Digital Letters

Trains: from then to now

'I have always been fascinated by all kinds of transportation and where they originated. Trains, however, have always been my favourite kind of transportation. So, let's take a look at where it all started. The train is not a modern invention as most people think. The first ones were made of wood, and wagons were pulled by horses.

At the star of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, it was necessary to transport raw materials, such as coal. A network of canals and rail was created to link between towns. As the way was so slow, the speed of railway wagons needed to be increased. By 1800 many industries began using steam engines. designed by James Watt. Later, Richard Trevithick created the first locomotive for an Iron Works in Wales. It was called ‘puffer’ because of the noise it made, and on the first journey it traveled at almost 8km/h an hour. Can you guess what happened? It was so heavy that it broke the rails, so it could make only three journeys.

But steam engines could be used to move trains, and speeds began to increase. The most famous locomotive, then was The Rocket.

The next 130 years can be described as a Golden Age of Steam, and so railways were built all over the world and the size, speed and comfort continued to increase. By 1870 it was possible to cross America by train. There were famous trains and journeys at the time. The Orient Express carried people through more than 13 countries between France and Turkey.

The Flying Scotsman reached speeds of over 130 km/h.

The Trans-Siberian railway was finished in 1916, and is still the longest railway line in the world. It goes between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, is over 9000 km long and even today the journey takes over a week.

The fastest steam train in the world was The Mallard. It reached 202 km/h.

Now it is commom to have trains running on electrified line on most railways. They are faster and cleaner than steam engines although many people miss the puffing sound and the romance of steam.