Railroad+History

Steam power introduced
[|James Watt], a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, was responsible for improvements to the [|steam engine] of [|Thomas Newcomen] , hitherto used to pump water out of mines. Watt developed a [|reciprocating engine], capable of powering a wheel. Although the Watt engine powered cotton mills and a variety of machinery, it was a large [|stationary engine]. It could not be otherwise; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, and this mode of operation needed a separate [|condenser] and an [|air pump]. Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, he investigated the use of high pressure steam acting directly upon a piston. This raised the possibility of a smaller engine, that might be used to power a vehicle, and he actually patented a design for a [|steam locomotive] in 1784. His employee [|William Murdoch] produced a working model of a self propelled steam carriage in that year. [|[18]] A replica of Trevithick's engine at the [|National Waterfront Museum], Swansea The first working model of a steam rail locomotive was designed and constructed by [|John Fitch] in the United States in 1794. [|[19]] The first full scale working railway [|steam locomotive] was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by [|Richard Trevithick], an English engineer born in [|Cornwall]. (The story goes that it was constructed to satisfy a bet by [|Samuel Homfray], the local iron master.) This used high pressure steam to drive the engine by one power stroke. (The transmission system employed a large fly-wheel to even out the action of the piston rod.) On 21 February 1804 the world's first railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed [|steam locomotive] hauled a train along the [|tramway] of the [|Penydarren] ironworks, near [|Merthyr Tydfil] in [|South Wales]. [|[20]] [|[21]] Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon a piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury, London, the "Catch-Me-Who-Can", but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. Despite his inventive talents, Richard Trevithick died in poverty, with his achievement being largely unrecognized. [|[22]] The impact of the [|Napoleonic Wars] resulted in (amongst other things) a dramatic rise in the price of fodder. This was the imperative that made the [|locomotive] an economic proposition, if it could be perfected. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was [|Matthew Murray] 's [|rack] locomotive // [|Salamanca] // built for the [|narrow gauge] [|Middleton Railway] in 1812. This twin cylinder locomotive was not heavy enough to break the [|edge-rails] track, and solved the problem of [|adhesion] by a [|cog-wheel] utilising teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. It was the first [|rack railway]. This was followed in 1813 by the // [|Puffing Billy] // built by [|Christopher Blackett] and [|William Hedley] for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by [|adhesion] only. This was accomplished by the distribution of weight by a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the [|Science Museum] in London, the oldest locomotive in existence. [|[23]] In 1814 [|George Stephenson], inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the [|Killingworth] [|colliery] where he worked to allow him to build a [|steam-powered] machine. He built the // [|Blücher] //, one of the first successful [|flanged] -wheel adhesion locomotives. Stephenson played a pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. In 1825 he built the // [|Locomotion] // for the [|Stockton and Darlington Railway] in the north east of England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. Such success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the United Kingdom, United States and much of Europe. [|[24]]

=== 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. The world's first electric tram line opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin, Germany, in 1881. It was built by Werner von Siemens (see [|Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway] ). Seven years later, in January 1888, [|Richmond, Virginia] served as American proving grounds for [|electric railways] as [|Frank Sprague] built an 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." They can be found around the world. === 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. One of the more notable tramway systems in Asia is the [|Hong Kong Tramways], which started operation in 1904 and run exclusively on double-decker trams. 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. In the past thirty years increasing numbers of cities have restored electric rail service by building "light rail" systems to replace the tram system they removed during the mid-20th century.

Diesel power
[|Diesel-electric] locomotives could be described as electric locomotives with an on-board generator powered by a diesel engine. The first diesel locomotives were low-powered machines, [|diesel-mechanical] types 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 their introduction diminished the power of railway unions in the United States (one of the earliest countries to adopt diesel power on a wide scale). After working through technical difficulties in the early 1900s, diesel locomotives became mainstream after World War II. By the 1970s, diesel and electric power had replaced steam power on most of the world's railroads. [|[16]] In the 20th century, [|road transport] 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.

High-speed rail
Starting with the opening of the first [|Shinkansen] line between Tokyo and [|Osaka] in 1964, [|high-speed rail] transport, functioning at speeds up and above 300 km/h, has been built in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London-Paris-Brussels corridor, Madrid-Barcelona, as well as many other major lines.