The First Railway

In 1803 Richard Trevithick, a Cornishman, used a steam locomotive to pull coal wagons on a special track. This was the first time an engine, instead of horses, had been used for this. The first passenger railway in Europe was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. This opened in 1830. It used a steam engine built by George Stephenson called the ‘Rocket”. In the USA the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad opened in 1831.

In those days roads were very bad- muddy and full of holes. Human being start to built and invent new things from a very long time period but with the achievements and new inventions, the growth rate of new machines and invention increase time to time. Peoples use animals like horses as a transport medium for traveling and transporting of heavy goods. This was taking much time for completion of transport but at that time this is only a best medium until Richard purpose concept of railway.

After invention of railway trains which ran on iron rails laid on wooden ‘sleepers’, could transport heavy loads quickly. This made easy to transport. During the next 40 years railway spread over Europe. In America they stretched right across the continent. And spreading of Railway continuously begin and made a unique importance among whole world and this was one of the great invention ever in the History of Human being. And not only in past but nowadays railway have also its unique value and there a lots of traveler who enjoy to travel in rail instead of other transport mediums.

How does steam work engines...?

When water is boiling in a kettle steam rushes out of the spout and lid with great force. It often moves the lid up and down as it escapes. This force is what drives steam engines.

A fire heats water in a boiler, sending steam to a cylinder. This is a short, strong pipe with a round piston inside, which can move up and down. When steam is let in through a valve at the bottom it drives the piston up to the top. Then the steam is let out and the piston comes down again. A rod connects the piston to a wheel which is driven round and round as the piston goes up and down. In a railway locomotive this is one of the big driving wheels underneath.

This invention of engine made railway free from any kind of animals and also speed up and more convenient. Now peoples travel in short interval of time period and enjoying the speed of railway.

In big cities there is often no room for railway tracks. Train go either under or over the roads. The ‘tube’ trains in London run as much as 67m (220 ft) deep. Whole stations are hollowed out under the surface. In New York the subway sometimes runs underground and sometimes on stilts over the road.

When main railway lines have to cross mountains they often run through tunnels. The Simplon tunnel under the Alps is over 19 kilometres (12 miles) long and 2,135m (7,000 ft.) deep. Some railways go up into the mountains. The Antofagasta-Bolivia railway in Chile goes up to a height of 4,800 m (15,800 ft.) in the Andes Mountains. For very steep climbs special railways have big cogs under the engines. These fit into holes in the track to stop the train slipping. This arrangement is called a ‘rack’ railway. Wherever this does not work, cable railways are used, with cars hanging from wires.

The fastest steam engine was the British ‘Mallard” which reached 203 kilometres (126 miles) per hour. The most powerful were the huge engines built in the USA, such as the ‘Mallet’ locomotive.

There are now few steam trains. Instead we use electric and diesel engines. Electric trains pick up current from extra ‘power’ rails or overhead cables. The French TGVs (Train Grand Vitesse, French for ‘high speed train’) run at an average speed of 268 kilometres (168 miles) per hour on specially built rails between Paris and Lyon. Diesel locomotive`s burn oil in an engine something like a car engine. They can be very powerful.

Although trains are not as fast as planes, they do not need huge airports. They can carry heavier loads than planes or trucks, causing less pollution. They are also a very safe way for passengers to travel.

Nowadays, Railway grow continuously with new features and speeds. And now we have a good collection of high speed railways.