Stephenson’s Steam Engine Made Entirely Out of Glass Is Impressive

The counterweight that makes the wheel spin evenly is glass. Another impressive aspect of excellent craftsmanship is that the gap between the piston and its compartment is so small, that the water that condensates from the steam seals it shut. That’s about the time when you ask yourself how come you’re reading about this. It so happens we stumbled upon a video that seems to be rather old, but still quite enjoyable.

George Stephenson became renowned as the “Father of Railways” in the mid 19th century, as he was the person to invent the engine seen in this video. Sure, his was a lot bigger, and we’re pretty sure it didn’t have any glass at all. Master glassblower created this model Michal Zahradnik from the Czech Republic, and it may as well be the greatest machinery to envision where the industry started from in the first place.

Since we are talking about it, we should also mention that using boiling water to produce mechanical motion goes back over 2000 years. The problem is, most of the devices were not practical enough to be used on a general level. Spanish inventor Jeronimo de Ayanz y Beaumont patented the first model in 1606, with a steam pump patented by Thomas Savery about 22 years later.

The second used condensing steam to create a vacuum and draw water into a chamber and then applied pressurized steam to pump the water further. The first commercial steam engine using a piston belonged to Thomas Newcomen. He created what was called an atmospheric engine that was used in 1712 for pumping in a mine. Other inventors like James Watt followed, but the model in question came later.

It was 1825 when Stephenson built the Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway. This was the first public steam railway in the world and then, in 1829, he built The Rocket which was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials (a competition in the early days of steam locomotive railways).