Rail transport Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick, a British engineer born in Cornwall. This used high-pressure steam to drive the engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales. Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon a piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury, London, the "Catch Me Who Can", but never got beyond the experimental
Catch Me Who Can endurance test. Trevithick claimed that "Catch Me Who Can" could travel over in that time. The locomotive was reported to have reached a top speed of on the circular track and Trevithick was of the opinion that it was capable of on straight track. Operation of "Catch Me Who" was hindered by the soft ground that the track was laid on. Trial runs began around 24th. July 1808, but almost immediately the ground under the track sank, causing the iron rails to break as the 8-ton locomotive passed over them. Trevithick had the track taken up and timber baulks laid