The Restaurant de la Sirène Painting by Vincent van Gogh

George Stephenson built the first successful steam locomotive. The idea of iventing a railway engine came to him as a solution to the problem of hauling trucks oif 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 traveled 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. He also invented a safety lamp in 1815.