The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1885-01-23
ORIGIN OF Tue RAILROAD.

| The origin OF the railroad is by some
! writer's believed to De unknown. There is
IN the British museum an Egyptian hierO
] glyphic which represents slaves drawing
stones over road like primitive ,ramway.
/ One writer would have us believe that a
! similar device was known in China many
! years ago. While il is admitted that print
| ing, guppowder, AID many other things
/ were familiar 20 the Chinese before they
we're known 10 Western civilization, vet it is
highly improbable that anything approach
ing tramway nearer than a palanquin was
/ known TO them. The earliest authentic
mention of a railway occurs in the life Of
Lord Keeper, Roger Forth early in the sew
enteenth century. About 1870 double par
alleI line of wooden beams was laid ut New
castle-on- Tyne, and a large cart, with four
rollers, drawn by horses, Yves used to trans
port coal from the mine to the side of the
river a fange placed at the side of the
beam Kept the carts from rolling off the rail-
30 successful was the experiment that 9th
er coal districts in England and Scotland
followed the example. II was a great labor
saving scheme, for horse that could with
difficulty draw only ZOO without the aid OF
this smooth road could now with ease draw
4 200 weight. This was the earliest tram
way, the precsrsur of the steam railway
The first improvement made on this tram.
way was the laying of iron plates on the
wooden beams; this cOntrivance reduced
the friction aud made less wear and tear. In
l168 rails made wholly of iron were used.
and in 1879 when William Yessop built the
first public railway in England. at Lough
borough, lie introduced the edge rail OF cast
iron and changed the hanpe from the rail TO
the wheel. Finally in 1903, the rails were
made of maIleable iron
Up to 1908 the tTamway had used horses
for motors, and in some instances stationary
engines; but mems minds had been con
stantly exercised to invent some method Of
drawing cars by means of other than cable
or animal power Watt seems to have been
the hrst to conceive the idea of prOpellina
wheeled carriages by steam, but he was so
engaged in perfecting the stationary engine
mat he did not attempt to carry out his idea |
William Murdoch in 1882, first constructed
a model locomotive. Though little more
than toy it worked successfully, and trav-
eled so fast that on one occasion its inven-
tor in vain tried to keep pace with it, In
1902 Richard Trevethick and Andrew Viyi-
WV CpAH"oiA ObSiiCtIot ADOh OUT Tie
first patent ever issued for locomotive
All The steam carriages and appliances, how |
ever, amounted to almost nothing SO far as 1
the Hubic was concerned, and it vas not I
until 1904 that any really practical locomo- .
tive was used. Trevethick in this year built
a second locomotive in south Wales, which .
drew load Of ten tons of iron ore miles
an hour. From this date, 1904 to 1911, very
lille, If any thing, was done to advance rail .
roads Time and ingenuity were employed /
to invent some means to keep cars from slip
ping when going up an inclined plane. The .
first really successful engine was invented .
by George Stephens, in 1914. 1t ran miles .
an hour, drawing thirty tons Until 1879
there was little progress made. Then Rob .
ert Stephenson built the Rocket, which at
tanned maximum speed OF twenty and one
half miles, with an average of fifteen
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