Posts tagged Electric Engines

With renewed interest brewing in railroads and rail construction, it would be prudent to look at the history of railroads and rail construction and see how far the technology has come.

Invention

The first signs of a primitive rail system came out of Europe in the 1500′s. This consisted of wooden rails which helped horse drawn wagons to move more smoothly over ground. In the 18th century, iron became more prevalent in use and iron wheels on iron rails was in use by this time. However, horses were still the main means of power. In the 19th century, everything changed with the invention of the steam engine by Richard Trevithick. In February of 1804, a locomotive piled with tons of iron, dozens of men and about 5 wagons steamed nearly 10 miles between two towns in Wales. The trip took approximately two hours. From there, the snowball began with cargo and passenger trains being invented not long after. In the early 19th century, Colonel John Stevens experimented with steam locomotives on a test track in New Jersey. Colonel Stevens is… More >>