Early Steam Trains, 1700-1840

1
Early Steam Trains, 1700-1840

• The struggle to build and run the Worlds first
  steam locomotives

2
The First Railways

• Before 1700, trucks ran on wooden rails in
  Cornish tin mines
• By about 1780, coal trucks in the North-East were
  running on wooden and stone tracks. A few tracks
  were made of iron
• All these waggonways were drawn by horses

3
Locomotives

• By 1800, fixed steam engines were working in
  mines and factories
• The next step was the Locomotive a moving
  steam engine that pulled coal trucks
• Between 1800-1830, a number of engineers tried
  to build a locomotive but their machines often
  broke down or were very weak

4
Richard Trevithick

• In 1804, Trevithick ran his new steam locomotive
  in Wales
• It pulled 10 tonnes of iron for a bet
• It travelled at 3½ m.p.h. for 100 yards and then
  broke down
• .but he won his bet!

5
New Cogs Puffing Billy

• In 1811, John Blenkinsop invented a locomotive
  with an extra wheel. It had cogs on it that gave
  the machine extra grip on the track
• Then in 1813, John Hedley built his Puffing
  Billy to haul coal in Northumberland
• Puffing Billy ran for 50 years

6
Liverpool to Manchester Railway

• There was a competition in 1829 to see whos
  locomotive was best. Stephenson won
• He was chosen to build the Liverpool to
  Manchester railway
• 400,000 people used the new railway in the first
  year. They were thrilled to travel at 18 m.p.h.

7
Railway Mania!

• After 1830, there was a rush to build railways
• London Birmingham linked in 1838
• All the main cities were linked by 1850
• The face of Britain changed, criss-crossed by
  railway lines, bridges and tunnels
• There was a mad rush to invest in railways in
  the 1840s. Some people made fortunes, many went
  bust or were swindled
• Railways created jobs for navvies, train
  drivers staff, train builders, iron makers,
  coal miners and more!

8
Railway Mania!
9
Journey times from London (in hours)
10
Each part of the country had its own time when
the first railways were built. It caused such
confusion that station clocks began using London
time. In 1880, Greenwich Mean Time became
everyones time in Britain.
11
The modern world took off with the coming of
the railways. The world was never the same again
after 1830.