Train

The History of Trains

  • Period: 1500 to

    Pre train

  • 1550

    1550-First wooden rails made

    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.