George Stephenson, "Locomotion No. 1", 1825

George Stephenson, "Locomotion No. 1", 1825

Locomotion No. 1 (original name Active) is the first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public rail line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Built by George and Robert Stephenson's company Robert Stephenson and Company in 1824. Locomotion used all the improvements that Stephenson had pioneered in the Killingworth locomotives. It used high-pressure steam from a centrer-flue boiler, with a steam-blast in the chimney, to drive two vertical cylinders, enclosed within the boiler. A pair of yokes above them transmitted the power downwards, through pairs of connecting rods. It made use of a loose eccentric valve gear, and was the first locomotive to use coupling rods to link its driving wheels together, rather than through a chain or gears.

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40.6 x 22.4 cm | 16.0 x 8.8 in (300 dpi)