The First Railways

Railways play a very important part in the economic and political development of a country. Although we have now faster and more modern means of communication and transport, railways are still the safest and the most popular means of transportation.

It is difficult for the people living in the 21^st century to imagine the opposition to the building of the first railroads. Many people were afraid of the railways and did all in their power to stop railway construction.

The early railways were not like the railways we know today. The very first railways used horses for drawing trains and were built for transporting such products as coal, ore and timber. Later on, horse-powered railways appeared in large cities and were used as passenger transport. But these railways did not last long. The invention of steam locomotives made the railway the most important of all means of transportation.

The Steam Locomotive

In 1808 Richard Trevithick, an Englishman, made an attempt to use steam power to draw passenger and freight trains. He demonstrated his working model in London. People looked at his little locomotive with great interest when it ran on a circular track of iron rails. For a shilling the public could travel in a carriage drawn by the steam engine. It developed a speed of 12 mph (19.2 kph). But one day a rail broke and the locomotive overturned.

Many people did not believe it was possible to make steam engines suitable for service. However, in 1829 George Stephenson, an English inventor and engineer, built a successful steam locomotive which he called the "Rocket". This locomotive was much smaller and lighter than the steam engines developed later on, and it was much slower. Nevertheless, it could draw a small train of loaded cars on the railway and developed a speed of 13 mph (21 kph). The "Rocket" is now demonstrated in the British Museum.

mph - miles per hour - миль в час

kph - kilometres per hour - километров в час

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