Author:
Gwyn, David, 1957- author.
ImprintNew Haven : Yale University Press, [2023]
Descriptionxiv, 401 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 25 cm
Note:Introduction -- Trade, transport and coal 1767-1815 -- 'Rails best adapted to the road': cast-iron rails and their alternatives in Britain 1767-1832 -- Canal feeders, quarry railways and construction sites -- 'Art has supplied the place of horses': traction 1767-1815 -- War and peace 1814-1834 -- 'Geometrical precision': wrought-iron rails 1808-1834 -- 'Most suitable for hilly countries': rope and chain haulage 1815-1834 -- 'That truly astonishing machine': locomotives 1815-1834 -- Coal carriers 1815-1834 -- Internal communications 1815-1834 -- The first main lines 1824-1834 -- Coming of age: the public railway 1830-1834 -- 'The new avenues of iron road' 1834-1850 -- 'You can't hinder the railroad'.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (pages 364-387) and index.
Note:"Taking a refreshingly global view, David Gwyn tells the neglected story of the early iron railway. 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." --Dust jacket flap.
