Essay Outline
Module – Basic to Railway operation – M1N212725
Describe how railway technology developed in 19th century (1800 -1900). How did these developments affect railway operations?
Total word count: 979. Introduction
We will be exploring the developments of railway technology during 19th century. How railway operation as whole moved forward from pulling wagons to high speed trains and the affect of those developments on the railway operation and on the economy of Great Britain.
I cannot imagine todays Railway without Civil Engineers of 19th Century, who played the most important part in the development and successful operation of the railway; it had a major influence in reshaping and development of the capital market and the economy as large.
How railway technology developed in 19th century (1800 -1900). How did these developments affect railway operations?
In Railways earliest form, both track and the wagon and its wheels were wooden. Although the waggonways often served river wharves, they were also closely linked to the canals. For downhill Journeys, for example from a mine pit head to a river wharf or to factories, the wagon was sometimes moved by gravity and a horse was used to pull the wagon or wagons back up the hill over uneven terrain. It soon became …show more content…
clear that – despite the technology still being relatively primitive – the combination of rail and wheel considerably reduced friction and this meant that a horse could pull a number of wagons coupled together in a train.[1][2] “Reducing friction was one of the major reasons for the success of railroads compared to wagons”.
[3] Inevitably, given the heavy loads of minerals which were carried, the wooden wheels and rails did not wear well. Progressively therefore metal was used in rails and wheels. In the case of the rails, initially metal plates were put on the surface of the wooden rail but this practice was replaced by the use of all metals rails with cast iron giving way to steel. The initial rails were flanged (L-shaped)so that wheels of the wagon were guided - these became known as plateways, but this practice was replaced by the conventional rail and flanged wheel which is standard railway practice
today.[1][3]
Accompanying the greater use of metal in railway technology was the development of steam power in 1800. Stationary steam engines played a vital role in hauling wagons up gradients but the development of the locomotive steam engine was really the catalyst for the creation of modern railway. James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, was responsible for improvements to the steam engine; it was a large stationary engine. In 1804, Richard Trevithick, an English engineer born in Cornwall built the first full scale working railway steam locomotive, hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarran Ironworks in South Wales. It is generally accepted that the first public passenger railway was the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825.
Sometime the best locomotives would struggle to climb certain gradients. The railway therefore featured major civil engineering works – tunnels, embankments and bridges for example – which allowed railway to run in a relatively straight line between locations at a manageable gradients. These engineering developments accompanied by the traction played an important part in the 19th century development of the railway. On the left photo above construction of metropolitan railway and on the right men are building a pier for the UP’s Green River, Wyoming, bridge the same way they built the entire railroad: by hand. Skilled stonecutters shape rock, while masons and labourers wrestle it into place with the help os a hand derrick. [7]
In the early days policemen – the forerunners of today’s signallers – gave handsignal to drivers from strategic points and to prevent accident a “time interval “system was used whereby one train was allowed to follow another once a prescribed time has elapsed. Clearly a major drawback of this arrangement was that if the first train had failed (broken down) the second train might run into the back of it and so the electric telegraph began to be used so that the policemen could communicate with one another (by bell and block instruments) and the second train would not be allowed to pass until the first had safely arrived at the point ahead. This development was accompanied by the use of fixed semaphore signals to replace handsignals. Interlocking was also developed whereby signals could not be cleared unless the appropriate route was set signals could not be cleared for a conflicting movement. This sought to prevent the consequences of catastrophic signalling error. [1]
A further development in railway safety and technology saw the introduction of the continuous automatic brake. This meant that the brake when applied from the loco also applied on all the vehicles of the train and meant that if vehicles became accidently separated from the train the various parts of the train would automatically come to a stand. Without this there were many disastrous accidents most notably perhaps at Armagh. [1]
The development of Railway Technology meant minimal use of canals. Railways quickly became essential to the swift movement of goods and labour that was needed for industrialization. In the beginning, canals were in competition with the railways, but the railways quickly gained ground as steam rail technology improved, and were built in places where canals were not practical.[4]
Growth of British railways [5]
Year Total Miles
1830 98
1835 338
1840 1498
1845 2441
1850 6621
1855 8280
1860 10433
The affect of railway technology in 19th century were critical to the industrial revolution and to the development of export economies across the world. [4]The railways did not in themselves cause the growth; they merely supported the more important industries. [7]
Rail transport had originally been conceived as a way of moving coal and industrial good but the railway operators quickly realised the potential for market for railway travel, leading to an extremely rapid expansion in passenger services since 1800. Towns provided enormous concentrations of population and demand, and expanded rapidly. The railways helped the urban demand for foods, such as flour, meat sugar and vegetables. Railways allowed the movement of raw materials and markets for industry and enabled the development of industrial concentrations. It increased economic activities all over at national level which created more Jobs into the markets such as manufacturing and mines. [8]
Conclusion
The development in railway technology helped developed a safer and much quicker system to travel. It had big impact on Britain. It created Jobs, made goods cheaper, helped to spread information faster and changed the countryside in a way that neither the canals nor the new roads had ever been able to do. [9] This Chart above showing Percentage of Goods Exported Accounted for by Capital Good [7] This Chat above showing Return on Investment from the Stockton and Darlington Railway [7]
The affect of change in Technology [9]
References
1. Institution of railway operators – version 6, October 2013
2. http://www.trainhistory.net/railway-history/railroad-history/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport
5. “The Peel web: Railway Expansion” Retrieved 2011-02-15.
6. Union Pacific Railroad Museum Collection.
7. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/railways/railwys2.htm
8. http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/history/04.TU.03/?section=6
9. http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year9links/industrial/Impactrailways.pdf
Describe how railway technology developed in 19th century (1800 -1900). How did these developments affect railway operations?
Total word count: 979. Introduction
We will be exploring the developments of railway technology during 19th century. How railway operation as whole moved forward from pulling wagons to high speed trains and the affect of those developments on the railway operation and on the economy of Great Britain.
I cannot imagine todays Railway without Civil Engineers of 19th Century, who played the most important part in the development and successful operation of the railway; it had a major influence in reshaping and development of the capital market and the economy as large.
How railway technology developed in 19th century (1800 -1900). How did these developments affect railway operations?
In Railways earliest form, both track and the wagon and its wheels were wooden. Although the waggonways often served river wharves, they were also closely linked to the canals. For downhill Journeys, for example from a mine pit head to a river wharf or to factories, the wagon was sometimes moved by gravity and a horse was used to pull the wagon or wagons back up the hill over uneven terrain. It soon became …show more content…
clear that – despite the technology still being relatively primitive – the combination of rail and wheel considerably reduced friction and this meant that a horse could pull a number of wagons coupled together in a train.[1][2] “Reducing friction was one of the major reasons for the success of railroads compared to wagons”.
[3] Inevitably, given the heavy loads of minerals which were carried, the wooden wheels and rails did not wear well. Progressively therefore metal was used in rails and wheels. In the case of the rails, initially metal plates were put on the surface of the wooden rail but this practice was replaced by the use of all metals rails with cast iron giving way to steel. The initial rails were flanged (L-shaped)so that wheels of the wagon were guided - these became known as plateways, but this practice was replaced by the conventional rail and flanged wheel which is standard railway practice
today.[1][3]
Accompanying the greater use of metal in railway technology was the development of steam power in 1800. Stationary steam engines played a vital role in hauling wagons up gradients but the development of the locomotive steam engine was really the catalyst for the creation of modern railway. James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, was responsible for improvements to the steam engine; it was a large stationary engine. In 1804, Richard Trevithick, an English engineer born in Cornwall built the first full scale working railway steam locomotive, hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarran Ironworks in South Wales. It is generally accepted that the first public passenger railway was the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in 1825.
Sometime the best locomotives would struggle to climb certain gradients. The railway therefore featured major civil engineering works – tunnels, embankments and bridges for example – which allowed railway to run in a relatively straight line between locations at a manageable gradients. These engineering developments accompanied by the traction played an important part in the 19th century development of the railway. On the left photo above construction of metropolitan railway and on the right men are building a pier for the UP’s Green River, Wyoming, bridge the same way they built the entire railroad: by hand. Skilled stonecutters shape rock, while masons and labourers wrestle it into place with the help os a hand derrick. [7]
In the early days policemen – the forerunners of today’s signallers – gave handsignal to drivers from strategic points and to prevent accident a “time interval “system was used whereby one train was allowed to follow another once a prescribed time has elapsed. Clearly a major drawback of this arrangement was that if the first train had failed (broken down) the second train might run into the back of it and so the electric telegraph began to be used so that the policemen could communicate with one another (by bell and block instruments) and the second train would not be allowed to pass until the first had safely arrived at the point ahead. This development was accompanied by the use of fixed semaphore signals to replace handsignals. Interlocking was also developed whereby signals could not be cleared unless the appropriate route was set signals could not be cleared for a conflicting movement. This sought to prevent the consequences of catastrophic signalling error. [1]
A further development in railway safety and technology saw the introduction of the continuous automatic brake. This meant that the brake when applied from the loco also applied on all the vehicles of the train and meant that if vehicles became accidently separated from the train the various parts of the train would automatically come to a stand. Without this there were many disastrous accidents most notably perhaps at Armagh. [1]
The development of Railway Technology meant minimal use of canals. Railways quickly became essential to the swift movement of goods and labour that was needed for industrialization. In the beginning, canals were in competition with the railways, but the railways quickly gained ground as steam rail technology improved, and were built in places where canals were not practical.[4]
Growth of British railways [5]
Year Total Miles
1830 98
1835 338
1840 1498
1845 2441
1850 6621
1855 8280
1860 10433
The affect of railway technology in 19th century were critical to the industrial revolution and to the development of export economies across the world. [4]The railways did not in themselves cause the growth; they merely supported the more important industries. [7]
Rail transport had originally been conceived as a way of moving coal and industrial good but the railway operators quickly realised the potential for market for railway travel, leading to an extremely rapid expansion in passenger services since 1800. Towns provided enormous concentrations of population and demand, and expanded rapidly. The railways helped the urban demand for foods, such as flour, meat sugar and vegetables. Railways allowed the movement of raw materials and markets for industry and enabled the development of industrial concentrations. It increased economic activities all over at national level which created more Jobs into the markets such as manufacturing and mines. [8]
Conclusion
The development in railway technology helped developed a safer and much quicker system to travel. It had big impact on Britain. It created Jobs, made goods cheaper, helped to spread information faster and changed the countryside in a way that neither the canals nor the new roads had ever been able to do. [9] This Chart above showing Percentage of Goods Exported Accounted for by Capital Good [7] This Chat above showing Return on Investment from the Stockton and Darlington Railway [7]
The affect of change in Technology [9]
References
1. Institution of railway operators – version 6, October 2013
2. http://www.trainhistory.net/railway-history/railroad-history/
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rail_transport
5. “The Peel web: Railway Expansion” Retrieved 2011-02-15.
6. Union Pacific Railroad Museum Collection.
7. http://www.historyhome.co.uk/peel/railways/railwys2.htm
8. http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/learning_modules/history/04.TU.03/?section=6
9. http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/year9links/industrial/Impactrailways.pdf