Train

The History of Trains

  • Period: 1500 to

    Pre train

  • 1550-First wooden rails made
    1550

    1550-First wooden rails made

    These rails were used to transport goods in carts pulled by horses, and were first used in Germany. It is important because this was when man first started using rails for transportation.
  • 1776-Iron rails

    1776-Iron rails

    This is when the first iron rails were made. This was a great improvement because the rails could now support the weight of future trains and would also take longer to degrade.
  • 1803-first steam powered locomotive

    1803-first steam powered locomotive

    Samul Homfray created a steam-powered locomotive. This was a great improvement even though it was not the best design, because it could pull more than a horse could for longer distances.
  • Period: to

    Post train

  • 1804-First test

    1804-First test

    Samuel's train was first tested by pulling 10 tons of iron, 70 men, and 9 extra wagons for a distance of 9 miles. This showed that trains could be an effective mode of transportation on a large scale.
  • 1925-Stockton & Darlington began transportation

    1925-Stockton & Darlington began transportation

    Stockton & Darlington began to carry both passengers and goods. This was when the use of trains started to expand greatly.
  • 1830-American trains

    1830-American trains

    This was when the first train was used in America, known as the tom thumb. This shows that trains were so important that they were being built 3,000 miles from Europe where they were invented.
  • 1857-comfort cars

    1857-comfort cars

    The Pullman sleeper car was created by George Pullman. It was the first transportation car meant for the comfort of the traveler but it was not that affective.
  • 1965-speed trains

    1965-speed trains

    In this time now that people have found how to use gas and electricity efficiently they want to make trains faster. These ideas of a fast train shapes the modern train as we know it.
  • 2023-modern trains

    2023-modern trains

    Trains now are greater than they ever have been. There are bullet trains that can move passengers at 200 mph. There are even cargo trains that pull over 3,000 tons on average. That's 6,000,000 pounds. The tracks have even changed with the use of monorails.