George Stephenson

Stephenson helped turn the railway into a practical freight network, the first transport mode that could move heavy goods over land quickly and on a schedule. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in 1825, hauled coal with steam locomotives, and his Rocket won the Rainhill Trials in 1829 ahead of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which ran timetabled services between a port and an industrial city. His standard track gauge became the basis for most of the world's railways. Rail freight and intermodal service that move containers inland from US ports today descend from the system he helped establish.

• Intermodal FreightFreight moved by rail and truck in one box

• Isambard Kingdom Brunel1806–1859 · Engineer of railways and steamships

• Stockton and Darlington Railway1825 · The first public railway to use steam locomotives
• Liverpool and Manchester Railway1830 · The first inter-city railway runs on a timetable
• Industrial Revolutionc. 1760–1840 · Machines and factories replace hand production

1. Stephenson, George (RAILSCOT) railscot.co.uk
2. Stephenson, George 1781-1848 (Science Museum Group) collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk