George Stephenson is the inventor of the first steam engines for railway use in the 18th century. The locomotive called "Blusher" was manufactured and put into service on the Cillingwood Railway 25th July, 1814. On an ascending grade, this engine succeeded in pulling eight loaded wagons of thirty tons', at about 4 miles per hour, and was the most successful working engine that had ever been constructed. It was a triumph, which pushed the inventor to experiment further.

The invention of the steam engine was critical to the invention of the modern railroad and trains. In 1803, Samuel Homfray funded the development of a steam-powered vehicle to replace the horse-drawn carts on the tramways. Richard Trevithick built that vehicle, the first steam engine tramway locomotive. On February 22, 1804, the locomotive hauled a load of 10 tons of iron, 70 men and five extra wagons the 9 miles between the ironworks at Pen-y-Darron in the town of Merthyr Tydfil, Wales to the bottom of the valley called Abercynnon. It took about two hours.

Richard Trevithick's invention is considered the first tramway locomotive, however, it was a road locomotive, designed for a road and not for a railroad. However, Trevithick's accomplishments were many and the inventor did not fully recieve the credit he was due during his lifetime.