This is a working test model made by Richard Trevithick, constructor of the world's first steam railway locomotive. Trevithick had developed a compact high-pressure steam engine to provide Cornish ore mines with a more fuel-efficient pumping engine than the standard Watt type, and soon turned his attentions to self-moving engines. The success of this model encouraged Trevithick to manufacture full-sized road and rail locomotives. The first railway locomotive ran in 1803, and Trevithick's third machine, 'Catch Me Who Can', was demonstrated on a circular track near Euston Road, London, in 1808.

Inv. 1876-1269