What do you think?
Rate this book
The First Railways
Highly illustrated volume covering the emergence of the modern railway in a unique, essentially geographical way. Contemporary maps, many never before published, showing the locations and routes of the early railways.
Highly illustrated, for in addition to the maps it has photos of most of the surviving first locomotives from collections around the world, and of replicas too, where they exist.
Much of the early railway system originated in Britain, but the earliest railways in France, Germany, and the rest of continental Europe are also considered, as are railways in North America and elsewhere. Several sections cover the emergence of the first steam locomotives, in particular those of Trevithick, Blenkinsop, Chapman, and Stephenson, and the historically important Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester railways in detail.
Highly illustrated, for in addition to the maps it has photos of most of the surviving first locomotives from collections around the world, and of replicas too, where they exist.
Much of the early railway system originated in Britain, but the earliest railways in France, Germany, and the rest of continental Europe are also considered, as are railways in North America and elsewhere. Several sections cover the emergence of the first steam locomotives, in particular those of Trevithick, Blenkinsop, Chapman, and Stephenson, and the historically important Stockton & Darlington and Liverpool & Manchester railways in detail.
272 pages, Hardcover
Published October 5, 2017
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 15, 2018
Review title: Train tracks
Railroad history started with the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830, you know if you have any interest in railroad history. Except it didn't, as Derek Hayes documents in this heavily illustrated historical atlas of railroads! The first railroads dated to the beginning of the 19th century (and even earlier in primitive incarnations) and grew in a myriad ways through the decades so that by 1830 there were hundreds of miles of track all over England.
What Hayes has done is pull together this early history of the rails in text, pictures, and what makes this volume most interesting, contemporary maps of the lines. The maps range from crude pen and ink initial survey drawings to detailed engineering plans to commercial maps of natural resources to advertising lithographs printed to raise funds for the construction of the lines. They range in scale from small pieces of paper to 10 foot rolled drawings, aa range that makes reproducing some of the maps at readable size a challenge (I had to remove my bifocals and do the near-sighted squint to read some), and the variations in scale sometimes makes it hard to get a sense of the length of the line. But the variations are themselves fascinating as map makers, surveyors, and engineers tried to figure out how to design and depict these new technologies (many of the first generation coming from the canal-building industry). Hayes provides detailed captions for the maps, pointing out routes, features, connections, and oddities.
As we learn from the text Hayes has written around the maps and illustrations, the origin and growth of the railroads were driven by many factors:
Economic - the earliest roads (called tramways or waggonways--yes, with the double-g) were built to move heavy natural resources (coal, slate, granite) out of the quarry or mine to the nearest market or, more commonly, the nearest navigable water. These roads were seen as extensions of canals, then the man-made transport systems of choice, but quickly came to supplant them as rails could move goods with less disruption due to natural weather conditions (too much, too frozen, or not enough water) and traverse steeper grades without slow and expensive locks. Passenger traffic was either an afterthought or never considered at all in the economics of these early railroads
Engineering - while some very early incarnations of wheels-on-track dating back to the 18th and even 17th centuries used grooved stone as a track to reduce friction and guide the horse- or human-powered cart, at the beginning of the 19th century wood rails were most common. But the transition to heavier loads and the faster motive power of steam meant wood rails sank or split too often, and even the initial cast iron rails were too brittle, resulting in high break rates. It was only with the advent of first wrought iron and then steel rails that heavy locomotives could pull heavy loads faster and more safely. Without stronger rails (and a standardized rail guage) the invention of steam couldn't have been applied to railroads.
Motive power - horses or gravity (where the source was higher than the target) pulled most of the early loads, with inclined planes using counterweights to lift empty cars back up the hill. In fact the first application of steam as a motive power was as stationary engines pulling cars up inclined planes (or into crowded city centers where it was feared locomotives would frighten the horses drawing most of the freight and passenger loads). Even as late as the 1830 Liverpool to Manchester line that incorporated the economic, engineering and motive power innovations into the first modern rail line, serious consideration was given to powering the entire line with stationary engines powering a rope drive attached to the trains, or even using horse-drawn trains as the safe choice (see p. 181-183). It was only the success of Robert Stephenson's Rocket steam locomotive over its competitors in the formal "Rainhill Trials" that sealed the deal for steam and the future of railroading.
Social - while most early routes were short and direct quarry-to-quay routes, competing shippers argued for branch lines to their production site, rapidly resulting in extensions and connections. On the other hand, wealthy landowners often objected to the ugly rails and later the loud and dirty steam engines crossing their country estates, canceling some routes and forcing others into circuitous rerouting. As it was for motive power so it was for social factors: the success of the Liverpool to Manchester line lowered shipping rates in competition with the canals, made scheduled public intercity rail travel a reality, and ignited a rail building boom that changed the landscape of the UK forever.
And since the industrial revolution and its application to railroads started in the UK, most of the book centers on the history there, with a short section on the US and European countries. I noticed in the bibliography that Hayes published a historical atlas of North American railroads in 2010, so that would probably be a more in depth source for US railroad history. With its focus on firsts in the title and the content, this book doesn't need to do more than it does, as other countries were a decade or more behind the UK in implementing the railroad innovations documented here.
In addition to maps and text, Hayes has included contemporary artwork and photographs, as well as modern photographs of equipment (much of it museum replicas) and remnants of the rail lines in the landscape. Like the US, much of the old historical trackbed has been preserved by conversion from rail to trail. The presence of bypassed technology in the modern landscape is hauntingly beautiful and sometimes ghostly.
Railroad history started with the Liverpool to Manchester line in 1830, you know if you have any interest in railroad history. Except it didn't, as Derek Hayes documents in this heavily illustrated historical atlas of railroads! The first railroads dated to the beginning of the 19th century (and even earlier in primitive incarnations) and grew in a myriad ways through the decades so that by 1830 there were hundreds of miles of track all over England.
What Hayes has done is pull together this early history of the rails in text, pictures, and what makes this volume most interesting, contemporary maps of the lines. The maps range from crude pen and ink initial survey drawings to detailed engineering plans to commercial maps of natural resources to advertising lithographs printed to raise funds for the construction of the lines. They range in scale from small pieces of paper to 10 foot rolled drawings, aa range that makes reproducing some of the maps at readable size a challenge (I had to remove my bifocals and do the near-sighted squint to read some), and the variations in scale sometimes makes it hard to get a sense of the length of the line. But the variations are themselves fascinating as map makers, surveyors, and engineers tried to figure out how to design and depict these new technologies (many of the first generation coming from the canal-building industry). Hayes provides detailed captions for the maps, pointing out routes, features, connections, and oddities.
As we learn from the text Hayes has written around the maps and illustrations, the origin and growth of the railroads were driven by many factors:
Economic - the earliest roads (called tramways or waggonways--yes, with the double-g) were built to move heavy natural resources (coal, slate, granite) out of the quarry or mine to the nearest market or, more commonly, the nearest navigable water. These roads were seen as extensions of canals, then the man-made transport systems of choice, but quickly came to supplant them as rails could move goods with less disruption due to natural weather conditions (too much, too frozen, or not enough water) and traverse steeper grades without slow and expensive locks. Passenger traffic was either an afterthought or never considered at all in the economics of these early railroads
Engineering - while some very early incarnations of wheels-on-track dating back to the 18th and even 17th centuries used grooved stone as a track to reduce friction and guide the horse- or human-powered cart, at the beginning of the 19th century wood rails were most common. But the transition to heavier loads and the faster motive power of steam meant wood rails sank or split too often, and even the initial cast iron rails were too brittle, resulting in high break rates. It was only with the advent of first wrought iron and then steel rails that heavy locomotives could pull heavy loads faster and more safely. Without stronger rails (and a standardized rail guage) the invention of steam couldn't have been applied to railroads.
Motive power - horses or gravity (where the source was higher than the target) pulled most of the early loads, with inclined planes using counterweights to lift empty cars back up the hill. In fact the first application of steam as a motive power was as stationary engines pulling cars up inclined planes (or into crowded city centers where it was feared locomotives would frighten the horses drawing most of the freight and passenger loads). Even as late as the 1830 Liverpool to Manchester line that incorporated the economic, engineering and motive power innovations into the first modern rail line, serious consideration was given to powering the entire line with stationary engines powering a rope drive attached to the trains, or even using horse-drawn trains as the safe choice (see p. 181-183). It was only the success of Robert Stephenson's Rocket steam locomotive over its competitors in the formal "Rainhill Trials" that sealed the deal for steam and the future of railroading.
Social - while most early routes were short and direct quarry-to-quay routes, competing shippers argued for branch lines to their production site, rapidly resulting in extensions and connections. On the other hand, wealthy landowners often objected to the ugly rails and later the loud and dirty steam engines crossing their country estates, canceling some routes and forcing others into circuitous rerouting. As it was for motive power so it was for social factors: the success of the Liverpool to Manchester line lowered shipping rates in competition with the canals, made scheduled public intercity rail travel a reality, and ignited a rail building boom that changed the landscape of the UK forever.
And since the industrial revolution and its application to railroads started in the UK, most of the book centers on the history there, with a short section on the US and European countries. I noticed in the bibliography that Hayes published a historical atlas of North American railroads in 2010, so that would probably be a more in depth source for US railroad history. With its focus on firsts in the title and the content, this book doesn't need to do more than it does, as other countries were a decade or more behind the UK in implementing the railroad innovations documented here.
In addition to maps and text, Hayes has included contemporary artwork and photographs, as well as modern photographs of equipment (much of it museum replicas) and remnants of the rail lines in the landscape. Like the US, much of the old historical trackbed has been preserved by conversion from rail to trail. The presence of bypassed technology in the modern landscape is hauntingly beautiful and sometimes ghostly.
July 13, 2019
Fantastic and beautiful atlas of some of the first railroads. The extensive photography collected for the book is great. The book is well-organised, and highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews