He started as a colliery engineman, applied steam power to the haulage of coal wagons by cable, and built his first locomotive in 1814. He became engineer to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and in 1825 drove the first train on it using a steam locomotive of his own design. His son Robert Stephenson (1803–59) assisted him in the building of engines and of the Liverpool to Manchester railway, for which they built the famous Rocket (1829)—the prototype for all future steam locomotives. Robert became famous also as a bridge designer, notably of major bridges at Menai Strait and Conwy in Wales, Berwick and Newcastle in northern England, Montreal in Canada, and in Egypt.