railways, history of

railways, history of
The advent of railways brought together the technology of the steam-engine, developed in the early 18th century, and the horse- or human-powered wagon-ways used in mining since the 16th century. The British engineer Richard Trevithick ( 1771 – 1833 ) was the first to build a steam locomotive to run on such wagon-ways ( 1804 ); other steam-locomotive pioneers, also British, were John Blenkinsop ( 1783 – 1831 ), William Hedley ( 1779 – 1843 ), and George Stephenson ( 1781 – 1848 ). Early locomotives were handicapped by the weakness of the available railway track: it was not until technical...

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