The History of Trains
July 27, 2010
At first, trains carried freight only. In 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway in England started to operate regular services for passengers. George Stephenson designed a steam locomotive called “Locomotion” to pull passenger cars.
On September 27th,1825 the locomotive was used to pull a special train to mark the first steam-hauled public railroad. Tom Thumb, built in 1829 first ran in 1830 on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Ellicots Mill, Maryland. This was the first public railroad in the United States. More trains meant more locomotives. The Orient Express is the world’s most famous train.
The largest trains ever built were “Big Boys.” They were in service between 1941 and 1944. They carried enormous freight trains that weighed about 3,960 tons! They also went up steep slopes in the Rocky Mountains. The locomotive and tender were almost 131 feet long and 16 feet high. They almost weighed 594 tons. They can run up to 80 miles per hour. The last stake was driven in at Promontory,Utah for the Continental railroad, it stretched all the way across America.
credit: http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110200/trainHistory.html
Comments
Leave a Reply
Follow Us!
Get Our Blog by Email!
