History of the train: invention and development of railway communication. Who invented the train? In what year was the first train invented?

Trains are one of the most important forms of transport around the world. Millions of passengers travel by rail every day, and no one is surprised that you can buy a train ticket on the website without leaving your home and board the train by simply presenting to the conductor an electronic ticket (boarding pass) on paper (A4 format) or a screen mobile device and passenger identification document (electronic check-in). Often just a passport is enough.

Although trains appeared much earlier than automobile and, even more so, air transport, in fact, the emergence of railway communication is, one might say, a recent matter. Even 200 years ago, no one could have imagined that soon people would be able to comfortably travel any distance without the help of horses. The same applies to cargo transportation and mail delivery: only railways were able to create a unified transport system in the vast territories of America, Europe, and Russia, which significantly influenced the development of the economy. So, when and where was the very first train in the world created, and what was its speed?

Prototype of a modern train

The prototype of the train, a very primitive one, can be called trolleys, which began to be used in the 18th century in Europe. Between certain points, for example, a mine and a village, wooden beams (beds) were laid, which served as modern rails. Trolleys, moved by horses or... people, ran back and forth along them. At the end of the 18th century, single trolleys began to be connected to each other with iron rings to increase the efficiency of transportation. These short trains of several loaded trolleys, transported on wooden rails with the help of horses, became the prototype of the trains that are used in our time.

Russia is not far behind England. The first freight train with locomotive traction was launched in 1834, and already in 1837 the Tsarskoye Selo Railway was built and opened, along which passenger trains ran at a speed of 33 km/h. The honor of creating the first Russian steam locomotive belongs to the Cherepanov brothers.

The first steam locomotive

In 1804, the English engineer-inventor Richard Traithwick demonstrated the first steam locomotive to curious spectators. This design was a cylindrical steam boiler, to which were attached a tender (a cart with coal and a place for a fireman) and one carriage in which anyone could ride. The first steam locomotive did not arouse much interest among the owners of mines and mines, which Treytvik wanted to interest. Perhaps his essentially brilliant invention was ahead of its time, as often happens. The high cost of materials for making rails, the need to create all the parts of a steam locomotive by hand, the lack of funds and qualified assistants - all these negative factors led to Treytwyk abandoning his work in 1811.

First freight train

Using Treitvik's drawings and developments, many European engineers began to actively create and improve various types of steam locomotives. Since 1814, several models have been designed (“Blücher”, “Puffing Billy”, “Killingworth”, etc.), which were successfully operated by the owners of large mines and mines. The first freight trains could carry about 30-40 tons of cargo and reached speeds of up to 6-8 km/h.

First mainline train

On 19 September 1825, the first public railway ran on the first public railway between Darlington and Stockton, driven by its creator, George Stephenson. The train consisted of the steam locomotive "Movement", 12 freight cars with flour and coal and 22 cars with passengers. The weight of the train, including cargo and passengers, was 90 tons, its speed in various sections was from 10 to 24 km/h. For comparison: today the speed of passenger trains is on average 50 km/h, and high-speed trains such as Sapsan - 250 km/h. In 1830, the Liverpool-Manchester highway was opened in England. On the opening day, the first passenger train passed along it, which included a mail car - also the first in the world.

Such complex types of equipment as electric trains do not appear suddenly. Their history is the history of the development of transport technology from the first key inventions, such as the invention of the wheel or the railway, to the use of electricity and electric motors.

Below is a brief overview of the key events and inventions that ultimately led to the creation of electric trains as we know them today.

Model of the first wheel in the Iranian History Museum.
Source: Wikipedia.

2600 BC e. - Invention of the wheel. The first mention of chariots is in Mesopotamian sources (Standard of Ur).

6th century BC – The first horse-drawn road, Diolkos, was built across the Isthmus of Corinth.

312 BC – One of the earliest paved roads was built, the Appian Way between Rome and Capua, which marked the beginning of the construction of a network of such roads throughout the Roman Empire.

The Peitinger Table is one of the most famous maps of the 5th century AD. The length of the original map is 6.75 m and the width is 0.34 m. It depicts the roads of the Roman Empire, the total length of which was about 200 thousand km, and also marks cities, seas, rivers, forests and mountains. The map shows the entire Roman Empire, the Middle East and India, with the Ganges, Sri Lanka and China marked.
Source: Wikipedia.

200 BC – Invention of the lantern in China.

1st century AD – The prototype of a steam turbine is described by Heron of Alexandria in his treatise “Pneumatics”.

1500 – Leonardo da Vinci described the modern rolling bearing.

1662 - Blaise Pascal proposed a horse-drawn public omnibus that ran along a set route in accordance with a schedule and fare system.

1663 - Otto von Guericke invented one of the first electrostatic generators, producing electricity by friction - a ball of sulfur rubbed by hand. In 1672 he discovered that a charged ball crackled and glowed in the dark (he was the first to observe electroluminescence). In addition, he discovered the property of electrical repulsion of unipolarly charged objects.

First experiments with electricity. Engraving 1670
Source: Wikipedia.

1672 – Ferdinand Ferbist's first experiments with steam drive for carts.

1680 – A steam boiler was invented - the so-called Papin boiler, designed and manufactured by the French physicist and engineer D. Papin.

1705 - Thomas Newcomen's piston steam engine.

1740 - Jacques de Vaucanson introduced his clock-powered cart.

1745 – Ewald Jürgen von Kleist and Pieter van Musschenbroek invented the electrical capacitor - the Leyden jar.

1762 - Russian engineer Ivan Ivanovich Polzunov invents a two-cylinder steam engine, and in 1765 a universal steam engine.

1769 – Nicolas Joseph Cugnot introduced the first full-size steam car.

1784 – William Mourdoch built a working model of a steam carriage in England.

1800 - Alessandro Volta invented the Voltaic Pole (the first galvanic cell).

1801 – Richard Trevithick launched a full-size steam road locomotive in England.

1803 - Richard Trevithick built a 10-seater carriage for London (London Steam Carriage).

1804 - Richard Trevithick built a prototype steam locomotive.

Richard Trevithick's Amusement Train. Drawing from 1804
Source: Wikipedia.

1814 - George Stephenson built the first practical railway steam locomotive.

1821 - Michael Faraday published a scientific paper on the rotation of a current around a magnet and a magnet around a current, which theoretically substantiated the electric motor.

1825 - The first railway was put into operation in England with the steam locomotive "Rocket" by George Stephenson.

1830 – The first attempts to use a steam engine in transport were made in Russia. Mechanic E.A. Cherepanov, with his sons Miron and Ammos, tested a “steam stagecoach” on the tracks of the Nizhny Tagil railway. The line was put into operation in 1834.

Model of the Cherepanovs' steam locomotive, presented at the IrGUPS museum.
Photo: Oleg Nazarov, 2005

1836 - On April 15, the decree of Emperor Nicholas I on the construction of the Tsarskoye Selo railway was promulgated.

1837 – On October 30, the first public railway in the Russian Empire was opened - the Tsarskoye Selo railway: St. Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo, 23 km long (21 versts 294 fathoms).

1838 – In Russia, an electric motor developed by B.S. was used for the first time for traction purposes. Jacobi. The engine was installed on a boat transporting people along the Neva River.

1846 – In Russia, the production of the first serial steam locomotives began at the Aleksandrovsky plant in St. Petersburg.

1850 – In Russia, the production of the first serial cars began at the Aleksandrovsky plant in St. Petersburg.

1851 – On November 1, the first passenger train (6 carriages of three classes) traveled along the Nikolaevskaya Railway between St. Petersburg and Moscow in 21 hours 45 minutes.

1854 – The first train schedule on the St. Petersburg-Moscow Railway was introduced in Russia.

Train St. Petersburg - Moscow, 1854
Source: Wikipedia.

1859 – Gaston Plante introduced the lead-acid battery.

1862 – The first railway tunnels were built in Russia on the St. Petersburg-Warsaw Railway.

1864 – The first “Cuckoo” appeared in Russia - St. Petersburg summer residents gave this name to a non-standard local train launched on the Peterhof-Oranienbaum line.

1865 – A carriage bogie with double spring suspension designed by K.I. was created in Russia. Rekhnevsky.

1868 - George Westinghouse invented the direct-acting air brake for railroad trains.

1871 – In Russia, unified “Rules of Traffic” and “Rules of Security, Maintenance and Repair” were introduced for the railway network.

1871 – On December 30, the first fast train from St. Petersburg to Moscow departed with first and second class carriages, travel time was 15 hours 45 minutes.

1872 – The first horse-drawn line from the Brest (Belorussky) station to the City Duma building (Historical Museum) began operating in Moscow, timed to coincide with the opening of the Polytechnic Exhibition.

1872 - Westinghouse began producing automatically controlled brakes for rolling stock.

Westinghouse automatic air brake, 1872

Today, almost a million kilometers of railway tracks have been laid in the leading countries of the world. Many developments have been invented to improve railway transport: from trains running on electricity to trains that move on a magnetic levitation without touching the rails.

Some inventions have become firmly established in our lives, while others remain at the level of plans. For example, the development of locomotives that would run on nuclear energy, but due to the high environmental hazard and high financial costs they were never built.

Now the world's first railway is being developed for a gravity train, which will move due to its inertia and

Rail transport has great potential. More and more new ways of traveling by rail are being invented, despite the fact that, it seems, everything in this area has long been invented.

The origins of railway transport

The very first railways began to appear in the mid-16th century throughout Europe. This could not be called railway transport to its fullest extent. Trolleys traveled along the tracks, pulled by horses.

These roads were mainly used in stone mining, mines and mines. They were made of wood, and horses could carry a load weighing much more on them than on a regular road.

But such rail tracks had a significant drawback: they quickly wore out, and the carts left the tracks. In order to reduce the wear of wood, they began to use cast iron or iron strips for strengthening.

The first railways, the rails of which were made entirely of cast iron, began to be used only in the 18th century.

The first public railway

The world's first passenger railway was built in England on October 27, 1825. It connected the cities of Stockton and Darlington, and was originally intended to transport coal from the mines to the port of Stockon.

The railway project was carried out by engineer George Stephenson, who already had experience in operating and managing railways in Killingworth. To begin construction of the road, it was necessary to wait for parliamentary approval for four whole years. The innovation had many opponents. Horse owners did not want to lose their income.

The very first train that carried passengers was converted from coal cars. And in 1833, for the rapid transportation of coal, the road was completed to Middlesbrough.

In 1863 the road became part of the North Eastern Railway, which is still in operation today.

Railway underground

The world's first underground railway was a breakthrough in public transport. The British were the first to build it. The need for the underground appeared at a time when Londoners became fully aware of traffic jams.

In the first half of the 19th century, clusters of various carts appeared on the central streets of the city. Therefore, they decided to “unload” traffic flows by creating a tunnel underground.

The London underground tunnel project was invented by the Frenchman Marc Isambard Brunel, who lived in the UK.

Construction of the tunnel was completed in 1843. At first it was used only as a subway, but later the idea of a subway was born. And on January 10, 1893, the grand opening of the first underground railroad took place.

It used steam locomotive traction, and the length of the tracks was only 3.6 kilometers. The average number of passengers transported was 26 thousand people.

In 1890, the trains were modified, and they began to move not on steam traction, but on electricity.

Magnetic railway

The world's first railway on which trains moved was patented in 1902 by the German Alfred Seiden. Attempts at construction were made in many countries, but the first was presented at the International Transport Exhibition in Berlin in 1979. She worked for only three months.

Magnetic railway trains move without touching the rails, and the only braking force for the train is the force of aerodynamic drag.

Today they cannot compete with the railways and the metro, because, despite the high speed of movement and noiselessness (some trains can reach speeds of up to 500 km/h), they have a number of significant disadvantages.

Firstly, large financial investments will be required to create and maintain magnetic roads. Secondly, magnetic levitation trains. Thirdly, it causes great harm to the environment. And fourthly, the magnetic railway has a very complex track infrastructure.

Many countries, including the Soviet Union, planned to create such roads, but later abandoned this idea.

Railways in Russia

For the first time in Russia, the predecessors of full-fledged railways were used in Altai in 1755 - these were wooden rails in mines.

In 1788, the first railway for factory needs was built in Petrozavodsk. And for passenger transportation in 1837, the St. Petersburg - Tsarskoe Selo railway appeared. Steam-powered trains ran along it.

Later, in 1909, the Tsarskoye Selo Railway became part of the Imperial Line, which connected Tsarskoye Selo with all lines of the St. Petersburg Railway.

The active development of railway communication in the Russian Empire began seven years after the first mainline train began running regularly in Europe on the Liverpool-Manchester route. Let us recall that the very first passenger train in the world set off on September 15, 1830, and this date can be called the starting point in the development of the worldwide railway network. In this article, we want to shed more light on such an important historical moment for Russia as the emergence of railway communication, which in just a few decades firmly connected the vast expanses of the country into a single whole. So, when and by whom was the first train created in Russia, at what speed did it move, between which settlements were the first railway tracks laid?

Who designed the first Russian train?

The glory of creating the first train in Russia belongs to talented engineers-inventors, father and son, Efim Alekseevich and Miron Efimovich Cherepanov, who, despite the fact that they were serfs, held leading positions at the factories of Nizhny Tagil. It was the Cherepanovs, who adopted the experience of their English colleagues (in 1833 Miron Efimovich was sent to England to familiarize himself with the structure of railways), in 1834 they created a steam locomotive and put into operation at the Nizhny Tagil metallurgical plant the first train in Russia with locomotive traction. A year later, the Cherepanovs designed a more powerful locomotive, and under their leadership, a cast-iron railway was laid connecting the factory and the copper mine.

1834 is considered the official date of the creation of the first Russian train, but it should be noted that this invention initially did not receive recognition in wide circles due to the fact that the fuel for steam boilers was expensive wood and the coal industry was practically undeveloped at that time. So the steam locomotive in the first Russian train was soon replaced by horse-drawn trains.

The first Russian railways

In 1837, the grand opening of the first public railway line connecting St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo took place (later the road was extended to Pavlovsk). In 1836, the railway road was tested and a horse-drawn train was launched along it. On October 30, 1837, the first passenger train began running on the Tsarskoye Selo Railway, the locomotive and cars for which were exported from England and Belgium. The first Russian train traveled from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo in 35 minutes, and back in 27 minutes, that is, its average speed was 50 km/h. An interesting fact is that trains running on the Tsarskoye Selo railway switched entirely to steam traction only in April 1838; before that time, steam locomotives were used only on weekends, and on weekdays the train was driven by horse traction.

The first passenger trains in Russia had four classes of carriages: closed carriages of the first and second classes, open carriages with and without a roof of the third and fourth classes, respectively.

The Tsarskoye Selo railway also acquired sad fame: it was on this railway that the first disaster occurred. Since the railways of that time were single-track, they had special sidings for trains. One day, an inattentive driver (according to witnesses, drunk) overshot the crossing where he was supposed to stop and let an oncoming train pass. Dozens of passengers were killed in a head-on collision between two trains.

Speed of the first Russian trains

The initial average speed of Russian passenger trains was only 32 km/h, and of freight locomotives 16 km/h. By the mid-60s of the 19th century, Russian trains were moving at a speed of 43-45 km/h. Of course, now that Russian high-speed trains, such as Allegro and , easily reach speeds of 250 km per hour, it seems to us that the first trains moved at a snail's pace. But, believe me, for those times 30-40 km/h was amazing speed.