Modern railway developments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Modern railway developments - Essay Example It is stated in the Wikipedia (n.d.) that modern railways are the outcome of the development that took place over the past 500 years, a time when railroads were made of wood and stone. England is the pioneer of the first railway system that marked the beginning of the modern railway system in the 1820s. The system was based on steam locomotive which continued to dominate the railway system till the next century. In the sixteenth century tramways or wagon ways were introduced that could transport coal to and from the mines. Bellis (n.d.) states that this technology was widely used in many European countries including England. By the eighteenth century these tramways or wagon ways had impressed the engineers with its great utility. It could carry huge tones of coal without damaging the roads. It was thus felt that the technology must be improved in order to gain maximum benefit out of it. Around 1760 wooden rails were replaced by iron rails to ease the friction between the rail tracks and the wheels. It was thought that the technology could be used for the transport of people from one place to another. This led to the development of the first passenger train in 1803. However greatest achievement in the modern railway development came with the invention of the steam engine. Samuel Homfray funded the development of the steam engine in 1803. This was the greatest achievement since the steam powered engines replaced the horse drawn trams and wagon ways. The first journey on a locomotive train was done in 1804 by 70 men along with 9 extra wagons and 10 tones of coal. The engine covered a distance of 9 miles in two hours. However the first successful railway emerged in 1825 which was called Stockton and Darlington Railway. The railway connected the town of Darlington to the ports of Stockton and was basically invented for the transport of coal to the docks. A little later a more powerful engine was designed by an English man George Stevenson. The