On this day in South Wales, Richard Trevithick’s high-pressure steam locomotive carried 10 tons of iron, five wagons and 70 men from Penydarren to Abercynon, a distance of 9.75 miles (15,69 km), in 4 hours and 5 minutes. It was the first time a high-pressure steam engine had been mounted on wheels and turned into a locomotive with the aim of transporting people and/or goods, and the success of the enterprise meant that Samuel Homfray, who had recently bought the engine’s patent from Trevithick, won a bet of 500 guineas that he had made with another ironmaster. While the high-pressure steam locomotive went on to revolutionise land transport, Trevithick, an enterprising inventor but entirely lacking in business sense, died in poverty in 1833 and was buried in an unmarked grave.
Maiden Journey of Trevithick’s Steam Locomotive
21st February 1804