Rail transport

Suitable for the carriage of bulk commodities and large passenger traffic over long distances The earliest evidence of a wagonway, a predecessor of the railway, found so far was the 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos wagonway, which transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece since around 600 BC

Wagonways (or 'tramways') are thought to have developed in Germany in the 1550s to facilitate the transport of ore tubs to and from mines, utilising primitive wooden rails. Such an operation was illustrated in 1556

The first working model of a steam rail locomotive was designed and constructed by John Fitch in the United States in 1794. The first full scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick.

Early Steam Trains, 1700-1840

The struggle to build and run the Worlds first steam locomotives

The First Railways

Before 1700, trucks ran on wooden rails in Cornish tin mines By about 1780, coal trucks in the North-East were running on wooden and stone tracks. A few tracks were made of iron All these waggonways were drawn by horses

Locomotives
By 1800, fixed steam engines were working in mines and factories The next step was the Locomotive a moving steam engine that pulled coal trucks Between 1800-1830, a number of engineers tried to build a locomotive but their machines often broke down or were very weak

Richard Trevithick
In 1804, Trevithick ran his new steam

locomotive in Wales It pulled 10 tonnes of iron for a bet It travelled at 3 m.p.h. for 100 yards and then broke down .but he won his bet!

New Cogs & Puffing Billy

In 1811, John Blenkinsop invented a locomotive with an extra wheel. It had cogs on it that gave the machine extra grip on the track Then in 1813, John Hedley built his Puffing Billy to haul coal in Northumberland Puffing Billy ran for 50 years

Liverpool to Manchester Railway

There was a competition in 1829 to see whos locomotive was best. Stephenson won He was chosen to build the Liverpool to Manchester railway 400,000 people used the new railway in the first year. They were thrilled to travel at 18 m.p.h.

Railway Mania!
After 1830, there was a rush to build railways London & Birmingham linked in 1838 All the main cities were linked by 1850 The face of Britain changed, criss-crossed by railway lines, bridges and tunnels There was a mad rush to invest in railways in the 1840s. Some people made fortunes, many went bust or were swindled Railways created jobs for navvies, train drivers & staff, train builders, iron makers, coal miners and more!

Railway Mania!

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Edinburgh

Journey times from London (in hours)

Coach Train

Exeter

Brighton

Each part of the country had its own time when the first railways were built. It caused such confusion that station clocks began using London time. In 1880, Greenwich Mean Time became everyones time in Britain.

The modern world took off with the coming of the railways. The world was never the same again after 1830.

Old Steam engines

The modern Trains

The Eurostar fast speed trains

The Eurostar fast speed trains

The interior

The interior

The Cafeteria

The Cockpit

The ICE

The ICE Interior

The ICE Design