Essay, Biography or Paragraph on “George Stephenson” complete biography for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

George Stephenson

England : Inventor of the Railway

Birth : 1781       Death : 1848

George Stephenson will always be remembered as the inventor of railway which is the major means of transport in the world. The idea of inventing a railway engine came to him as a solution to the problem of hauling trucks of coal from coal mines to the distribution points which were then pulled by men. He transformed his idea into a reality when he invented in 1814 a locomotive called Blutcher’. He put it on trial and found it successful. Stephenson now worked on the idea of a railway train in which passengers travelled in cars pulled by an engine. In 1825, he succeeded in designing a passenger railway train also. In 1825, the engine ‘Active’, built by Stephenson, pulled a line of 33 carriages, accommodating 600 passengers. It ran at a speed of 25 kilometres per hour.

Stephenson was born in 1731. He was the son of a poor colliery fireman. Stephenson worked with his father in the colliery during most of the day time and studied by candle light in the night. It was the result of his experience of work at the colliery, that the idea of an engine which took the burden of pulling trucks of mine coal off the men, occurred to him. In 1814, he built a locomotive which did this job successfully. In 1825, he built the world’s first passenger railway train. In 1830, the railway line from Liverpool to Manchester was constructed. The train which ran over it was driven by Stephenson’s new tube-shaped boiler engine called the ‘Rocket’.

The contribution of Stephenson in the development of railway is indeed of a very pioneering nature. He not only invented railway engine but many railway lines were constructed in England under his able guidance. Despite his poverty, he became successful in making so many achievements is something that deserves our respect.