in 1821, and assisted by his eighteen-year-old son Robert, construction began the same year.
  A manufacturer was needed to provide the locomotives for the line. Pease and Stephenson had jointly established a company in Newcastle to manufacture locomotives. It was set up as Robert Stephenson and Company, and George's son Robert was the managing director. A fourth partner was Michael Longridge of Bedlington Ironworks. On an early trade card, Robert Stephenson & Co was described as "Engineers, Millwrights & Machinists, Brass & Iron Founders". In September 1825 the works at Forth Street, Newcastle completed the first locomotive for the railway: originally named Active, it was renamed Locomotion and was followed by Hope, Diligence and Black Diamond. The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened on 27 September 1825. Driven by Stephenson, Locomotion hauled an 80-ton load of coal and flour nine miles (14 km) in two hours, reaching a speed of 24 miles per hour (39 kilometres per hour) on one stretch. The first purpose-built passenger car, Experiment, was attached and carried dignitaries on the opening journey. It was the first time passenger traffic had been run on a steam locomotive railway.
  The rails used for the line were wrought-iron, produced by John Birkinshaw at the Bedlington Ironworks. Wrought-iron rails could be produced in longer lengths than cast-iron and were less liable to crack under the weight of heavy locomotives. William Losh of Walker Ironworks thought he had an agreement with Stephenson to supply cast-iron rails, and Stephenson's decision caused a permanent rift between them. The gauge Stephenson chose for the line was 4 feet 8 ¹⁄₂ inches (1,435 mm) which subsequently was adopted as the standard gauge for railways, not only in Britain, but throughout the world.
caption: The Experiment – the first railway carriage
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