1: The early history of the steam.

Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729) built the first steamengine
He made use of the effect of condensation of steam in the cylinder. During the condensation the pressure in the cylinder drops and the plunger is pushed inside by the atmospheric pressure around the cylinder. (The condensation could be easened by spraying water over the cylinder and plunger)
As far as is known, the first engine of the socalled Newcomen type was built in 1712. In the early 20th century still some of these engines were in operation.
It was the Scottish engineer James Watt (1736-1819) who developed the “modern” steam engine, approx 50 years after the invention of the Newcomen engine.
As you can understand this invention boosted the industrial revolution and mechanisation of human labour.
The engines designed by James Watt had a higher reliability and were stronger. Another advantage was that the power could be withdrawn from a rotating axis. The engine of Newcomen had no rotating movement. The efficiency of the Watt engine was much higher, a saving in fuel (coal) consumption up to 75% was obtained.
It was especially in England where this industrial revolution commenced already around 1700, and from other parts of the world many people visited England to study all these developments.
An example is the construction of the first iron bridge over the river Severn: with a length of 43 meters it crossed the gorge of the river. This was realised by Abraham Darby III in 1779.
The bridge still exists near the village “Iron Bridge” named after this bridge
Nearly 70 years before this bridge was built it was discovered in the village Coalbrookdale that melting iron ore with coal produced iron.
The process was developed by Abraham Darby 1 in 1709 and can be seen as an important step in the birth of the Industrial Revolution. Abraham Darby founded the Bristol Iron Company and from 1712 all steamcylinders used Newcomen were casted here. In 1759 already 200 steamcylinders were casted by the Iron Company for Newcomen. The village Coalbrookdale in the valley of the Severn near Blist Hill was in these days a centre of industrial activities and new developments. Coalmines and iron ore mines formed the basis of the iron industry. The first steampump used to remove water from the mineshafts was installed in 1790. For the iron blast furnaces which required large amounts of air, the first steamdriven aircompressors were developed and constructed in 1840. Also a lot of steamengines were installed for the elevators of the mineshafts.
In this area the first cast iron steamengines were constructed and the first iron ships were built.
It was also in this period that the engineer Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) from Cornwall built the first steamlocomotive in 1803-1804.
The first steamlocomotive that could be used more practically was built by George Stephenson (1781-1848) in 1814. The engine had a weight of 30 ton and could develop a speed of 4 miles/hour.
When the mines near Coalbrookdale and Iron Bridge were exhausted, the industrial boom came to a stop. In 1912 the blast furnaces were blasting for the last time. It had played its role as a leader in the industrial revolution.

At other places the industrial activities went on.
The development of the first stream driven traction engine started in 1857 in the premises of the firm Garrett. Portable engines which could not drive themselves, were already known since 1839/1840 and were used as the basis for the first self moving engine: traction engine.
This first step led to the development of the other wellknown steamengines like rollers, traction engines for general use and special purposes like the heavy road loco’s and showmans engines. Ploughing engines are another example.
The development of the road loco was possible in a later stage, after modifying the traffic act (the “locomotive act”) in 1904.
In the early twentieth century started the development of steamdriven cars for transport of persons and freightlorries. These looked already very much like the lorries as we know them. Speeds up too 70 km/hr (nearly 50 mph) were normal.
It is this history of the development of the industrial revolution in England which has my interest and from which you can find pictures and descriptions on my “steamwebsite”. It is an era which is called sometimes the “good old days” In how far this is true, I have sometimes my doubts!

From the many tenth-thousands of steam engines which were once in operation, nowadays the number is reduced to the hundreds which still exist. It was after the second world war that people started to show interest in these engines to keep them for the future generation instead of scrapping them or sending them to the steel furnaces. Many engines are nowadays restored and brought back in operation by steam enthousiasts. On steam events, or rallies as they are also called, these engines do revive the past. Started in England, these rallies are nowadays also more and more popular in Continental Europe. The disadvantage of this revival is that the value of these engines, once at kilogram scrap price, is nowadays sometimes many times the value of a luxurious topclass automobile. However, this is in principle only a fraction of the historical value. Many steamlovers share the opinion with me that these engines have to be treated with respect, built in a period that craftsman workmanship and manual labour were the basis of constructing them. For example, in 1891 the Fowler works, wellknown from traction engines and ploughing engines, employed approximately 1600 men. Many techniques, developed in the steamera, are still used in modern technology. An example is the differential 1), applied in several types of traction engines, is now applied in every automobile. Many steampeople have contributed to the preservation of engines, so we can still see and experience how the industrial revolution was started and grew, the basis of our industrial society nowadays.

1) Differential: a mechanical construction which enables the powered wheels of a car to rotate with different speeds. Of importance for steering the car through bends

With this website I hope to contribute to keep the interest alive for the workhorses of the 19th and early 20th century.
I hope you enjoy it!