The New Student's Reference Work/Railroads

Rail′roads′. The origin of these mighty agents of commerce and civilization may be traced to a contrivance for carrying coal from the mines in Northumberland and Durham, England, to the places of shipment on the Tyne and Wear. It consisted of two parallel lines of wooden beams or trams fixed to the ground and furnished with flanges to prevent the wheels of vehicles from slipping aside. The date of the invention of these tramways is not certain, but it may be safely referred to the first half of the 17th century. The first step in improvement, which was covering the wooden beams with long strips of iron, was taken about 1700; and a second and more important improvement which followed some years afterwards was the substitution of cast-iron rails fixed on wooden sleepers laid crosswise. This kind of railway became pretty general in mining districts during the 18th century; but on account of the opening of canals and from other causes it was not considered practicable as a general means of travel and transportation. After the introduction of cast-iron rails, instead of a single wagon the plan of linking several smaller wagons was adopted. This was the germ of the modern railway train. The next improvement consisted in putting flanges on the wheels instead of the rails, which secured much greater facility of transit. But, as no more rapid or powerful means of locomotion had been invented than horse-power, many persons labored to devise some sort of steam apparatus for the purpose. The merit of inventing a self-acting steam carriage is due to Richard Trevethick, who in 1802 took out a patent for a steam locomotive which successfully drew wagons on rails. Trevethick's invention, however, was too imperfect to come into general use, and for a few years little or no improvement was made upon it, chiefly on account of the mistaken notion among engineers that the steam locomotive could not be made to draw a heavy load or acquire great speed unless it were provided with cogged wheels to work on a corresponding rack along the rails. That locomotives with smooth wheels running on smooth rails could draw heavy loads even up a moderate incline was established by Mr. Blackett, a coal proprietor on the Wylam Railway, in 1811; and nothing was now lacking but the means of obtaining speed.

Locomotive power was first employed by George Stephenson in 1814 on the Killingworth Railway, and with such success that it was afterward applied on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which was the first railway in which carriages for passengers were used; but for some time its trains could not be made to move much faster than a horse walking. Stephenson, after a number of experiments, overcame this difficulty by sending the waste steam up a chimney, so as to cause a powerful draught in the fire. A rapid generation of steam was the result, and from this device, in connection with the multitubular boiler, the locomotive of the present day, with its wonderful power and energy, has been derived. But it was some time before the public mind could be brought to consider the question of the general use of railways, and it was not until 1830 that the line from Liverpool to Manchester was formally opened.

The first railroad constructed in the United States was in 1826, and was for the purpose of carrying granite from the quarries near Quincy, Mass., to tidewater, a few miles distant, and next year the legislature of Maryland chartered the first railroad company authorized to do a general business in carrying freight and passengers. This was only 81 years ago, and such has been the progress in railway enterprise in that period, especially since the close of the Civil War, that on Dec. 31, 1911, there were 242,860 miles of railroad in the country, representing total assets of over $21,696,738,000. The total railroad mileage of the world has been estimated at 562,780 miles, and the value of all the roads at $39,000,000,000. The mileage of the principal countries in round numbers is as follows: Austria-Hungary 25,173; France 29,716; Germany 36,686; Great Britain and Ireland 23,205; Italy 10,388; Russia (European and Asiatic) 41,136; Spain 9,227; Switzerland 2,969; India 29,097; Canada 22,966; Sweden 8,321; Japan 4,898; Mexico 14,857; Argentine Republic 15,476; Brazil 11,940; Chile 3,288.

The longest continuous railway line on the American continent is that of the Southern Pacific Railroad; its main line from New Orleans to San Francisco is 3,149 miles. The Siberian Railroad (q. v.) has a mileage of 4,775 miles and, with its feeders and branches through Manchuria to Vladivostock and Port Arthur, a length of 6,667 miles from St. Petersburg.