The Stephenson Fact File - 2nd (E-publishing) Edition (Page 4 of 8)
George Stephenson & Son: Principal Railway Projects (page last updated 21 Apr 2009)
After the firm George Stephenson & Son was established on 31 December 1824, the names of both George and his son Robert appeared as Engineer-in-Chief on all railway prospectuses until George’s death in 1848. However, the Hetton Colliery railway was the first new line to be built under George Stephenson’s auspices. Both the survey and the construction were undertaken by his brother Robert. Then came the first public line, the Stockton & Darlington Railway, whereby from the autumn of 1821 until May 1824, his son Robert undertook all of the surveying and constructional obligations associated with this railway. During the period 1824-27 Robert Stephenson was engaged in operations with the Colombian Mining Association in South America.
Between the years 1824 and 1833 many railways were projected by the firm George Stephenson & Son. However, after the firm had done all the hard work such as reports and surveys for the routes, their proposals either did not come to fruition or were rejected by Parliament. Thus the firm can only be stated to have acted in a consulting capacity. Among the important railways which fall into this category are:
Leeds & Hull 1825
Newcastle & Carlisle 1825 & 1829
Sheffield & Manchester 1829
Dublin & Kingston 1832
London & Brighton 1836
Some railways that had been initially either rejected or shelved came back under the auspices of George Stephenson & Son, such as Manchester & Leeds, and Chester & Holyhead.
The two major long distance railways that became known as the London & Birmingham, and the Grand Junction (Liverpool & Birmingham) were both hard won fights for George Stephenson & Son. After initial rejections by Parliament both finally became law in May 1833. Robert signed as Engineer-in-Chief to the former and George to the latter. Complications then arose with the Grand Junction Railway. Initially the original survey for the complete railway had been conducted by Joseph Locke, but the company then invited John Rastrick to act as consultant; subsequently Rastrick did the survey and costing for the southern section. After the passing of the Act Rastrick withdrew: all constructional obligations for the northern section being undertaken by Joseph Locke with George Stephenson taking the southern half. In 1835 dissatisfaction led to George’s resignation. From this time all the engineering responsibilities of George Stephenson & Son fell into Robert’s shoulders even though his father more often than not was still named as Engineer-in-Chief.
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The full list of British railways associated with George Stephenson & Son is:
Hetton Colliery 1819-22
Stockton & Darlington 1821-25
Liverpool & Manchester 1825, 1826-35
Canterbury & Whitstable 1825-30
Nantille Railway 1825-28
Liverpool & Birmingham 1826, later called Grand Junction Railway 1829-35
Bolton & Leigh 1825-28
Kenyon & Leigh Junction 1829-31
Warrington & Newton 1829-31
Leicester & Swannington 1830-32
Manchester & Leeds 1830, 1836-46
Whitby & Pickering 1833-35
Stanhope & Tyne 1833-41
London & Birmingham 1833-38
London & Blackwall 1836-40
Northern & Eastern 1836-44
Sheffield & Rotherham 1836-38
Birmingham & Derby Junction 1836-39
North Midland 1836-39
York & North Midland 1836-48
Maryport & Carlisle 1837-40
Newcastle & Darlington 1842-44
Chester & Birkenhead 1837-40
Chester & Crewe 1837 then absorbed by Grand Junction Railway 1840
Chester & Holyhead 1838, 1844-50
trent Valley 1845 then absorbed by London & North Western 1846
Newcastle & Berwick 1845, then York, Newcastle & Berwick 1847-50
George Stephenson & Son was also consulted on railways in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Russia. Among the first lines constructed under Robert Stephenson’s supervision being the Ostend to Liege, and Antwerp to Mons.
After George Stephenson’s death in 1848, Robert Stephenson continued in the capacity of Engineer-in-Chief until the completion of the Chester & Holyhead, and the York, Newcastle & Berwick in 1850. Thereafter until his death in 1859 he acted as a Consulting Engineer on railways in Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland. He also acted as Engineer-in-Chief to the following railway companies:
Christiania & Myosen, Norway 1850-54
Alexandria & Cairo, Egypt 1852-56
Grand trunk Railway, Montreal, Canada 1853-59
Many tubular wrought iron plate bridges were constructed on the latter two railways. For example over the Damietta Branch of the Nile at Benha and over the Bahr Shebin navigable waterway at Birket-el-Sab. The Victoria Bridge over the St. Lawrence River in Canada held the record as the longest bridge in the world.
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