The Coming of the Railway: A New Global History, 1750-1850

David Gwyn

Published by Yale University Press 2023

The Coming of the Railway

A New Global History, 1750-1850

David Gwyn

https://doi.org/10.12987/9780300271454

Overview
Contents

About this book

The first global history of the epic early days of the iron railway

Railways, in simple wooden or stone form, have existed since prehistory. But from the 1750s onward the introduction of iron rails led to a dramatic technological evolution—one that would truly change the world.

In this rich new history, David Gwyn tells the neglected story of the early iron railway from a global perspective. Driven by a combination of ruthless enterprise, brilliant experimenters, and international cooperation, railway construction began to expand across the world with astonishing rapidity. From Britain to Australia, Russia to America, railways would bind together cities, nations, and entire continents. Rail was a tool of industry and empire as well as, eventually, passenger transport, and developments in technology occurred at breakneck speed—even if the first locomotive in America could muster only 6 mph.

The Coming of the Railway explores these fascinating developments, documenting the early railway’s outsize social, political, and economic impact—carving out the shape of the global economy as we know it today.

Author / Editor information

David Gwyn is a historian of the industrial and modern period. He is actively involved in the railway heritage movement, serving as a trustee of the Ffestiniog Railway and as chairman of the Bala Lake Railway Company.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Trade, transport and coal 1767–1815 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	8
2 ‘Rails best adapted to the road’ Cast-iron rails and their alternatives in Britain 1767–1832 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
3 Canal feeders, quarry railways and construction sites Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
4 ‘Art has supplied the place of horses’ Traction 1767–1815 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
5 War and peace 1814–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
6 ‘Geometrical precision’ Wrought-iron rails 1808–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
7 ‘Most suitable for hilly countries’ Rope and chain haulage 1815–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
8 ‘That truly astonishing machine’ Locomotives 1815–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
9 Coal carriers 1815–34 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	192
10 Internal communications 1815–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
11 The first main lines 1824–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
12 Coming of age The public railway 1830–1834 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
13 ‘The new avenues of iron road’ 1834–1850 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
14 ‘You can’t hinder the railroad’ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	314
A NOTE ON SOURCES AND TERMINOLOGY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	322
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	326
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	364
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	388

Language: English
Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages
- Main content: 384
Illustrations
- Other: 32 color illus.

eBook

Published: May 17, 2023
ISBN: 9780300271454