Richard Trevithick

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"Deserves hanging for bringing into use the high-pressure engine."  James Watt.

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Christmas Eve 1801, 30 year old Trevithick unveiled the first high-pressure steam engine to power locomotives, when he took seven friends for a test ride on the 'Puffing Devil', with holly fixed on its engine, they climbed Camborne Hill, Cornwall.  He became the first person to power a piston using high-pressure steam, considered too dangerous by many, but in so doing he transformed the world of transport.

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" I may be straitened in pecuniary circumstances, the great honour of being a useful subject can never be taken from me, which far exceeds riches." Richard Trevithick

The replica of Richard Trevithick's 'Puffing Devil" road locomotive from 1801. Every year it steams up the original Camborne HIll leading a cavalcade of steam traction engines for Camborne's annual festival, Trevithick Day.

Video: excofire

1801