History of Trains Old Train History of the modern trains spans the range of last two hundred years of modern human civilization, who in that time used this incredible discovery to drastically change industry, human expansion, and the way we travel on daily basis. From the first time steam train rolled over the railways of industrial England in early 1800s to the modern times when bullet trains carry thousands of passengers with incredible speeds and freight train carry substantial amount of worlds goods, trains enabled us to develop our civilization with unexpected consequences that nobody expected. Distant lands become almost instantly reachable (3000 miles journey from New York to California was cut down from one or two months to few days!), industrial manufacture could be powered with infinite amount of raw materials and outgoing transport of finished goods, and sudden fast travel (far before first airplanes were discovered) caused the need of implementing standardized time zones across entire world. Today, trains are used in variety of ways – from small city trams, subway electric trains, distance trains (equipped with dining cars and sleeping quarters for longer journeys), freight trains, to high-speed bullet trains that can reach speeds of 300-500 kilometers per hour. However, their history started with much simpler and slower designs. Even before steam engines arrived, ancient civilizations of Greece and Egypt and industrial Europe (1600s -1800s) used horses as primary sources of driving simple train cars. With purposefully built train tracks that enabled journey in only two directions, horses or bulls needed to waste minimal amount of force while pulling coal, iron and other goods. Arrival of first non-condensing pressurized steam engines in first few years of 19th century enabled engineers to build new kind of railway system and train cars – trains that were built to carry much more materials than ever before. At first, trains carried freight only.In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England started to operate regular services for passengers.George Stephenson designed a steam locomotive called "Locomotion" to pull passenger cars.On September 27th,1825 the locomotive to pull a special train to mark the first steam-hauled public railroad.Tom Thumb, built in 1829 first ran in 1830 on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Ellicots Mill, Maryland.This was the first public railroad in the United States.More trains meant more locomotives.The Orient Express is the worlds most famous train.The largest trains ever built were "Big Boys."They were in service between 1941 and 1944.They carried enormous freight trains that weighed about 3,960 tons!They also went up steep slopes in the Rocky Mountains.The locomotive and tender were almost 131 feet long and 16 feet high.They almost weighed 594 tons.They can run up to 80 miles per hour.The last stake was driven in at Promontory,Utah for the Continental railroad, it streched all the way across America.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 07:19:52 +0000
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