![]() ![]() Owned by Philip Layton, the line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about one-half mile (800 m) away. A wagonway was built at Prescot, near Liverpool, sometime around 1600, possibly as early as 1594. Such a transport system was later used by German miners at Caldbeck, Cumbria, England, perhaps from the 1560s. There are many references to their use in central Europe in the 16th century. The miners called the wagons Hunde ("dogs") from the noise they made on the tracks. ![]() 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. Such an operation was illustrated in Germany in 1556 by Georgius Agricola in his work De re metallica. Wagonways (or tramways) using wooden rails, hauled by horses, started appearing in the 1550s to facilitate the transport of ore tubs to and from mines and soon became popular in Europe. ![]() The line still exists and is operational, although in updated form and is possibly the oldest operational railway. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human or animal power, through a treadwheel. In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug, a funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. See also: Funicular, Wagonway, Tramway (industrial), and Plateway Wooden rails introduced 16th-century minecart, an early example of unpowered rail transport Following some decline due to competition from cars and airplanes, rail transport has had 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. 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. Starting in the 1940s, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives. In the 1880s, railway electrification began with tramways and rapid transit systems. 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. 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 first passenger railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, opened in 1825. 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 Great Britain around 1800. 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. Power is usually provided by diesel or electrical locomotives. Rolling stock on rails generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, allowing rail cars to be coupled into longer trains. ![]()
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