Name the Engineer

Perhaps not Ferdinand de Lesseps, but any wild guess will do.

Judging by his mode de attire, I'd say he was long dead before most of us were born.

No clue.

James Watt.

The rocket man

Robert Stephenson

Correct!

Robert Stephenson, though I'm not familiar with the nickname the rocket man.

It's easy to forget, at least for me, how transformative the railroad was in the 19th century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stephenson#Locomotive_designer

Robert Stephenson, (born Oct. 16, 1803, Willington Quay, Northumberland, Eng.-died Oct. 12, 1859, London), outstanding English Victorian civil engineer and builder of many long-span railroad bridges, most notably the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait, North Wales.

He was the only son of George Stephenson, inventor of the railroad locomotive. He was educated at Bruce's Academy, Newcastle upon Tyne, and at the University of Edinburgh. He assisted his father in survey work for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1821 and afterward on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. After serving as a mining engineer in Colombia, he returned to England, where he made many improvements in locomotives and in 1833 was appointed chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway. In this position he directed several major engineering works, such as the cutting, or excavation, at Blisworth and the Kilsby Tunnel. Next undertaking a new railroad line from Newcastle to Berwick, he spanned the Tyne River with a six-arch iron bridge, using James Nasmyth's newly invented steam hammer to drive the bridge's foundations.

Stephenson's Rocket - of course!

"Stephenson's Rocket was an early steam locomotive of 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. It was built for, and won, the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best design to power the railway."

Ahhhh! Cool!

I'm ready for the 20-mule borax team now!

At least one copy is still running on British rails......

See here:-

The Rocket, underway!!

The original locomotive, albeit in much-modified condition and incomplete, survives and stands in the "Making of the Modern World" gallery in London's Science Museum, admission to which is free of charge at the time of writing _{[for some reason, the CR4 website isn't admitting pictures from this username, otherwise a current picture would be available]}. Several full-size replicas exist, though the construction of their boilers and fireboxes has been altered from the original design so as to suit modern boiler indemnity insurance requirements, otherwise they couldn't be steamed.

There is a completed 1:23 scale model, built from an American plastic kit, standing pride-of-place at the bothy _{[for some reason, the CR4 website isn't admitting pictures from this username, otherwise a current picture would be available]}.

Impressions from the rear face of the previous issue of the Bank of England £5 note that it was Robert's father George Stephenson who built it are false. George was too busy with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at the time and the locomotive is correctly ascribed to his son.

Folklore has it that Robert wrote a long screed to his father about the trials and tribulations he was having with construction of the locomotive hoping for advice; his father, who was only semi-literate, wrote two words on the letter and sent it back. Those two words were, "Try again"!

"Rocket" got her name when one of the Stephensons overheard some wag make the remark, "I'd rather ride behind a military rocket than that b.....y thing!". Respect!

There is a bronze statue of Robert Stephenson outside the entrance of London's Euston station as a testament to Robert's work on the London and Birmingham Railway. Sadly, it gets used as a receptacle for unwanted refuse from fast food stands and coffee shops in the area. >:-(

Interesting route!

In travelling from Newcastle to Berwick one does not cross the Tyne! Unless you are starting from Newcastle under Lyme.

Ok I am being pernicketty but Newcastle upon Tyne runs along the north side of the Tyne (the town of Gateshead occupies the south side) so I wonder what the rail route proposed actually was. Both Stockton and Darlington are to the South so from one of these to Newcastle and thence Berwick on the Scottish Border makes sense.

Fill in the BLANC eh? I'll take a SWAN dive into DAVY Jones locker?

It's not a BRUSH with the GUILLOTINE if wrong.

I'm BORDA..

HELLMAN CHISTOFORI PRIESTLEY if I know?

how do I get off topic twice with nine guesses once?

I feel violated

Nice read here about his life around this time....
http://gerald-massey.org.uk/smiles/c_stephenson_06.htm

Your first engraving show what is now the site of Rainhill Station, and the bridge on the left carries what was at the time the main coaching road from Liverpool to London. At the apex of the bridge there is still a mile stone marking X (ten) miles to Liverpool and VIII (eight) miles to Warrington. The next mile stone along is immediately opposite the front gate of my current home. The second engraving shows in the background the now demolished Hayes Farm. I was born about 100 yards beyond that farm, slightly to the left of it from the viewing point of the engraving. One of the other engines entered into the competition at the Rainhill Trials was the Novelty. The cylinder of the Novelty failed catastrophically so it was eliminated from the trials. The failed cylinder was purchased from Robert Stephenson and there were allegations at the time that the component was supplied faulty in order to see off the challenge to Rocket from a better engine. Both Rocket and Novelty were subsequently employed on the line which was the world's first passenger railway line.

He built the Rocket!!

There was a great program on him and his father on the BBC, BBC4 if I remember correctly....

Bob.

The original had almost horizontal cylinders. The steeply inclined cylinders were to stop lateral oscillations

I forgot to thank you for taking the time to "puzzle" us, many, many thanks. I am looking forward for the next one....

By the way, the Rocket had several very innovative ideas in it which are still with us in the latest/last steam engines made.....the man was simply brilliant......tubed boiler was only one of them...... (this is all second hand from that BBC TV program!!).

Sending some of the steam up the chimney to improve the draft.

Offsetting the pistons to allow starting was another I believe.

Thats was all from memory, so don't bet your hat on it!!!

A more reliable version can be read here:-

Stephenson's_Rocket