Richard Trevithick 1771 - 1833

Richard Trevithick's invention is considered the first tramway locomotive, however, it was a road locomotive, designed for a road and not for a railroad. However, Trevithick's accomplishments were many and the inventor did not fully recieve the credit he was due during his lifetime.  "I have been branded with folly and madness for attempting what the world calls impossibilities, and even from the great engineer, the late Mr. James Watt, who said to an eminent scientific character still living, that I deserved hanging for bringing into use the high-pressure engine. This so far has been my reward from the public; but should this be all, I shall be satisfied by the great secret pleasure and laudable pride that I feel in my own breast from having been the instrument of bringing forward and maturing new principles and new arrangements of boundless value to my country.

However much I may be straitened in pecunary circumstances, the great honour of being a useful subject can never be taken from me, which to me far exceeds riches". - Richard Trevithick in a letter to Davies Gilbert

Richard Trevithick
The first locomotive in the world was built by Richard Trevithick in 1804.
Richard Trevithick - Biography
Richard Trevithick, was born in Illogan, Cornwall, in 1771.
Richard Trevithick 1771-1833
He was a pioneer of the Industrial Revolution and undoubtedly one of the greatest engineers to have ever lived.
Richard Trevithick and the Cornish Boiler
His first contribution to steam development came when he used higher pressure steam, and got around the Watt patent by dispensing with the separate condenser.
Richard Trevithick (1771-1833)
A short biography and list of patents.
Richard Trevithick
By Jeffrey Ezell 'The Father of the Locomotive Engine' was credited with many inventions over his lifetime, including the steam carriage, the steam barge, the portable agricultural engine, and the screw propeller.
Richard Trevithick
The son of a Cornish mine captain was not simply an engineer - he was inventor (his railway engines were running a decade before George Stephenson's) a visionary and an adventurer. But he still ended his life in poverty wondering how it all went wrong.