The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was first proposed by William James and Joseph Sanders in 1821. In 1826 George Stephenson was appointed chief engineer. The company originally intended to use fixed locomotives to pull freight trains between Liverpool and Manchester, but following the Rainhill Trial competition of 6 October 1829, locomotives in the style of Stephenson's Rocket were commissioned. The company opened the line between Liverpool and Manchester on 15 September 1830. The first passengers travelled along the line two days later and goods on 1 December. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was absorbed into the Grand Junction Railway on 8 August 1845.

George Stephenson (1781–1848), colliery and railway engineer, was born at Wylam, Northumberland, on 9 June 1781. He is often credited as being the ‘Father of Railways.’ He was the second son of Robert Stephenson, foreman at the Wylam colliery pumping engine. At fourteen he was appointed an assistant fireman to his father and when he was seventeen Robert Hawthorne employed him in the position of ‘plugman’, or engineman. Robert worked on engines at Willington Quay, Killingworth and Montrose, Scotland, before returning to Killingworth, where in 1812 he was appointed engineman and given responsibility for all the machinery at a number of collieries in the Newcastle area. Stephenson built his first locomotive, Blucher, in 1814 for Killingworth colliery, and in 1816, he patented the ‘steam spring’ with William Losh, of Walker Ironworks, Newcastle. Losh had previously supported Stephenson’s claim that he invented the first safety lamp for underground mineworkers in 1815. In early 1822, George was appointed engineer to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, after submitting survey plans and cost estimates for the proposed line and in May 1823, the company was given permission to use steam locomotives on the line. On 23 June 1823, George Stephenson established the engine manufacturing company Robert Stephenson & Co. with Edward Pease, Thomas Richardson and Michael Longridge, which was to be managed by George’s son, Robert. Work commenced in August 1823 and by the time the Stockton and Darlington line opened for traffic on 27 September 1825, four winding engines had been delivered together with a operational steam locomotive: Locomotion No.1. In 1824, George was employed to undertake surveys and prepare plans for the proposed Liverpool and Manchester Railway, but the bill was rejected in parliament. A new bill was passed in 1826, and Stephenson was appointed engineer. Stephenson fought strenuously for using locomotive power on the line, and his locomotive Rocket, built under the direction of his son Robert, won the Rainhill locomotive trials, held in October 1829, to determine the best means of propulsion on the Liverpool and Manchester line. Stephenson was chief engineer to the Grand Junction line connecting Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester, begun in 1833 and he was also chief engineer to the following railways: Manchester to Leeds, Birmingham to Derby, Normanton to York, and Sheffield to Rotherham, and others, all begun in 1836. The Derby to Leeds Railway (afterwards called the North Midland line) was commenced under his supervision in 1837. In 1838 Stephenson was elected vice-president of the mechanical science section of the British Association at its Newcastle meeting. In 1845, Stephenson’s party won a parliamentary battle as supporters of the locomotive against the upholders of the atmospheric railway system, led by I.K. Brunel. In 1847 Stephenson became president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which was founded by him that year in Birmingham. He received in 1835 the honour of knighthood from Leopold I of Belgium and in 1845 he also visited northern Spain in connection with a proposed railway. Stephenson consistently refused all proffered honours in England, however, declining a knighthood on two occasions. He died of pleurisy at Tapton House, Tapton, near Chesterfield, on 12 August 1848. He was buried on 17 August at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield.

Robert Stephenson (1803–1859) was a railway and civil engineer born on 16 October 1803 at Willington Quay, near Newcastle upon Tyne, the only son of George Stephenson (1781–1848), colliery and railway engineer. He was educated at Bruce's academy at Newcastle upon Tyne. On leaving school in 1819 Stephenson was apprenticed to Nicholas Wood, viewer of Killingworth colliery. In 1821 he assisted his father in the survey of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and then in 1822 spent six months studying natural philosophy, chemistry, and natural history at Edinburgh University. On leaving Edinburgh, Stephenson settled in Newcastle upon Tyne to manage Robert Stephenson & Co at Forth Banks Works, the locomotive building establishment which his father had founded there in 1823 to build stationary and locomotive engines. The locomotive ‘Rocket’ was built under his direction and went on to win the Rainhill locomotive trials, held in October 1829, to determine the best means of propulsion on the Liverpool and Manchester line. He was responsible for surveying the line of the proposed London and Birmingham Railway and was appointed Chief Engineer. The railway was the world's first intercity passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives From 1838 until the end of his life he was engaged on railway work, not only in Great Britain, but all over the world; railways were constructed either under his own direct supervision or under his advice which later became the trunk lines of the countries in which they were laid down. Stephenson’s designs became the dominant type of locomotive in Great Britain. Notable among Stephenson locomotives was the long-boilered engine in which all wheels were placed ahead of the firebox so that there was no restriction on its size. Unsuitable for main line express service, the type was remarkably successful in the carriage of heavy freight where a reservoir ofsteaming capacity could be used with advantage. Stephenson was also successful at bridge building, he built the high-level bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle, the Royal Border Bridge at Berwick and the Britannia Bridge over the Conwy and the Menai Strait. Stephenson also proposed the great Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence River at Montreal, which was begun in 1854 and completed in 1859 after his death. On 30 July 1847 Stephenson was elected MP for Whitby. He represented the town until his death. He died at his home at 34 Gloucester Square, London, on 12 October 1859 and was buried in Westminster Abbey.

(1771-1833), Engineer Born in 1771 in Cornwall, Richard Trevithick was a practical engineer who developed high pressure steam engines. In 1800 he built the first of the double-acting stationary engine which was the forerunner of the famous ‘Cornish engines’. Between 1801 and 1803 he built three steam-powered road locomotives. In 1803 he built the first practical railway locomotive, a tram engine for Coalbrookdale. After that he constructed the ‘Pen-y-darren’ locomotive for Samuel Homfray, partner in the ‘Pen-y-darren Tramway’ in south Wales. Although this was not a success due to the quality of the track rather than the locomotive, it was a proof of principle. Trevithick built two more railway locomotives: one in Gateshead in 1805, possibly for the Wylam Waggon Way (which was again let down by the poor quality of the rails), and, in 1808, the ‘Catch me who Can’, for an exhibition in London. He is also important for demonstrating that a smooth wheel running on smooth iron rails was capable of hauling considerable loads. He was involved in the unsuccessful project to drive a tunnel under the Thames from Rotherhithe. In 1816 he left his family and went to South America where he was involved in mining ventures in Peru. These also were ultimately unsuccessful, in part due to the wars of independence, and Trevithick returned, penniless, to England in 1827. Despite the setbacks he experienced, Trevithick’s inventive capacity was undiminished. His last patent was granted in 1832. He went to work for J. Hall in Dartford where he died on 22nd April 1833. He was married to Jane Harvey (1772 – 1868/9), daughter of another Cornish engineer, John Harvey of Hayle Foundry and had six children, Francis and Frederick Henry, who both became engineers, and Richard, John, Ann and Elizabeth.

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom (1806–1859), civil engineer, was born at Portsea, Portsmouth, on 9 April 1806, the third child and first son of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1769–1849), civil engineer. He worked as apprentice to his father who was then working to construct the first tunnel under the River Thames in London, from Rotherhithe to Wapping. Brunel designed Clifton Bridge, Bristol and advised the Bristol Docks Company on improvements to the condition of the Bristol City docks. In 1833 he was appointed Engineer to the Great Western Railway (GWR), the line ran from Paddington Station in London to Temple Meads in Bristol. He chose to adopt a broader gauge than that adopted by previous railways, so that the GWR was built on a ‘broad gauge’ of 7 feet instead of the conventional ‘narrow’ gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches. The two systems were used together until 1845 when the broad gauge was rejected by the Gauge Commission. The GWR also operated steam ships from Bristol to New York and a subsidiary company the Great Western Steamship Company was created with Brunel as its engineer. He was a keen supporter of the Institution of Civil Engineers, He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in June 1830 of which he became an associate in 1829, and a member from 1837. He was an active member of the buildings committee of the commission for the Great Exhibition of 1851, and supported Paxton's design for the Crystal Palace. In 1857 he was awarded an honorary degree of DCL from the University of Oxford. He operated from his office in Duke Street, London. Brunel died on 15 September 1859 aged fifty-three.

Chapman Frederick Dendy Marshall was a railway historian known for his studies of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and the Southern Railway. He was born in Brentford in 1872, educated at Hurstpierpoint and Trinity College, Cambridge. On graduating, he trained as a barrister, but never practised. He died at his home Chinthurst Lodge, Wonersh, in Surrey on 14 June 1945. His collection of railway documents and memorabilia was auctioned at Sotheby's on 13 November that year.