The concept of constructing a railroad in the United States was first conceived by Colonel John Stevens, in 1812. He described his theories in a collection of works called "Documents tending to prove the superior advantages of railways and steam carriages over canal navigation." The earliest railroads constructed were horse drawn cars running on tracks, used for transporting freight. The first to be chartered and built was the Granite Railway of Massachusetts, which ran approximately three miles (1826). The first regular carrier of passengers and freight was the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, completed on February 28, 1827. It was not until Christmas Day, 1830, when the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company completed the first mechanical passenger train, that the modern railroad industry was born. This industry would have a profound effect on the nation in the coming decades, often determining how an individual lived his life.

By 1835, dozens of local railroad networks had been put into place. Each one of these tracks went no more than a few miles, but the potential for this mode of transportation was finally being realized. With every passing year, the number of these railway systems grew exponentially. By 1850, over 9,000 miles of track had been lain. Along with the proliferation of railroads came increased standardization of the field. An ideal locomotive was developed which served as the model for all subsequent trains. Various companies began to cooperate with one another, to both maximize profits and minimize expenditures.

This interaction of various companies initiated the trend of conglomeration which would continue through the rest of the Nineteenth Century. In 1850, the New York Central Railroad Company was formed by the merging of a dozen small railroads between the Hudson River and Buffalo. Single companies had begun to extend their railway systems outside of the local domain. Between 1851 and 1857, the federal government issued land grants to Illinois to construct the Illinois Central railroad. The government set a precedent with this action, and fostered the growth of one of the largest companies in the nation.

With the onset of the Civil War, production of new railroads fell dramatically. At the same time, however, usage of this mode of transportation increased significantly. For example, the Battle of Bull Run was won by a group of reinforcements shuttled in on a railroad car. By the conclusion of the war, the need for an even more diverse extension of railways was extremely apparent.

Soon after the war, the first transcontinental railroad was constructed. The Union Pacific Railroad company started building from the east, while the Central Pacific began from the west. The two companies met at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869. As they drove the Golden Spike uniting the two tracks, a new age was born. Slowly, the small railroad companies would die out or be absorbed by large businesses.

Several more transcontinental railroads were built before the end of the century, all by large corporations. Every decade brought increased standardization. In addition, labor unions were developed to protect the rights of the workers. As companies grew larger, they began to take over other related fields. Soon, large trusts were formed that controlled many aspects of both the economy and society. As more and more areas became controlled by the octopus of the railroad industry, it became apparent that regulation was imperative.

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History of Rail Transport

Modern transportation of passengers and goods could not be imagined without trains, transport devices that revolutionized our industry, human expansion, and the way we can move from one place to another. Such important presence in our history appeared little over 200 years ago, but even then it was apparent that this new transportation paradigm could become one of the mankind’s greatest fights if the technical hurdles of early industrial revolution could be overcomed.

It all began in over 2000 years ago in ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon and Greece. Transport of people and goods in those time was done with carts that were pulled by animals (horses or bulls), and their engineers quickly noticed that animals will spend much less energy if the cart was traveling on predetermined path, without possibility for steering or traveling over uneven terrain. To enable this new way of transport, they build roads with pre-built constraints for wheels. These were the world’s first railway tracks, and archeological remains of them can still be found in Italy and Greece. The most famous example of these ancient stone etched “wagonways” can be found in the Isthmus of Corinth, Greece.

These wagonways went out of use after the fall of Roman Empire, and managed to return only after increased trading and early industrial efforts of European Renaissance. By 18th century, every mine in Great Britain had its own simple railway network, with horses pulling carts from mines to factories. Changes to this kind of transport came in 1774 after the world found out about James Watt incredible discovery – stationary steam engine. As he protected his patents forcefully, the true widespread work on steam powered locomotives started only after his patent lapsed in 1800. Several inventors started working on improving Watt’s design, most notably designing non-condensing high pressure chambers that enabled engine to convert more steam’s power into mechanical energy.

First steam engines started running along primitive rail tracks in 1804. Matthew Murray managed to showcase his simple locomotive first, but Richard Trevithick received more attention with his “Penydarren” locomotive that pulled weight of 25 tons and 70 people during its first ride. This event proved to the engineer community, that pressurized steam engines indeed have enough power to become useful for transport of goods and people.

Commercial appearance of train networks came in late 1820s, and the pioneer in that field was English inventor George Stephenson who entered into competition that wanted to find out which steam locomotive design was easiest to use, most reliable and powerful. His “Rocket” won him that competition, showcasing to the entire world that steam trains are indeed destined for bright future. Designs of such locomotives soon traveled to United States, where they began their rapid expansion across newly acquired lands and American long push to “civilize” the west frontiers.

As train technology received massive updates over those first few decades of public work, urban engineers in London started formulating first plans for inter-city railway tracks and underground tunnels. First section of now famous “London Underground” begun its work in 1863, and even though it received much complaints because of the smoke in the tunnels, it continued growing until 1890 when entire London train fleet started using electrical engines. This marked the beginning of the new era of urban rapid transit systems, and underground Metros started appearing across entire world (the word “metro” came from the name of Paris underground train system “Chemin de Fer Métropolitain”, meaning “Metropolitan Railway”).

Another very important moment in the history of the trains was introduction of Diesel engines, which brought the end to the age of steam locomotives. After second world war almost absolute majority of the world left steam behind, and embraced much faster, easier to maintain and reliable diesel fuel engines. As time went on, diesel engines became combined with electrical ones, enabling trains to use best of both worlds.

Today, trains represent one of the most important ways people and goods travel. Big cities cannot live without fully working underground metro systems that carry millions of people every day, and more heavy and durable industrial trains carry over 40% of worldwide goods between towns, countries, and continents.