A Little About Trains
Charles Core
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At one time trains were the most convenient mode of travel across our
vast land and the best way of transporting our mechanisms from one
end of the country to the other.
Trains started in the early days being wood fired steam engines. But it was hard carrying enough wood to travel far, and in some places in the midwest there was very little timber to be found, so the wood fired steam engines were replaced with coal fired engines. Coal burned much slower and hotter, thus the train could expand its mileage. Also more coal could be dug and transported to places where the storage behind the engine could be replenished. This created more jobs for the working class of people. Coal yards became a vast and major business throughout our land. Coal was not only for the trains to use, but also became a way to heat our homes and factories. And almost all the coal was hauled by the train itself. Later the engines were converted to oil fired engines, thus increasing the work load and also increasing the distance travelled before filling the tender (short car at the end of the engine that holds the fuel.) The train opened a way of travel for us. Soon trolley cars were installed to transport citizens throughout the cities. "Street Cars" were so named because they carried passengers from street to street. Short distance travel became possible from outlying towns to the city. This type of travel was called Interurban and was mostly electric powered by overhead trolley type lines. But soon most electric train type travel gave way to diesel engines. In later years, street cars were replaced with a mode of train-like transportation called subways which are still widely used in big cities all over the world. |
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Train Gallery (updated 11/17/96) |
