Cornish invention
What was the ‘Catch Me Who Can’?

Published: December 22, 2011 at 3:53 pm
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This was the name given to an early locomotive built by the Cornish inventor Richard Trevithick. In 1808, Trevithick created what was later called a ‘steam circus’, a circular track for the ‘Catch Me Who Can’. People paid five shillings to go round and round its 30-metre diameter on an open carriage pulled by the engine.
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The entertainment lasted for two months but Trevithick’s aim of proving steam power better than horse power was thwarted when the rail eventually broke under the weight of his locomotive.
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Answered by: Nick Rennison
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