The first steam locomotives of Stephenson and the Cherepanovs became a major breakthrough in the field of technology. These were the first devices that began to be used as the traction force of trains on railways. It is traditionally believed that the first steam engine appeared thanks to the efforts of the English engineer George Stephenson.
He constructed several steam locomotives within 14 years - from 1814 to 1828. All of them began to run along small lines related to industrial enterprises.
The first steam locomotives of Stephenson and the Cherepanovs had major flaws. Based on them, it was impossible to create a workable locomotive. Only in 1825, Stephenson organized the first steam locomotive plant in Darlington, where the Lokomoshen steam locomotive was launched, launched along the Stoleon-Darlington Railway. The excellent operation of this railway became an impetus for the widespread distribution of railways and steam engine plants.
The Rocket, a steam locomotive built by Stephenson in 1829, became the model for subsequent steam locomotives. Five years later, at the Vyisky plant, the Russian mechanic Miron Efimovich Cherepanov built the first domestic “land steamer”, or a steam locomotive, entirely from domestic materials. The first steam locomotives of Stephenson and the Cherepanovs began to gain popularity and trust.
After 6 years, the construction of the second steam locomotive began. He was larger than his predecessor due to the enlarged boiler, respectively, more powerful.
Soon the test path, where the Cherepanovs were experimenting with their locomotives, was dismantled at the initiative of horse-drawn contractors, who were not profitable by the construction of the railway.
Soon, work began on the construction of the railway between Tsarskoye Selo and St. Petersburg. The first steam locomotives of the Stephenson and Cherepanovs made possible further work on equipping the territories of Russia with railways. The work was supervised by Franz Gersner, an Austrian engineer. He was well acquainted with the arrangement of railways in Germany and Belgium and believed that the gauge in these countries did not allow the creation of steam locomotives of the most efficient design. Therefore, he chose a wider gauge and redid the compositions ordered in England and Belgium under it.
Gerstner wanted the steam locomotives to be able to carry several passenger cars with a capacity of 300 passengers. By 1837, the engine could lead a train of 23 cars. Passengers occupied 12 wagons, and the rest was given up for loading by livestock.
Since then, trains regularly ran between Kuzmin and Pavlovsky village. In the autumn of 1837, the grand opening of the Tsarskoye Selo Railway took place. In the next period, trains went only on holidays.
The device of locomotives implied 2 cylinders. Each of the first steam locomotives that went along the Tsarskoye Selo road had a name. “Agile”, “Athlete”, “Elephant”, “Arrow”, “Leo”, “Eagle”. Later the names were replaced with numbers and letter series.
A second railway was built between Warsaw and the Austrian border. The length of this section was 308 km. The road was built using the Stephenson gauge. Until 1901, only foreign steam locomotives ran along this railway.
The next stage in the development of railway communication in Russia was the construction of the Moscow-Petersburg highway. Here, for the first time, a regularity was revealed for all the railways of Russia, which were built subsequently: the track of the road was 5 feet wide. A proposal for such a design was put forward either by Russian engineers or consultants from America. This choice may be due to strategic security considerations or the convenience of the width of a round number.
Railway construction was a big impetus for Russia to further industrial progress. The first steam locomotive in Russia was the greatest achievement that laid the foundation for a new era.