126-724: The Grand Junction Railway ( GJR ) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846. The line built by the company, which opened in 1837, linked the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham via Warrington , Crewe , Stafford and Wolverhampton . This was the first trunk railway to be completed in England, and arguably the world's first long-distance railway with steam traction. It terminated at Curzon Street Station in Birmingham, which it shared with
252-408: A crank on a driving axle. Steam locomotives have been phased out in most parts of the world for economical and safety reasons, although many are preserved in working order by heritage railways . Electric locomotives draw power from a stationary source via an overhead wire or third rail . Some also or instead use a battery . In locomotives that are powered by high-voltage alternating current ,
378-586: A dining car . Some lines also provide over-night services with sleeping cars . Some long-haul trains have been given a specific name . Regional trains are medium distance trains that connect cities with outlying, surrounding areas, or provide a regional service, making more stops and having lower speeds. Commuter trains serve suburbs of urban areas, providing a daily commuting service. Airport rail links provide quick access from city centres to airports . High-speed rail are special inter-city trains that operate at much higher speeds than conventional railways,
504-710: A fourth rail system in 1890 on the City and South London Railway , now part of the London Underground Northern line . This was the first major railway to use electric traction . The world's first deep-level electric railway, it runs from the City of London , under the River Thames , to Stockwell in south London. The first practical AC electric locomotive was designed by Charles Brown , then working for Oerlikon , Zürich. In 1891, Brown had demonstrated long-distance power transmission, using three-phase AC , between
630-527: A funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel . The line is still operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. Wagonways (or tramways ) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate
756-488: A hydro-electric plant at Lauffen am Neckar and Frankfurt am Main West, a distance of 280 km (170 mi). Using experience he had gained while working for Jean Heilmann on steam–electric locomotive designs, Brown observed that three-phase motors had a higher power-to-weight ratio than DC motors and, because of the absence of a commutator , were simpler to manufacture and maintain. However, they were much larger than
882-431: A steam engine that provides adhesion. Coal , petroleum , or wood is burned in a firebox , boiling water in the boiler to create pressurized steam. The steam travels through the smokebox before leaving via the chimney or smoke stack. In the process, it powers a piston that transmits power directly through a connecting rod (US: main rod) and a crankpin (US: wristpin) on the driving wheel (US main driver) or to
1008-469: A transformer in the locomotive converts the high-voltage low-current power to low-voltage high current used in the traction motors that power the wheels. Modern locomotives may use three-phase AC induction motors or direct current motors. Under certain conditions, electric locomotives are the most powerful traction. They are also the cheapest to run and provide less noise and no local air pollution. However, they require high capital investments both for
1134-600: A dense network of branch lines in the area surrounding Glasgow. It was absorbed into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. Many of its principal routes are still used, and the original main line between Carlisle and Glasgow is in use as part of the West Coast Main Line railway (with a modified entry into Glasgow itself). In the mid-1830s, railways in England evolved from local concerns to longer routes that connected cities, and then became networks. In Scotland it
1260-544: A diesel locomotive from the company in 1909. The world's first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur–Romanshorn railway in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. The locomotive weight was 95 tonnes and the power was 883 kW with a maximum speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Small numbers of prototype diesel locomotives were produced in a number of countries through
1386-468: A double track plateway, erroneously sometimes cited as world's first public railway, in south London. William Jessop had earlier used a form of all-iron edge rail and flanged wheels successfully for an extension to the Charnwood Forest Canal at Nanpantan , Loughborough, Leicestershire in 1789. In 1790, Jessop and his partner Outram began to manufacture edge rails. Jessop became a partner in
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#17328446998041512-478: A frenzy of provisional acquisitions of other lines being put forward or already being constructed, as they considered it was vital to secure territory to their own control and to exclude competing concerns as far as possible. It was not the only Anglo-Scottish route; the North British Railway opened its coastal route between Edinburgh and Berwick-upon-Tweed on 22 June 1846, forming part of what has become
1638-812: A grand railway network, the company encouraged the development of the North Union Railway which extended the tracks onward to Preston , and it also invested in the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway . In 1845, the GJR merged with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and consolidated its position by buying the North Union Railway in association with the Manchester and Leeds Railway . In 1841,
1764-437: A large turning radius in its design. While high-speed rail is most often designed for passenger travel, some high-speed systems also offer freight service. Since 1980, rail transport has changed dramatically, but a number of heritage railways continue to operate as part of living history to preserve and maintain old railway lines for services of tourist trains. A train is a connected series of rail vehicles that move along
1890-441: A large number of leases and working arrangements had been concluded with other railways being promoted or built nearby. This was mostly done by guaranteeing those shareholders an income on their capital, which meant no immediate cash was required. When the lines started working, suddenly a huge periodical payment was required, and the income was inadequate to satisfy it. There were also suggestions of improper share acquisitions, and in
2016-488: A larger locomotive named Galvani , exhibited at the Royal Scottish Society of Arts Exhibition in 1841. The seven-ton vehicle had two direct-drive reluctance motors , with fixed electromagnets acting on iron bars attached to a wooden cylinder on each axle, and simple commutators . It hauled a load of six tons at four miles per hour (6 kilometers per hour) for a distance of one and a half miles (2.4 kilometres). It
2142-423: A locomotive. This involves one or more powered vehicles being located at the front of the train, providing sufficient tractive force to haul the weight of the full train. This arrangement remains dominant for freight trains and is often used for passenger trains. A push–pull train has the end passenger car equipped with a driver's cab so that the engine driver can remotely control the locomotive. This allows one of
2268-477: A number of trains per hour (tph). Passenger trains can usually be into two types of operation, intercity railway and intracity transit. Whereas intercity railway involve higher speeds, longer routes, and lower frequency (usually scheduled), intracity transit involves lower speeds, shorter routes, and higher frequency (especially during peak hours). Intercity trains are long-haul trains that operate with few stops between cities. Trains typically have amenities such as
2394-431: A passenger station on 1 March 1905. Central station was operated by a single signal box , staffed with ten men. It was commissioned on 3 May 1908; it had 374 miniature levers, the largest of its type in the world, operating points and signals by electro-pneumatic and electro-magnetic equipment. The Moffat Railway was opened from Beattock on 2 April 1883. It was just over 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2.4 km) long. It
2520-650: A piece of circular rail track in Bloomsbury , London, the Catch Me Who Can , but never got beyond the experimental stage with railway locomotives, not least because his engines were too heavy for the cast-iron plateway track then in use. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray 's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive
2646-460: A pivotal role in the development and widespread adoption of the steam locomotive. His designs considerably improved on the work of the earlier pioneers. He built the locomotive Blücher , also a successful flanged -wheel adhesion locomotive. In 1825 he built the locomotive Locomotion for the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the northeast of England, which became the first public steam railway in
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#17328446998042772-588: A railway connection. The wealthy middle class saw the town as an elegant location and the Busby Railway opened in 1866. Commuting was already in fashion. The line was extended to East Kilbride in 1868, although at that time the then small village did not generate much business for the railway. When the main line was built, no branches were provided in the thinly populated terrain of the Southern Uplands . Four independent companies made branches themselves, and
2898-439: A revival in recent decades due to road congestion and rising fuel prices, as well as governments investing in rail as a means of reducing CO 2 emissions . Smooth, durable road surfaces have been made for wheeled vehicles since prehistoric times. In some cases, they were narrow and in pairs to support only the wheels. That is, they were wagonways or tracks. Some had grooves or flanges or other mechanical means to keep
3024-724: A single lever to control both engine and generator in a coordinated fashion, and was the prototype for all diesel–electric locomotive control systems. In 1914, world's first functional diesel–electric railcars were produced for the Königlich-Sächsische Staatseisenbahnen ( Royal Saxon State Railways ) by Waggonfabrik Rastatt with electric equipment from Brown, Boveri & Cie and diesel engines from Swiss Sulzer AG . They were classified as DET 1 and DET 2 ( de.wiki ). The first regular used diesel–electric locomotives were switcher (shunter) locomotives . General Electric produced several small switching locomotives in
3150-407: A standard. Following SNCF's successful trials, 50 Hz, now also called industrial frequency was adopted as standard for main-lines across the world. Earliest recorded examples of an internal combustion engine for railway use included a prototype designed by William Dent Priestman . Sir William Thomson examined it in 1888 and described it as a "Priestman oil engine mounted upon a truck which
3276-620: A terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A funicular railway was also made at Broseley in Shropshire some time before 1604. This carried coal for James Clifford from his mines down to the River Severn to be loaded onto barges and carried to riverside towns. The Wollaton Wagonway , completed in 1604 by Huntingdon Beaumont , has sometimes erroneously been cited as the earliest British railway. It ran from Strelley to Wollaton near Nottingham . The Middleton Railway in Leeds , which
3402-556: A through station, and the Greenock line trains (operated by the Caledonian) continued to use it. A ninth platform was added to Central station in 1889, but a major expansion took place in the years 1901–1906, when the platforms were lengthened and four platforms added on the west side; a second river crossing was provided. In 1904 Bridge Street station was substantially changed to provide carriage washing and stabling facilities; it closed as
3528-408: A wheel. This was a large stationary engine , powering cotton mills and a variety of machinery; the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low-pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder, which required a separate condenser and an air pump . Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston, raising
3654-410: Is a single, self-powered car, and may be electrically propelled or powered by a diesel engine . Multiple units have a driver's cab at each end of the unit, and were developed following the ability to build electric motors and other engines small enough to fit under the coach. There are only a few freight multiple units, most of which are high-speed post trains. Steam locomotives are locomotives with
3780-399: Is dominant. Electro-diesel locomotives are built to run as diesel–electric on unelectrified sections and as electric locomotives on electrified sections. Alternative methods of motive power include magnetic levitation , horse-drawn, cable , gravity, pneumatics and gas turbine . A passenger train stops at stations where passengers may embark and disembark. The oversight of the train is
3906-408: Is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives . While railway transport is capital-intensive and less flexible than road transport, it can carry heavy loads of passengers and cargo with greater energy efficiency and safety. Precursors of railways driven by human or animal power have existed since antiquity, but modern rail transport began with the invention of the steam locomotive in
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4032-550: Is worked on a temporary line of rails to show the adaptation of a petroleum engine for locomotive purposes." In 1894, a 20 hp (15 kW) two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks . In 1906, Rudolf Diesel , Adolf Klose and the steam and diesel engine manufacturer Gebrüder Sulzer founded Diesel-Sulzer-Klose GmbH to manufacture diesel-powered locomotives. Sulzer had been manufacturing diesel engines since 1898. The Prussian State Railways ordered
4158-539: The Argyle Line ) in 1979. The Paisley and Barrhead District Railway was incorporated in 1897 and transferred to the Caledonian in 1902; it was to link Paisley and Barrhead and enable a circular service from Glasgow. The line was substantially ready in 1902 but by now street tramways were electrically operated and eminently successful. It was plain that a passenger service would not be viable against tram competition and
4284-623: The Clyde railway bridge was complete on 1 October 1878. The new Glasgow Central station on Gordon Street opened in December 1879. It had eight platforms, but was considered to be unsatisfactory, having narrow platforms; the circulating area was "ridiculously small"; there was no good cab stance and inadequate siding accommodation. The Bridge Street terminus was jointly operated with the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR); it had to be reconstructed as
4410-468: The Clydesdale Junction Railway was being promoted. The Caledonian acquired that line during its construction, and it opened in 1849. It gave an alternative and shorter access to another Glasgow passenger terminal, named South Side , and to the Clyde quays at General Terminus (over the connected General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway ). The South Side station was already being used by
4536-526: The East Coast Main Line . The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway had opened in 1841 with the declared intention of reaching Carlisle by way of Dumfries ; it did so in 1850, changing its name then to the Glasgow and South Western Railway . The main line was opened from Carlisle to Beattock on 10 September 1847, and throughout between Glasgow and Carlisle on 15 February 1848. A continuous railway route between Glasgow and London existed for
4662-695: The English Midlands and London . In the obituary of the engineer Richard Price-Williams written in 1916 the contractor of the Caledonian Railway is stated to be Thomas Brassey and the civil engineer George Heald . Although the company was supported by Scottish investors, more than half of its shares were held in England. Establishing itself as an intercity and cross-border railway, the Caledonian set about securing territory by leasing other authorised or newly built lines, and fierce competition developed with other, larger Scottish railways, particularly
4788-529: The Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct Railway , worked by the Caledonian. One day, they hoped, they might extend that line into Ayrshire . Meanwhile, the line was leased (for 999 years) to the Caledonian in 1849. The Caledonian recognised that the Townhead terminus was unsatisfactory and constructed a deviation from Milton Junction to a new Glasgow terminus at Buchanan Street . It opened on 1 November 1849. Trains to Edinburgh , Stirling and Carlisle used
4914-426: The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), whose adjacent platforms gave an interchange with full connectivity (with through carriages) between Liverpool, Manchester and London . The company merged with its business partners in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The lines which comprised the GJR now form the central section of the West Coast Main Line . The Grand Junction Railway Company
5040-516: The London and North Western Railway in 1846, which in turn formed part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. One locomotive, Columbine , a 2-2-2 tender engine built in 1845 at Crewe Works , is preserved at the Science Museum . Designed by Alexander Allan , it was the first of the GJR's standard 'Crewe-type' engines , with outside cylinders , and carried fleet number 49. It
5166-472: The North British Railway and the Glasgow and South Western Railway . The company established primacy in some areas, but remained less than successful in others; considerable sums were expended in the process, not always finding the approval of shareholders. A considerable steamer passenger traffic developed on the Firth of Clyde serving island resorts, and fast boat trains were run from Glasgow to steamer piers;
Grand Junction Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
5292-539: The Solway Firth by a 1,940 yd (1,770 m) viaduct; the company worked the line itself. It considerably shortened the route to the Lanarkshire ironworks, and was heavily used at first, but the traffic was depleted by cheap imported iron ore within a decade. The Scottish part of the line was acquired by the Caledonian Railway in 1873, and the whole line in 1895. Serious ice damage and later heavy maintenance costs made
5418-621: The United Kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. The first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway , opened in 1825. The quick spread of railways throughout Europe and North America, following the 1830 opening of the first intercity connection in England, was a key component of the Industrial Revolution . The adoption of rail transport lowered shipping costs compared to water transport, leading to "national markets" in which prices varied less from city to city. In
5544-609: The United Kingdom , South Korea , Scandinavia, Belgium and the Netherlands. The construction of many of these lines has resulted in the dramatic decline of short-haul flights and automotive traffic between connected cities, such as the London–Paris–Brussels corridor, Madrid–Barcelona, Milan–Rome–Naples, as well as many other major lines. High-speed trains normally operate on standard gauge tracks of continuously welded rail on grade-separated right-of-way that incorporates
5670-628: The hot blast process of iron smelting by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828, led to a huge and rapid increase in iron production and demand for iron ore and coal in the Coatbridge area. The industrial development led to the construction of other railways contiguous with the M&;KR, in particular the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway and the Wishaw and Coltness Railway . These two lines worked in harmony, merging to form
5796-414: The overhead lines and the supporting infrastructure, as well as the generating station that is needed to produce electricity. Accordingly, electric traction is used on urban systems, lines with high traffic and for high-speed rail. Diesel locomotives use a diesel engine as the prime mover . The energy transmission may be either diesel–electric , diesel-mechanical or diesel–hydraulic but diesel–electric
5922-458: The puddling process in 1784. In 1783 Cort also patented the rolling process , which was 15 times faster at consolidating and shaping iron than hammering. These processes greatly lowered the cost of producing iron and rails. The next important development in iron production was hot blast developed by James Beaumont Neilson (patented 1828), which considerably reduced the amount of coke (fuel) or charcoal needed to produce pig iron. Wrought iron
6048-418: The rotary phase converter , enabling electric locomotives to use three-phase motors whilst supplied via a single overhead wire, carrying the simple industrial frequency (50 Hz) single phase AC of the high-voltage national networks. An important contribution to the wider adoption of AC traction came from SNCF of France after World War II. The company conducted trials at AC 50 Hz, and established it as
6174-532: The 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives . The first high-speed railway system was introduced in Japan in 1964, and high-speed rail lines now connect many cities in Europe , East Asia , and the eastern United States . Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had
6300-510: The 1930s (the famous " 44-tonner " switcher was introduced in 1940) Westinghouse Electric and Baldwin collaborated to build switching locomotives starting in 1929. In 1929, the Canadian National Railways became the first North American railway to use diesels in mainline service with two units, 9000 and 9001, from Westinghouse. Although steam and diesel services reaching speeds up to 200 km/h (120 mph) were started before
6426-500: The 1960s in Europe, they were not very successful. The first electrified high-speed rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced in 1964 between Tokyo and Osaka in Japan. Since then high-speed rail transport, functioning at speeds up to and above 300 km/h (190 mph), has been built in Japan, Spain, France , Germany, Italy, the People's Republic of China, Taiwan (Republic of China),
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#17328446998046552-460: The 40 km Burgdorf–Thun line , Switzerland. Italian railways were the first in the world to introduce electric traction for the entire length of a main line rather than a short section. The 106 km Valtellina line was opened on 4 September 1902, designed by Kandó and a team from the Ganz works. The electrical system was three-phase at 3 kV 15 Hz. In 1918, Kandó invented and developed
6678-522: The Butterley Company in 1790. The first public edgeway (thus also first public railway) built was Lake Lock Rail Road in 1796. Although the primary purpose of the line was to carry coal, it also carried passengers. These two systems of constructing iron railways, the "L" plate-rail and the smooth edge-rail, continued to exist side by side until well into the early 19th century. The flanged wheel and edge-rail eventually proved its superiority and became
6804-572: The Caledonian Railway had been formed as an intercity trunk line, its attention was early on turned to other demands. Local interests in Lanark promoted a branch line to their town, opening in 1855. Coal owners in South Lanarkshire pressed for a railway connection, and the Lesmahagow Railway was formed by them, opening in 1856. It was later absorbed by the Caledonian, but other lines followed in
6930-590: The Caledonian Railway obtained an authorising act of Parliament , the Caledonian Railway Act 1845 ( 8 & 9 Vict. c. clxii), on 31 July 1845, for lines from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Carlisle. The share capital was to be £1,800,000 (equivalent to £225 million today). The Glasgow and Edinburgh lines combined at Carstairs in Clydesdale , and the route then crossed over Beattock Summit and continued on through Annandale . The promoters had engaged in
7056-450: The Caledonian acquired the line in 1865. The Portpatrick Railway had opened between Castle Douglas and Portpatrick in 1861–62 and the Caledonian Railway worked that railway; it obtained running powers over the G&;SWR between Dumfries and Castle Douglas, and at a stroke the Caledonian had penetrated deep into the south-west, and to the ferry service to the north of Ireland, territory that
7182-449: The Caledonian built two. The Symington, Biggar and Broughton Railway was opened in 1860, having been taken over by the Caledonian during construction. It was extended to Peebles in 1864. In 1863 an independent line, the Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway was opened. The line was encouraged by the Caledonian Railway, giving westward access into Dumfriesshire , and worked by it;
7308-616: The Caledonian gained access to Loch Lomond with the opening of the Dumbarton and Balloch Joint Railway (originally built by the Caledonian and Dumbartonshire Junction Railway ), built jointly with the NBR. In 1888 the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway opened a 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 -mile (10.5 km) line from Giffen on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Kilmarnock Joint Railway to Ardrossan . Its purpose
7434-546: The Caledonian's activity in the region. The Rutherglen and Coatbridge line , later linking Airdrie , and the Carfin to Midcalder line were routes with significant passenger traffic. Many lines to coal and iron ore pits further east were built, but serving remote areas the lines closed when the mineral extraction ceased. With the Barrhead line in full operation, interests in Busby wanted
7560-520: The Clydesdale Junction line, mostly used for local trains to Motherwell and Hamilton ), and Bridge Street (on the Paisley line). Gradually the financial difficulties were got under control, by economy, and by the discovery that several of the lease agreements were illegal. Handsome dividends continued to be paid, but it was not until March 1853 that the dividend was paid wholly from revenue. If
7686-511: The DC motors of the time and could not be mounted in underfloor bogies : they could only be carried within locomotive bodies. In 1894, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó developed a new type 3-phase asynchronous electric drive motors and generators for electric locomotives. Kandó's early 1894 designs were first applied in a short three-phase AC tramway in Évian-les-Bains (France), which was constructed between 1896 and 1898. In 1896, Oerlikon installed
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#17328446998047812-578: The E&;GR and NBR station, later named Waverley ; but the NBR rejected the idea. Eventually in 1870 the Lothian Road station was much improved and extended, and the new terminus was named Princes Street . The owner of Granton Harbour encouraged, and half-funded, the construction of a branch from near Lothian Road, and this opened in 1861. A branch from the Granton line to Leith Docks was made in 1864. This line
7938-545: The G&SWR had assumed was its own. The Portpatrick Railway later reformed with the Wigtownshire Railway as the Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway ; the Caledonian was a one-quarter owner. The North British Railway opened its branch line to Dolphinton , east of Carstairs, and the Caledonian feared that the next step would be an incursion by the NBR into Caledonian territory, possibly seeking running powers on
8064-507: The Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway (successor to the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway ), and the Wishaw and Coltness Railway , which the Caledonian had leased from 1 January 1847 and 1 January 1846 respectively. The Glasgow station was the Townhead terminus of the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway. During the process of seeking Parliamentary authorisation, the Caledonian observed that
8190-410: The Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway in 1841, and competing with the M&KR and its allies. All these lines used the local track gauge of 4 ft 6 in ( 1,372 mm ), and they were referred to as "the coal lines"; passenger traffic was not a dominant activity. During this period, the first long-distance railways were opened in England; the Liverpool and Manchester Railway ,
8316-520: The Grand Junction Railway in January 1838. Using a converted horse-box, it was carried out at the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt, a General Post Office surveyor. Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting. When the London and Birmingham Railway opened on 17 September 1838, services were routed to and from Curzon Street station which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway,
8442-491: The amalgamation. However, it was later decided to proceed, and the amalgamation took place by Act of Parliament of 7 August 1851. The GP&GR operated the line between Glasgow and Paisley jointly with the Glasgow and South Western Railway (G&SWR), and the Paisley line used a terminus at Bridge Street in Glasgow. The Caledonian now worked trains at three termini in Glasgow: Buchanan Street, South Side (from
8568-533: The company appointed Captain Mark Huish as the secretary of the railway. Huish was ruthless in the development of the business and contributed significantly to the company's success. The GJR was very profitable, paying dividends of at least 10% from its beginning and having a final capital value of more than £5.75 million (equivalent to £703.33 million now) when it merged with the London and Birmingham Railway and Manchester and Birmingham Railway companies to become
8694-532: The company was refused permission to operate its own steamers, and it formed a partnership with a nominally independent, but friendly, operator, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company . In 1923 the railways of Great Britain were "grouped" under the Railways Act 1921 and the Caledonian Railway was a constituent of the newly formed London Midland and Scottish Railway ; its capitalisation at that time
8820-517: The construction of the Monkland Canal , opened throughout in 1794. This encouraged development of the coalfield, but dissatisfaction at the monopoly prices said to be exacted by the canal led to the construction of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway (M&KR), Scotland's first public railway; it opened in 1826. Development of the use of blackband ironstone by David Mushet , and the invention of
8946-400: The demand for passenger travel in these areas, but as yet they used horse traction. The Cathcart District Railway was promoted as an independent concern but heavily supported by the Caledonian. It opened in 1886 from Pollokshields to Mount Florida and Cathcart (the eastern arm of the present-day Cathcart Circle Line ) in 1886, and was extended via Shawlands to form a loop in 1894. It
9072-430: The duty of a guard/train manager/conductor . Passenger trains are part of public transport and often make up the stem of the service, with buses feeding to stations. Passenger trains provide long-distance intercity travel, daily commuter trips, or local urban transit services, operating with a diversity of vehicles, operating speeds, right-of-way requirements, and service frequency. Service frequencies are often expressed as
9198-402: The end of the 19th century, because they were cleaner compared to steam-driven trams which caused smoke in city streets. In 1784 James Watt , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, patented a design for a steam locomotive . Watt had improved the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen , hitherto used to pump water out of mines, and developed a reciprocating engine in 1769 capable of powering
9324-467: The end of the 19th century, improving the quality of steel and further reducing costs. Thus steel completely replaced the use of iron in rails, becoming standard for all railways. The first passenger horsecar or tram , Swansea and Mumbles Railway , was opened between Swansea and Mumbles in Wales in 1807. Horses remained the preferable mode for tram transport even after the arrival of steam engines until
9450-515: The engine by one power stroke. The transmission system employed a large flywheel to even out the action of the piston rod. On 21 February 1804, the world's first steam-powered railway journey took place when Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales . Trevithick later demonstrated a locomotive operating upon
9576-537: The ensuing winter is over, and the embankments on the London and Birmingham Line are well settled down, first class trains between Liverpool and Manchester and London will not occupy more than nine hours in the journey. This being accomplished, what further improvement could be desired between London and Lancashire? In 1840, the GJR absorbed the Chester and Crewe Railway soon before it began operation. Considering itself as part of
9702-470: The era of great expansion of railways that began in the late 1860s. Steel rails lasted several times longer than iron. Steel rails made heavier locomotives possible, allowing for longer trains and improving the productivity of railroads. The Bessemer process introduced nitrogen into the steel, which caused the steel to become brittle with age. The open hearth furnace began to replace the Bessemer process near
9828-407: The existing Warrington and Newton Railway to join the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at a triangular junction at Newton Junction . The GJR established its chief engineering works at Crewe , relocating there from Edge Hill , in Liverpool. It began operation with a temporary Birmingham terminus at Vauxhall , The travelling post office where mail was sorted on a moving train was instituted on
9954-574: The expensive construction of Newton Street Tunnel, the longest in Scotland. In competing with rival rail and steamer connections, the Caledonian became frustrated with its reliance on independent steamer operators, and tried to obtain powers to operate the vessels directly; this was refused by Parliament on competition grounds, and in reaction the company founded the nominally independent Caledonian Steam Packet Company in 1889. The CSPC expanded its routes and services considerably; following nationalisation of
10080-515: The first commercial example of the system on the Lugano Tramway . Each 30-tonne locomotive had two 110 kW (150 hp) motors run by three-phase 750 V 40 Hz fed from double overhead lines. Three-phase motors run at a constant speed and provide regenerative braking , and are well suited to steeply graded routes, and the first main-line three-phase locomotives were supplied by Brown (by then in partnership with Walter Boveri ) in 1899 on
10206-536: The first intercity line, opened in 1830 and was an immediate success. It was quickly followed by the Grand Junction Railway in 1837, the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838 and the North Union Railway reaching Preston in 1838, so that London was linked with the Lancashire and West Midlands centres of industry. It was clearly desirable to connect central Scotland into the emerging network. At first it
10332-506: The first time. (It had been possible to travel via Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne since 1846, but this involved crossing the River Tweed at Berwick by road, and the River Tyne at Gateshead / Newcastle by congested road bridge or ferry.) The Caledonian Railway's Edinburgh line from Carstairs opened on 1 April 1848. The terminal at Edinburgh was at Lothian Road . Glasgow was reached over
10458-482: The highest possible radius. All these features are dramatically different from freight operations, thus justifying exclusive high-speed rail lines if it is economically feasible. Caledonian Railway The Caledonian Railway ( CR ) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow . It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh and Aberdeen , with
10584-690: The idea was killed by fierce opposition from the Clyde Bridges Trust (which would lose toll income) and the Admiralty (who insisted on a swing bridge ). Another scheme failed to get finance in 1866 and again in 1873, but in 1875 an Act was obtained to build a bridge crossing the Clyde and bringing the South Side route into the city centre. A four-track railway bridge crossing the river was designed by Blyth and Cunningham and built by Sir William Arrol & Co. ;
10710-511: The intended passenger service was never started. The area of the north bank of the river Clyde became increasingly important for industry, and therefore became heavily populated. The North British Railway and its satellites had gained an early monopoly of this traffic, but its importance encouraged the Caledonian to enter the area. The Lanarkshire and Dumbartonshire Railway was nominally independent, running from near Maryhill to Dumbarton , opening progressively between 1894 and 1896. In 1896
10836-1218: The limit being regarded at 200 to 350 kilometres per hour (120 to 220 mph). High-speed trains are used mostly for long-haul service and most systems are in Western Europe and East Asia. Magnetic levitation trains such as the Shanghai maglev train use under-riding magnets which attract themselves upward towards the underside of a guideway and this line has achieved somewhat higher peak speeds in day-to-day operation than conventional high-speed railways, although only over short distances. Due to their heightened speeds, route alignments for high-speed rail tend to have broader curves than conventional railways, but may have steeper grades that are more easily climbed by trains with large kinetic energy. High kinetic energy translates to higher horsepower-to-ton ratios (e.g. 20 horsepower per short ton or 16 kilowatts per tonne); this allows trains to accelerate and maintain higher speeds and negotiate steep grades as momentum builds up and recovered in downgrades (reducing cut and fill and tunnelling requirements). Since lateral forces act on curves, curvatures are designed with
10962-510: The line scraped a bare living and closed in 1938. In the mid-1850s the steamer connections on the Firth of Clyde assumed ever increasing importance, and journey transit times from settlements in Argyll and the islands to Glasgow became critical. The inconvenient situation of the Greenock station and pier encouraged thoughts of more convenient routes, and in 1862 the Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway
11088-410: The line seriously unprofitable and it was closed in 1921. When the Caledonian's first main line opened, it used the Townhead terminus of the Glasgow, Garnkirk and Coatbridge Railway , and almost simultaneously, it acquired access to the South Side station planned for the Clydesdale Junction Railway . It extended from Townhead to Buchanan Street , an "inadequate and very cramped station" in 1849, but
11214-429: The locomotive-hauled train's drawbacks to be removed, since the locomotive need not be moved to the front of the train each time the train changes direction. A railroad car is a vehicle used for the haulage of either passengers or freight. A multiple unit has powered wheels throughout the whole train. These are used for rapid transit and tram systems, as well as many both short- and long-haul passenger trains. A railcar
11340-481: The main line. To head this off, the Caledonian built its own Dolphinton branch from Carstairs; it opened in 1867. Dolphinton had a population of 260 and two railways, and traffic was correspondingly meagre, and the line closed in 1945 to passengers and in 1950 to goods. The independent Solway Junction Railway was opened in 1869, linking iron mines in Cumberland with the Caledonian Railway at Kirtlebridge , crossing
11466-560: The main portion of the B&;O to the new line to New York through a series of tunnels around the edges of Baltimore's downtown. Electricity quickly became the power supply of choice for subways, abetted by the Sprague's invention of multiple-unit train control in 1897. By the early 1900s most street railways were electrified. The London Underground , the world's oldest underground railway, opened in 1863, and it began operating electric services using
11592-433: The mid-1920s. The Soviet Union operated three experimental units of different designs since late 1925, though only one of them (the E el-2 ) proved technically viable. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1914, when Hermann Lemp , a General Electric electrical engineer, developed and patented a reliable direct current electrical control system (subsequent improvements were also patented by Lemp). Lemp's design used
11718-507: The new station; the Stirling trains had to reverse at Gartsherrie Junction. The Garnkirk's old Glebe Street (Townhead) station was reduced to goods and mineral duties. In 1853–54 the Hayhill Fork, between Gartcosh and Garnqueen, was opened, enabling direct running from Buchanan Street towards Stirling. In the period between formation of the Caledonian Railway and the opening of the main line ,
11844-412: The noise they made on the tracks. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck , Cumbria , England, perhaps from the 1560s. A wagonway was built at Prescot , near Liverpool , sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to
11970-528: The passenger traffic to the Lanark and Larkhall branches remain in operation. In North Lanarkshire , the North British Railway was a keen competitor, having taken over the Monkland Railways . The area contained the rapidly-growing iron production area surrounding Coatbridge , and servicing that industry with coal and iron ore , and transport to local and more distant metal processing locations, dominated
12096-469: The period 1848 to 1850 a number of shareholder inquiries disclosed bad practices, and many board members had to resign in February 1850. The company had obtained Parliamentary powers to merge with the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway (GP&GR) in 1847, but even more alarming revelations of financial impropriety emerged regarding that company, and the Caledonian considered getting authorisation to cancel
12222-593: The platforms of which were adjacent, providing a link between Liverpool, Manchester and London . The route between Curzon Street railway station and Vauxhall primarily consisted of the Birmingham Viaduct. It consisted of 28 arches, each 31 feet (9.4 m) wide and 28 feet (8.5 m) tall and crossed the River Rea . In October 1838, the Liverpool Mercury reported that It is confidently expected, that after
12348-456: The possibility of a smaller engine that might be used to power a vehicle. Following his patent, Watt's employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick , a British engineer born in Cornwall . This used high-pressure steam to drive
12474-413: The railways in 1948 it became owned by British Railways, but was divested in 1968 and later became a constituent of Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), which remains in state ownership. In the final decades of the 19th century, as the cities spread into conurbations, the company's attention turned to increasing traffic in areas now thought of as "suburban". Street running tramways were already responding to
12600-458: The route from there to the southwards main line was very circuitous. The Caledonian also worked the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway with a terminus at Bridge Street , also inconveniently situated south of the Clyde: the Caledonian, therefore, had three unsatisfactory Glasgow termini. As early as 1846 proposals to cross the Clyde from Gushetfaulds to a Dunlop Street terminal had been put forward;
12726-420: The sparsely populated but mineral-rich area. As new coal mines opened, so new branches were needed, connecting Coalburn , Stonehouse , Strathaven , Muirkirk and Darvel and many other places, with new lines built right up until 1905. When the coal became exhausted in the second half of the 20th century, the railways were progressively closed; passenger traffic had always been light and it too disappeared. Only
12852-441: The standard for railways. Cast iron used in rails proved unsatisfactory because it was brittle and broke under heavy loads. The wrought iron invented by John Birkinshaw in 1820 replaced cast iron. Wrought iron, usually simply referred to as "iron", was a ductile material that could undergo considerable deformation before breaking, making it more suitable for iron rails. But iron was expensive to produce until Henry Cort patented
12978-419: The time, was Liverpool and Manchester Railway , built in 1830. Steam power continued to be the dominant power system in railways around the world for more than a century. The first known electric locomotive was built in 1837 by chemist Robert Davidson of Aberdeen in Scotland, and it was powered by galvanic cells (batteries). Thus it was also the earliest battery-electric locomotive. Davidson later built
13104-536: The track. Propulsion for the train is provided by a separate locomotive or from individual motors in self-propelled multiple units. Most trains carry a revenue load, although non-revenue cars exist for the railway's own use, such as for maintenance-of-way purposes. The engine driver (engineer in North America) controls the locomotive or other power cars, although people movers and some rapid transits are under automatic control. Traditionally, trains are pulled using
13230-466: The transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica . This line used "Hund" carts with unflanged wheels running on wooden planks and a vertical pin on the truck fitting into the gap between the planks to keep it going the right way. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from
13356-609: The wheels on track. For example, evidence indicates that a 6 to 8.5 km long Diolkos paved trackway transported boats across the Isthmus of Corinth in Greece from around 600 BC. The Diolkos was in use for over 650 years, until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt . In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug ,
13482-601: The world in 1825, although it used both horse power and steam power on different runs. In 1829, he built the locomotive Rocket , which entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to Stephenson establishing his company as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives for railways in Great Britain and Ireland, the United States, and much of Europe. The first public railway which used only steam locomotives, all
13608-438: Was a one-platform station named Lothian Road . This was the first line to offer travel without change of carriage between Edinburgh and London: passengers on the rival North British Railway needed to cross the River Tweed on foot to continue their rail journey. The unsatisfactory Edinburgh terminus needed improvement but funds were limited, and the Caledonian built a short spur to Haymarket ; talks had taken place about using
13734-507: Was a soft material that contained slag or dross . The softness and dross tended to make iron rails distort and delaminate and they lasted less than 10 years. Sometimes they lasted as little as one year under high traffic. All these developments in the production of iron eventually led to the replacement of composite wood/iron rails with superior all-iron rails. The introduction of the Bessemer process , enabling steel to be made inexpensively, led to
13860-480: Was accomplished by the distribution of weight between a number of wheels. Puffing Billy is now on display in the Science Museum in London, and is the oldest locomotive in existence. In 1814, George Stephenson , inspired by the early locomotives of Trevithick, Murray and Hedley, persuaded the manager of the Killingworth colliery where he worked to allow him to build a steam-powered machine. Stephenson played
13986-706: Was assumed that only one route from Scotland to England would be feasible, and there was considerable controversy over the possible route. A major difficulty was the terrain of the Southern Uplands : a route running through the hilly lands would involve steep and lengthy gradients that were challenging for the engine power of the time; a route around them, either to the west or the east, involved much lengthier main lines, and made connection to both Edinburgh and Glasgow more problematic. Many competing schemes were put forward, not all of them well thought out, and two successive government commissions examined them. However, they did not have mandatory force, and after considerable rivalry,
14112-515: Was authorised. It was an independent company intending to provide a fast connection from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute ; it opened on 13 May 1865 and in August 1893 it amalgamated with the Caledonian Railway, having been operated by the Caledonian Railway since its opening. In 1889 the Caledonian itself opened an extension line from Greenock to Gourock , more conveniently situated than Greenock; this involved
14238-509: Was built by Siemens. The tram ran on 180 volts DC, which was supplied by running rails. In 1891 the track was equipped with an overhead wire and the line was extended to Berlin-Lichterfelde West station . The Volk's Electric Railway opened in 1883 in Brighton , England. The railway is still operational, thus making it the oldest operational electric railway in the world. Also in 1883, Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram opened near Vienna in Austria. It
14364-687: Was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form. In 1764, the first railway in the Americas was built in Lewiston, New York . In the late 1760s, the Coalbrookdale Company began to fix plates of cast iron to the upper surface of the wooden rails. This allowed a variation of gauge to be used. At first only balloon loops could be used for turning, but later, movable points were taken into use that allowed for switching. A system
14490-540: Was clear that this was the way forward, and there was a desire to connect the Central Belt to the incipient English network. There was controversy over the route that such a line might take, but the Caledonian Railway was formed on 31 July 1845 and it opened its main line between Glasgow , Edinburgh and Carlisle in 1848, making an alliance with the English London and North Western Railway which connected Carlisle to
14616-708: Was established in the second half of 1832 by the consolidation of two rival companies: the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Company and the Liverpool and Birmingham Railway Company . Authorised by an act of Parliament , the Grand Junction Railway Act 1833 ( 3 & 4 Will. 4 . c. xxxiv), on 6 May 1833 and designed by George Stephenson and Joseph Locke , the Grand Junction Railway opened for business on 4 July 1837, running for 82 miles (132 km) from Birmingham through Wolverhampton (via Perry Barr and Bescot ), Stafford , Crewe , and Warrington , then via
14742-535: Was introduced in which unflanged wheels ran on L-shaped metal plates, which came to be known as plateways . John Curr , a Sheffield colliery manager, invented this flanged rail in 1787, though the exact date of this is disputed. The plate rail was taken up by Benjamin Outram for wagonways serving his canals, manufacturing them at his Butterley ironworks . In 1803, William Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway ,
14868-479: Was light enough to not break the edge-rails track and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. Thus it was also the first rack railway . This was followed in 1813 by the locomotive Puffing Billy built by Christopher Blackett and William Hedley for the Wylam Colliery Railway, the first successful locomotive running by adhesion only. This
14994-578: Was opened to passengers from 1879: the Leith terminal was later renamed Leith North. After 1900 the port authorities built new modern docks to the east of the former Leith docks, and the Caledonian further extended its Leith line to reach the new facilities: the Leith New Lines opened in 1903. It had been planned to open a passenger service on the line, and passenger stations had been built, but tram competition made it clear that an inner suburban passenger railway
15120-742: Was tested on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in September of the following year, but the limited power from batteries prevented its general use. It was destroyed by railway workers, who saw it as a threat to their job security. By the middle of the nineteenth century most european countries had military uses for railways. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric railway in 1879 in Berlin. The world's first electric tram line, Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway , opened in Lichterfelde near Berlin , Germany, in 1881. It
15246-609: Was the first tram line in the world in regular service powered from an overhead line. Five years later, in the U.S. electric trolleys were pioneered in 1888 on the Richmond Union Passenger Railway , using equipment designed by Frank J. Sprague . The first use of electrification on a main line was on a four-mile section of the Baltimore Belt Line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) in 1895 connecting
15372-460: Was to shorten the route for Caledonian mineral traffic, and it was worked by the Caledonian. In 1903–04 it was extended eastwards to Cathcart and Newton, enabling the heavy mineral trains to avoid the Joint Line and the congested area around Gushetfaulds from the Lanarkshire coalfields to Ardrossan Harbour . The Caledonian Railway entered Edinburgh from Carstairs on 15 February 1848; its terminus
15498-725: Was withdrawn from service in 1902 by the LNWR, carrying their number 1868. Railway Rail transport (also known as train transport ) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks , which usually consist of two parallel steel rails . Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport , next to road transport . It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed . Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains . Power
15624-576: Was worked by the Caledonian and absorbed on 11 November 1889. The Caledonian Railway sought to develop both Moffat and Peebles as watering places, and ran The Tinto Express from both places, combining at Symington , to Edinburgh and Glasgow for several years. With the intention of revitalising the lead mining industry, the Leadhills and Wanlockhead Branch was opened as a light railway from Elvanfoot in 1901–02. With challenging gradients to reach Scotland's highest village in otherwise remote territory,
15750-468: Was worked by the Caledonian, although the company retained its independence until 1923. The Glasgow Central Railway was authorised as an independent company to build a surface line from Rutherglen to Maryhill . It encountered fierce opposition, and the scheme was taken over by the Caledonian and converted into a route mainly in tunnel under Argyle Street . It opened in 1896, further encouraging suburban passenger travel. It closed in 1959 but reopened (as
15876-424: Was £57 million (equivalent to £4.11 billion today), and it had a single-track mileage of 2,827 miles (4,550 km). It extended from Aberdeen to Portpatrick , and from Oban to Carlisle , running express passenger services and a heavy mineral traffic. In the closing years of the 18th century, the pressing need to bring coal cheaply to Glasgow from the plentiful Monklands coalfield had been met by
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