John Dixon started work as a bank clerk and in 1821, at the age of 26, assisted George and Robert Stephenson to survey the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
[2] Dixon is listed as an assistant engineer when the company of George Stephenson & Son was formed to survey and build railways at the end of 1824.
[3] He assisted George building the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and was at the Rainhill Trials, and wrote a letter, which still exists, describing the event to his brother James.
[5] John Dixon was the great nephew of Jeremiah Dixon, who with Charles Mason set the Mason–Dixon line that separates Northeastern from Southern United States.
[6] The John Dixon responsible for transporting Cleopatra's Needle to England was the nephew of this man.