it and fine opportunity. All the
engines and machinery were in his hands, and all the repair-and
construction-shops were available for such new designs as he saw fit
to make. He at once set about making his first locomotive.

Locomotives and railroads of certain sorts and fashions were already
in existence, but they were rough and clumsy affairs.

The rails were at first angle-irons, then flat bars of wrought iron,
then cast-iron bars. In 1800 Benjamin Outram used stones for
sleepers, and improved rails--hence "tramways." Over these tramways
cars were drawn by horses, or by ropes from stationary engines.
Murduck made a locomotive in 1784, and by 1812 several types of
engines were used for hauling coal-cars. Stephenson saw one of
Blenkinsop's engines. Gear-wheels connected the crank-shaft with the
axles, and the driving-wheels were geared with the track, while of
course, the coal-cars ran on different rails.

This Blenkinsop's engine was a fearful machine. All the teeth
rattled, and as there were no springs and the road was very uneven,
the shocks were heavy and frequent, even though its speed was only
four miles an hour.

Stephenson's first engine, "My Lord," in honor of his patron, Lord
Ravensworth, was finished in 1814. Some experiments on the friction
of smooth wheels on iron rails led him to omit the teeth on the
drivers, though everyone laughed at him, declaring that the engine
would not run an "up grade," much less draw a load. His faith,
however, resisted all arguments; it was based on experiments and
careful calculations. Stephenson _knew_ that his engine would run up
hill and draw a load, and it did so triumphantly.

But the engine lacked steam. The boiler was small, and the fire was
applied only on the exterior of the shell, and the draft was very
poor, for the chimney was of necessity short. Only very low
steam-pressure was possible, and little or no expansion was
practicable. Consequently the exhaust was noisy and forcible.
Stephenson turned it into the chimney and found that it increased
the draft considerably; he at once thought that a steady jet of
steam could be so directed as to make a strong draft even when the
engine was not in motion. Thus the "blast" was invented, which about
doubled the capacity of the machine.

Stephenson's second locomotive, built in 1815, had no noisy gears,
but instead, chain-belts to the driving-axles. It had, however, no
springs, and the shocks were so great that only