Steam Powered Locomotive

On February 21, 1804, Richard Trevithick demonstrated the world's first successful steam locomotive on rails. The locomotive hauled 10 tons of iron and 70 passengers along the 9.75-mile Merthyr Tydfil Tramroad from Penydarren Ironworks to Abercynon in Wales. While Trevithick had built an earlier prototype locomotive at Coalbrookdale in 1802, it was this 1804 journey that proved steam locomotives were viable for railway transport.