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| − | A '''railroad''' (British: '''railway''') is a form of [[transport]] in which trains are pulled on [[railway track|rails]] along fixed routes carrying freight or passengers. Emerging from small-scale horse-drawn operations combined with the steam engine, railroads were developed in Britain after 1830 to become the iron workhorse of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Thanks to safety measures and signals, accident rates were kept low. Diesel and electric engines in the 20th century improved efficiency, bit the railroads lost most of their traffic to trucks, buses and other new forms (such as airplanes and pipelines) in the 20th century. Today railroads mostly handle bulk freight, such as coal and containers. It is cheaper to move coal by rail to electric power plants than to burn the coal near the mines and move the electricity. | + | A '''railroad''' (British: '''railway''') is a form of [[transport]] in which [[train]]s are pulled on [[railway track|rails]] along fixed routes carrying freight or passengers. Emerging from small-scale horse-drawn operations combined with the steam engine, railroads were developed in Britain after 1830 to become the iron workhorse of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Thanks to safety measures and signals, accident rates were kept low. Diesel and electric engines in the 20th century improved efficiency, but the railroads lost most of their traffic to trucks, buses and other new forms (such as airplanes and pipelines) in the 20th century. Today railroads mostly handle bulk freight, such as coal and containers. It is cheaper to move coal by rail to electric power plants than to burn the coal near the mines and move the electricity. |
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| | + | There is illustrious poetry and prose about trains. Here's one by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]:<ref>https://interestingliterature.com/2017/02/the-best-railway-poems-trains-everyone-should-read/</ref> |
| | + | :Faster than fairies, faster than witches, |
| | + | :Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches; |
| | + | :And charging along like troops in a battle, |
| | + | :All through the meadows the horses and cattle: |
| | + | :All of the sights of the hill and the plain |
| | + | :Fly as thick as driving rain; |
| | + | :And ever again, in the wink of an eye, |
| | + | :Painted stations whistle by ... |
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| | [[Image:Csx_railroad.jpg|thumb|300px|A CSX freight train]] | | [[Image:Csx_railroad.jpg|thumb|300px|A CSX freight train]] |
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| | == Gauges == | | == Gauges == |
| − | The ''gauge'' of a railway is the distance between the inside edges of the top of the rails, usually 4' 8.5". Trains are built to operate on a track of a given gauge. | + | The ''gauge'' of a railway is the distance between the inside edges of the top of the rails, usually 4' 8.5". [[Train]]s are built to operate on a track of a given gauge. |
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| | The history of railways is replete with railways being built to a variety of gauges, which has led to numerous problems including limiting the viability of individual railways. | | The history of railways is replete with railways being built to a variety of gauges, which has led to numerous problems including limiting the viability of individual railways. |