Wanderlust World Wanderlust World George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Considered the "Father of Railways", he built the first public inter-city railway line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, in 1825. He also built the world's first public steam locomotive-hauled passenger railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in 1830.