How Railways Began

First of all let us establish quite clearly in our minds what is meant by the term Railway. A railway is a special form of road where the weight of the locomotives and wagons using it is evenly distributed by the rails to the sleepers and ballast, which support these rails. This ensures that the locomotives and their wagons follow the fixed path from which they cannot deviate.

There is an evidence that the people of Ancient Egypt appreciated the advantages of moving heavy objects by rolling them along “prepared ways”: the Pyramids were undoubtedly built with the aid of roads or roller ways by which the gigantic stones were hauled by almost unlimited slave labour. It is a well-known fact that the people of Ancient Greece and Rome used to construct their roads from flat stone blocks out of which a groove was cut to act as a channel along which the wheels of the carts could revolve. Perhaps the most striking fact about these ancient “routes” was that the grooves for the wheels were set 1.445 meters apart, almost equal to our standard gauge today of 4 ft. 8.5 ins. on the railways.

The next stage in the development of the track was the 16^th century. About this time, in the coal mining areas of Great Britain and on the Continent much thought was given to the best ways in which the heavy loads of coal from the mines could be moved to the canals and ports where sailing ships were to take the coal to other ports. Instead of grooves the miners used wooden rails elevated slightly above the ground. Small wooden carts full of ore were pushed out of the mines by hand. Then these wooden rails were mounted on large baulks of timber along which horses could pull their loaded wagons. These rails had the following disadvantage – they wore out very quickly. So, the next stage was to cover the surface of the rail with iron plates. The iron-plated wooden rails were very soon replaced by rails made of iron and were in wide use throughout Europe. There were also one or two examples in America. Even so, tramways had limited capacity. The most efficient tramways were designed so that loaded carts rolled downhill from the mine, assisted by gravity. A man rode each car and applied a brake to stop. Empty carts were pulled back uphill by horses.

In the middle of the 16^th century the first flanged wheel was tested in Germany. The wheels of the carts had flanges to keep the wheels on the track and guide the cart around curves. The first rail or tramway to use wagons with flanged wheels was probably the Prior Park tramway opened in England some 150 years later. The great days of railway began.

Some years later a great advance was made – the first railway came into operation. It was the Leeds - Middleton colliery railway that was run with horsepower.

During the 1700s England was the birthplace of the industrial revolution. The industrial revolution depended on a source of power for the new machines being developed. Originally, waterpower was used, but as more power was needed, new sources had to be explored. The most efficient was steam power.

In 1705, Thomas Newcomen invented the steam powered pump for removing water from mines. In 1763, James Watt improved Newcomen’s engine. Today he is often referred to as the father of the steam engine. The engines were huge and of limited horsepower but they worked and were soon in widespread use.

About that time some attempts were made for applying the steam to the locomotive. One day, in 1803, a man named Samuel Homfray and several companions were watching a horse pull three loaded wagons along a tramway in Wales, Great Britain. Homfray thought about the suitability of steam for pulling wagons along a tramway. So, he bet his companions 1, 000 guineas ($ 5, 250) that a steam-powered vehicle could pull 10 tons of iron over the nine miles of the Pen-y-Darran tramline. They accepted. Homfray turned to Richard Trevithick to develop that vehicle. Trevithick already had a reputation for building reliable steam engines and he did not disappoint Homfray.

Some years later Richard Trevithick, a mining engineer, perfected the road steam vehicle and realized the tremendous possibilities of using the steam vehicle on a railway track. On February 22, 1804 he introduced the world’s first steam locomotive capable of running on rails. So, he demonstrated the potential of the locomotive operated on fixed tracks by moving ten tons of ore and 70 passengers and five extra wagons over a distance of nearly ten miles at the magnificent average speed of 2.5 m.p.h. between the ironworks and the town in about two hours. Trevithick’s locomotive showed that smooth metal wheels could pull substantial tonnage over equally smooth metal rails, but it was not practical and was never used again.

The fame of Trevithick soon spread. Such famous engineers as William Hedley and Timothy Hackworth appreciated his work. In 1813 they designed and built now famous locomotives Puffing Billy and later Sans Pareil that convinced people of the practicality of the steam locomotive. By 1821 the Liverpool and Manchester merchants had long been seeking an alternative to the costly and inadequate services of the canals and roads linking the two cities.

It was William James who proposed a railway, which he planned to build in 18 months at a cost of $ 100.000. Though his offer was accepted, long delays occurred. Therefore, quite a lot of progress towards the railways had been made by the time when the now famous name of Stephenson appeared on the scene.

George Stephenson was both a mechanical genius and an outstanding engineer who not only perfected the design on which all steam locomotives were based, but also foresaw the creation of a national railway network. Each of Stephenson’s locomotives became a further improvement on Trevithick’s original design.

It is the significant fact that George Stephenson was the first person who fully appreciated the effect of steam locomotives operated on railroads. This earned for him the title of “The father of English railways”. The date September 27, 1825 must, therefore, be regarded as a landmark in the history of railways, for it was on this date that the Stockton - Darlington line was opened for passenger as well as for freight carrying.

The locomotives were still very dangerous because of boiler explosions and broken wheels. By this time George Stephenson had become the famous expert on railways and locomotives and he was invited to advise on the construction and operation of a projected railway between Liverpool and Manchester. A series of trials was held in October 1829 and the undoubted star was the Rocket built by George Stephenson’s firm, run by his son Robert.

On September 1830 enormous crowds attended the opening of the Liverpool-Manchester Railway. The three elements for the first railroad were: a permanent roadbed made of iron rails with a supporting substructure to distribute the great weight of the loaded vehicles, flanged wheels to keep the vehicles on the track and a practical steam locomotive.

Trains in those early days were few and run at very long intervals. The signals were operated by hand. The need for traffic control did not arise, as there were only three or four trains a day. The train carried about 450 people at the distance eight miles in approximately 65 minutes.

When railway construction was at its height in the middle of the 19^th century various gauges were used. From about 1860 the gauge of the track had been reduced to two standard widths, Stephenson’s 4 ft. 8.5 ins. and Brunel’s 7 ft. 0.25 ins., each of which had its own supporters. The battle of the gauges raged throughout the century. In 1892 one standard gauge was adopted – Stephenson’s gauge of 4 ft. 8.5 ins.

Thus, England was the country, which pioneered railways. The world’s first true railroad, that is, one designed to carry a variety of goods and passengers on regular schedules, the Stockton - Darlington, began operation in England on September 27, 1825.

The following dates are those on which the first railways, either for carrying passengers or freight, went into operation in various parts of the world: England 1825, France and Austria 1828, the United States of America 1831, Belgium and Germany 1835, Russia 1836, Italy 1840, Switzerland and Denmark 1844, Spain 1848, Sweden 1851, Canada, Norway and India 1853, Australia and Portugal 1854, Egypt 1856, South America 1858, South Africa 1860, Finland 1862 and Japan 1872.

The last great development in railways before the beginning of the 20^th century was the introduction of an underground railway system in London. It is necessary to mention Britain’s greatest achievement in this field, the creation of the first tube railway in the world, the City and South London.

Notes:

groove – выемка

cart – повозка, тележка

gauge – ж/д колея

flange – реборда (колеса)

flanged wheel – колесо с ребордой

baulk – балка, брус

colliery – каменноугольная копь

foresee – предвидеть

landmark – веха

schedule – график движения