Railways

Abstract Railways were the distinctive ‘industrial era’ transport technology but date to antiquity. They were widely adopted in the context of the English coal industry from the seventeenth century. By 1830 they had become a sophisticated mechanical technology. Key to the railway revolution of the nineteenth century was the steam locomotive engine with the capacity to haul a train carrying primary products, manufactured goods, or people at a national level. Railways had a profound effect on the economy, landscape, and society of wherever they were built, and were often consciously used to emphasize political power and colonial might. Decline in the late twentieth century has been followed by a subsequent revival. Railways take many different forms, serving industry and construction sites, military campaigns, and operating as intra-urban systems. Miniature, toy, and heritage railways reflect public interest in this technology.