Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson ( born October 16, 1803 in Willington Quay, † October 12, 1859 in London) was a British engineer. He was the only son of the locomotive designer and railway engineer George Stephenson. Many achievements that falsely George Stephenson are often attributed solely to have originated in a common work.
Life
Robert Stephenson, whose mother and sister had died early, grew up alone with his father, the education and training allowed him to come, to which it had lacked himself. George Stephenson was anxious to make his son the best possible start in life; this showed great interest in the work of the Father. After visiting the private Bruce Academy in Newcastle upon Tyne, the apprenticeship with Nicolas Wood ( Director of the Killingworth colliery ) and a semester at the University of Edinburgh, Robert Stephenson worked with his father to railway projects.
The first of these projects was in 1821 the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Father and son founded in 1823 together with Edward Pease and Michael Longridge ( the owner of the Bedlington Ironworks ) a company to build steam locomotives; the company Robert Stephenson and Company existed almost 120 years, the original factory building at the Forth Street in Newcastle still exists today. With its locomotive The Rocket Robert Stephenson won the legendary race of Rainhill. After this success, the company delivered more locomotives for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and other railway lines.
1833 Robert Stephenson was appointed chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway, the first railway line in London was after its completion in 1838. The railway line ( which later became the West Coast Main Line was ) presented Stephenson before some engineering challenges, in particular the Kilsby Tunnel. The early locomotive models could not cope on their own, the slope between Euston railway station and Chalk Farm and therefore had to be hoisted on chains. The building of the stationary steam engine still stands today; it is located at the Roundhouse and serves as a cultural center.
Although Robert Stephenson retained his interest in the locomotive, but soon began to specialize in the bridge. Among his most famous works, the Conwy Bridge offer at Conwy, the High Level Bridge in Newcastle, the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits and the Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. One of the few setbacks was the railway accident on the Dee Bridge in Chester, which was caused by the collapse of a bridge constructed by him on 24 May 1847. Stephenson had been sharply criticized before the accident, which claimed five lives, especially because of the use of poor construction materials.
Robert Stephenson was an internationally renowned expert on railway issues. For example, he advised the friend of his French engineer Paulin Talabot in the years 1837 to 1840 during the construction of the Chemins de fer du Gard from Beaucaire to Ales, Spain traveled to the construction of the railway from the Bay of Biscay to Madrid to advise and visited the Railway Orléans - Tours. It was in 1846 at the request of Prosper Enfantin together with Talabot and Alois Negrelli a member of the Société d' Études du Canal de Suez. In the autumn of 1850 he traveled on behalf of the Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland, to create for the planned railway network one line expertise and financial advice as well as to give general advice. He built from 1851 to 1853 the railway from Alexandria to Cairo, which was extended after 1858 to Sue.
From 1847 to his death in was Stephenson who was a friend of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, an MP of the constituency Whitby; He was a member of the Conservative Party. He declined the nobility titles offered to him for his services. After his death he was buried in Westminster Abbey in London in 1879 and received at the Torino Porta Nuova train station in Turin with his father, a monument. Since 1986, the Stephenson Railway Museum in North Shields pays tribute to the achievements of George and Robert Stephenson.