biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1781–1848)
|
| biography:
| Railway engineer, born in Wylam, Northumberland, NE England, UK. He worked in a colliery, received a rudimentary education at night school, and in 1812 became engine-wright at Killingworth where he constructed his first locomotive (1814). He is best remembered for the Rocket, an engine running at 58 km/36 mi an hour, built in collaboration with his son Robert for the Rainhill Trials of 1829. He worked as an engineer for several railway companies, and became a widely used consultant. The modern railway gauge in Britain derives from that at Killingworth. |
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