In 1804 a Cornishman by the name of Richard Trevithick made the first steam locomotive to run on rails, and as early as 1801 Parliament had already passed an act establishing the principle of a public railway. But as with any radical innovation, there was considerable skepticism that a steam-powered engine could ever replace the stagecoach and horse, and investors were hard to come by. The first public railway in England, which ran from Manchester to Liverpool, did not in fact exist until 1830. In the fall of 1829 the Raintree Trials were held on a portion of that line to determine who would win the right to supply the locomotives for the railway. A steam locomotive called The Rocket won the trials. It was designed by George Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson, who became instant millionaires from the profits of their invention. Within only ten years after the Raintree Trials, railways were crisscrossing the island of Britain and steam-powered locomotives had indeed changed the world.
Once in a Blue Moon Page 44
