The person who shoveled coal to a steam locomotive was called a railroad engineer. Maintaining a constant head of steam while changing altitude, water level, e

The person who shoveled coal to a steam locomotive was called a railroad engineer. Maintaining a constant head of steam while changing altitude, water level, external temperature, etc using a direct heat source is a really skilled job. Talk to anyone who works on a heritage railway and they'll explain just how hard it is. I lived in the same city where George Stephenson invented the locomotive, and went to the same pub that the volunteers who worked on a replica went to. It's fascinating, and very much 'proper' engineering.