History of Trains

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.

Train History Facts

• First train appeared in the year 1804. It managed to pull 25 tonnes of iron material and 70 people over the distance of 10 miles.
• Over the course of history trains were powered by steam, electricity and diesel fuel (although one of the earliest trains in USA was powered by horses that walked on treadmills).
• Currently trains transport around 40% of world’s cargo.
• Trains are very eco-friendly, but are expensive to produce and maintain.
• First commercial steam train (Stephenson’s “The Rocket”) managed to reach speed of 96 km/h. Today’s trains can go above 200 km/h, and specialized bullet trains to over 500.
• Two most famous railway lines are 9,297 kilometers long Trans-Siberian Express which connects Moscow and Vladivostok, and off course first American railway line which connected their East and West Coast in 1866 (Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads).