Have You Ever Ridden on a Train?

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The train's history goes back to 2,200 BCE when wagonways were introduced. Wagonways were wheeled wagons that ran on stone "wagonways". In the 1500s wagonways were used to haul material from mines. In the 1790s iron rails were introduced. In 1804 the first steam locomotive powered the first steam train. In 1825 the Stockton and Darlington Railway in Great Britain was established which carried over 400 passengers 25 miles at 8 miles per hour. The "Railway Mania" reached the United States and the first steam railroad opened in 1829. Germany was responsible for the first electric train in 1879 and the first diesel engine in the 1890s. Diesel power was proven to be superior to steam due to lower costs, easier maintenance and better reliability. The 1960s brought high-speed rail to Japan with speeds up to and exceeding 150 miles per hour. The first high-speed train in the U. S. was Amtrack's Acela in 2000. Today's rail shipments and passenger trains require 12x less energy and emit 7-11x less greenhouse gasses than private vehicles and airplanes. We didn't have a car in the family until I was about 18 years old. All of our travel was done by train and bus. I remember train travel very well. When you would round a curve, you would get the soot from the coal-burning engine in your eyes through the open windows. That I remember, we traveled to Detroit, New York City, Niagara Falls, the local Geauga County Fair and Virginia Beach by train. Have you ever traveled by train? Where did you go? What kind of train was it? Photo Credit: Pixabay