Railway Engineer
Sopwith became a railway surveyor, working on commissions. He became involved with George Stephenson and Sir William Cubitt creating the French railway network.
In 1843 he was employed on the development of railways in Belgium. For the Sambre-Meuse line he did preliminary surveys, and then accompanied George Stephenson, by then retired, on an inspection visit. The result was that the Belgian de Grandvoir constructed the line, supervised by Robert Stephenson. Sopwith had called attention to the scientific importance of recording the geological features exposed in the cuttings of railways; and the British Association, at his initiative, made a grant in 1840 for the purpose.
Read more about this topic: Thomas Sopwith (geologist)
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