About 1712 Thomas Newcomen, a Darthmouth blacksmith, made an engine to pump water out of coal mines, and in 1765 James Watt invented a much stronger and superior engine for the same purpose. Richard Trevithick in 1804 made the first steam propelled carriage to travel along the road faster than a horse drawn vehicle, and the first passenger railway was opened from Stockton to Darlington in 1825. George Stephenson being the engineer.