Western History 167: What were the key milestones in the Railway Revolution during the 19th century?

One could look at the nineteenth century as the Age of the Railway such was the profound  impact on of the Locomotive on the history of transportation, the growth of Empires and rapid spread of the trans formative Industrial Revolution. 

Non-steam driven railways had operated in Great Britain  and the continent since the mid 15^th century. Many of these machines were employed in the mining industry and consisted  of horse drawn or  manually operated machines that where necessary interfaced at the receiving end with water transportation barges.

The first steam locomotive, the Salamanca , was built in 1812 by Englishman John Blenkinsop and was used in the Middleton Railway system.  However it had a limited range of use and was very expensive. As iron production demand increased during the First industrial Revolution the need for a more efficient railway transfer system became more apparent.

Richard Trevithick, a Cornish engineer was an earlier pioneer who adapted later designs from the inspirational work carried out by William Murdock to advance steam technology for use Locomotive use. He helped popularize the idea in the public imagination.

Richard Trevithick source: the famouspeople.com

However it was George Stephenson in 1814 (with the 'Blucher') and in 1827 (with the 'Rocket') who took the technology to a new level for industrial use. In fact in 1825 the Stockton to Darlington railroad became the first public ally subscribed railroad to use steam technology. It relied heavily on Stephenson’s designs. Five years later the longer Liverpool to Manchester line opened to greater fanfare.

The Stephenson Rocket Source: Science Photo Library

Besides the locomotives the development of the Hot Blast furnace (patented by James Beaumont Neilson) improved construction efforts for railroad building by enhancing the quality of the iron produced

Transportation systems expanded globally which would benefit the large European Empires and the Continental Powers in particular. Railway lines were set up in the United States (1828), Austria (1828), France (1830), Australia (1831), Ireland (1834), Bavaria (1835), Russia (1837), Cuba (1837), Netherlands (1839), Italy (1839) and Belgium (1843).

The first Underground railroad system opened in London in 1863 (the Tube). Later Underground subway systems would appear in Budapest (1896), Glasgow (1896), Paris (1900) and New York City (1904).

An Early Image from the London Underground source: Londonist

Long haul railway construction was a feature of the period from 1850-1899. The Warsaw-St. Petersburg route was opened in 1863 and the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was completed in 1869 with the famous “Last Spike” ceremony at Promontory Summit Utah. The vast Canadian Pacific Railway was finished in 1885 five years ahead of schedule with the even larger Trans- Siberian Railroad (joining Moscow and Vladivostok) ending Construction in 1904.

Last Spike Ceremony source: politco.com

Newer trains made use of vacuum brake technology and contained many features to assist passengers for the long journeys including lavatories and sleeping carts.

A typical Locomotive used in the 19th on the Intercontinental Railway source:Trains Magazine

The joining of Lines to complete the First Intercontinental Railroad source; Ducksters

Steam would continue to dominate for the rest of the nineteenth although there were important developments in Electric train technology ever since the first electric locomotive (that made use galvanic cells) was invented by Robert Davidson in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1837.  By the 1890s electric motor locomotives had come of age and would soon grow to replace the earlier steam vintage.

The first practical Electrical AC Motor (designed by Charles Brown) was used in Zurich in 1891. Hungarian Kálmán Kandó was a prominent  innovator in this field. He is credited with the invention of the phase convertor and had his fingerprint over many AC locomotive systems that were making their presence felt in Central and Southern European rail systems. Japan and Korea would follow suit.

Kalman Kando source: Geni.com

A further technology that would compete with steam was the Diesel motor (named after German inventor Rudolf Diesel). Early designs go back to 1888 but it wasn’t until the very early 20^th before its impact would be truly realized.

Schematic of the Diesel Engine source: Britannica

Once launched this was no stopping the railway revolution. It would be eclipsed somewhat by the development of aircraft and the car but on the European continent in particular it continues to this very day to be a critical means of transportation for both goods and people.

Trans-Siberian Railroad source: Research Gate