History of Railways
1.Early history
The invention of the railway started in the 16th
century. The road of the rail was called a wagonway; it was called a wagonway,
because of the horses, which pulled wagons on the rails, and it was the start
of modern railroads. After two centuries of inventing the wagonways the wood in
wheels and in the rails had been replaced by iron because it can last longer
than wood. In 1789, William Jessup from England designed the flanged wheels for
the first wagons which were grooved and had better grip on the rail.
Steam
engines made a great jump to the invention of the modern railroad and trains.
There was a man called Samuel Homfray in the 19th century who wanted
to change and replace the horse-drawn carts by a steam-powered vehicle, but he
didn’t build it. After him came Richard Trevithick and he built the first
steam-powered vehicle. The first trip for it was on 22nd
February 1804; it took nearly two hours between Darron in the town of
Merthyr Tydfil in Wales to the bottom of the valley, which is called
Abercynnon. It pulled a load of 10 tons of iron at a distance of nearly 9 miles
carrying 70 men and five extra wagons.
2.Development
Using Railways is not a new thought because the idea
of "tracked" roads is at least 2000 years old; quarries in
Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire used cut stone tracks to haul loads pulled
by animals, as the Greek did for transporting ships overland. Then man started
to use wagons, with man or horse power, and track guides made of stone
or wood. Historians do not agree upon the exact origins of rail transport; some
look upon early conveyances that involved some sort of wheeled device mounted
on a system of wood rails as the forerunner to modern rail transport; others
tend to consider the real history of rail transport as beginning with the
development of the steam engine. With the steam engine came the idea of
creating a conveyance that would move by using steam pressure to turn the
wheels on the device. In order for this type of railway transport to function,
metal tracks were laid down and connected with heavy wood ties on the underside
of the track. The ties kept the two rails in proper alignment and helped to
make the locomotive more stable when moving along the track system.
3.Present
Created in the late 18th century, the steam engine was a major
factor in the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. Over time, railcar
transportation became exceedingly popular for not only the transport of
livestock and goods, but also for the transport of humans. Railcar
transport continued to evolve during the first half of the 20th century.
Further refinements allowed the steam engine to handle the transportation of
goods and people. Railways were improved with the implementation of electrical
transmission to augment the steam locomotive, while the creation of diesel
locomotion after World War II helped rail transport to remain a viable option,
for the transport of people and manufactured goods. While there were those who
predicted the demise of rail transport, this form of transportation continues
to operate. In recent years, major railways have found ways to compete with
other forms of ground transportation and light rail transit. Trams appeared as
a public transport using a steel-tracked fixed guide way that operates
primarily along an exclusive right of way and has vehicles capable of operating
as single or as multiple units. LRT, providing a swift conveyance to and from a
limited number of locations has also proven to be a viable alternative to
flying or driving in some cases.
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