History of rail transport
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The history of rail transport dates back nearly 500 years, and includes systems with man or horse power and rails of wood or stone. Modern rail transport systems first appeared in England in the 1820s. These systems, which made use of the steam locomotive, were the first practical form of mechanized land transport, and they remained the primary form of mechanized land transport for the next 100 years.
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Origins
Early railways
Wagonways were developed in Germany in the 1550s and the use of these tracks, consisting of wooden (usually edged) rails for horse-drawn wagons, spread across Europe. At first confined to mines, they were in use in Britain for surface transport by the early 1600s. When coal began to be mined in the north of England, there was need of better highways to bear the heavy cart-loads to market or riverside. About 1630 a certain Master Beaumont laid down broad wooden rails near Newcastle upon Tyne, on which a single horse could haul fifty or sixty bushels of coal. The new device spread rapidly through the whole Tyneside coal-field. A century later thin strips of wrought iron started to be nailed to the wooden rails. In the mid century systems developed in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates - these became known as plateways. Around 1767, cast-iron rails were first used. Carr, a Sheffield colliery manager, invented a flanged rail, while William Jessop, another civil engineer, took the other line by using edged rails but flanged cart-wheels to be used on a scheme in Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. On July 26, 1803, Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway in south London - arguably, the world's first public railway, albeit a horse-drawn one. However, it was not until 1825 that the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway proved that the railways could be made as useful to the general shipping public as to the colliery owner. At the outset this road was regarded as only a special sort of toll-road upon which any carrier might transport goods or passengers in his own vehicles, but experience showed that it was necessary for the railway company to transport the goods as well.
Steam power introduced
James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, was responsible for improvements to the steam engine that caused this device to see wider use and encouraged wider experimentation, though it was not used for locomotive power until Richard Trevithick developed the high pressure steam engine in the 1800s.
The first steam locomotive was built by Richard Trevithick, an English engineer, in 1804. His locomotive had no name, and was used at the Pennydarren ironworks in Wales. It was not financially successful, because it was too heavy for the track and kept breaking down. Despite his inventive talents, Richard Trevithick died in poverty, with his achievement being largely unrecognized.
In 1812 Oliver Evans, a United States engineer and inventor, published his vision of what steam railways could become, with cities and towns linked by a network of long distance railways plied by speedy locomotives, greatly reducing the time required for personal travel and for transport of goods. Evans specified that there should be separate sets of parallel tracks for trains going in different directions.
In 1813, George Stephenson persuaded the manager of the colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. He built the Blucher, the first successful flanged-wheel adhesion locomotive. The flanges enabled the trains to run on top of the rails instead of in sunken tracks. This greatly simplified construction of switches and rails, and opened the way to the modern railroad.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway Company's first line was opened on September 27 1825. Stephenson himself drove The Locomotion, which drew large crowds of spectators.
The steam locomotive was invented in the early stages of the industrial revolution, and railroads became essential to the swift movement of goods and labour that was needed for industrialization. In the beginning, canals were in competition with the railroads, but the railroads quickly gained ground as steam and rail technology improved, and railroads were built in places where canals were not practical.
In the 1850s, many steam-powered railways had reached London, increasing congestion in that city. A Metropolitan Railway was built to connect several of these separate railway terminals, and thus became the first "Metro."
Electric railways revolutionalize urban transport
Prior to the development of electric railways, most overland transport aside from the railways had consisted primarily of horse powered vehicles. Placing a horse car on rails had enabled a horse to move twice as many people, and so street railways were born. In January of 1888, Richmond, Virginia served as a proving grounds for electric railways as Frank Sprague built the first working electric streetcar system there. By the 1890s, electric power became practical and more widespread, allowing extensive underground railways. Large cities such as London, New York, and Paris built subway systems. When electric propulsion became practical, most street railways were electrified. These then became known as "streetcars," "trolleys," "trams" and "Strassenbahn."
In many countries, these electric street railways grew beyond the metropolitan areas to connect with other urban centers. In the USA, "Electric Interurban" railroad networks connected most urban areas in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. In Southern California, the Pacific Electric Railway connected most cities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, and the Inland Empire. There were similar systems in Europe. One of the more notable rail systems connected every town and city in Belgium.
The remnants of these systems still exist, and in many places they have been modernized to become part of the urban "rapid transit" system in their respective areas.
Diesel power
Diesel locomotives are electric locomotives with an on-board generator powered by a Diesel engine. The first Diesel locomotives were low-powered machines used in switching yards. Diesel and electric locomotives are cleaner, more efficient, and require less maintenance than steam locomotives. They also required less specialized skills in operation and maintenance and their introduction diminished the power of railway unions in the USA (one of the earliest countries to adopt Diesel power). By the 1950s, Diesel and electric power had replaced steam power on most of the world's railroads.
In the 20th century, highways and air travel replaced railroads for most long-distance passenger travel in the United States, but railroads remain important for hauling freight in the United States, and for passenger transport in many other countries.
See also
- Timeline of railway history
- Category:Timeline of rail transport
- Historical sizes of railroads
- History of rail transport by country:
- Oldest railroads in North America
References
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