Railroad News
The Mumbles Railway of South Wales of 1804 was the first passenger train in history. Horse-drawn rail wagons carted local limestone from Oystemouth and coal from Clyne Valley to Swansea. The railway began passenger service in 1804 and, remarkably, continued until 1877.
The Surrey Iron Railway was established by Act of Parliament in 1801, and opened completely by 1803. Established as a toll railway, the chief goods transported were coal, building materials, lime, manure, corn and seeds. A public 14 km long railway, the Surrey Iron Railway was a horse-drawn plateway that linked Wandsworth and Croydon via Mitcham, all then in Surrey but now suburbs of south London, England.
In 1803, visitors to Evans' Philadelphia workshop were witness to a non-condensing high pressure steam-powered engine.
In 1798, the Lake Lock Rail Road Company constructed a rail route from Lake Lock to Outwood. It is reputed to be the first ever above ground railway.
Somewhere around 1568, German miners utilized tub railways to transport ore within the mines. The cart in the photo is from 16th century, found in Transylvania.