History of Railroad Construction

The history of railways is closely linked with civilization. As the necessity arose,
human beings developed various methods of transporting goods from one place to
another. In the primitive days goods were carried as head loads or in carts drawn
by men or animals. Then efforts were made to replace animal power with mechanical
power. In 1769, Nicholes Carnot, a Frenchman, carried out the pioneering work of
developing steam energy. This work had very limited success and it was only in the
year 1804 that Richard Trevithick designed and constructed a steam locomotive.
This locomotive, however, could be used for traction on roads only. The credit of
perfecting the design goes to George Stephenson, who in 1814 produced the first
steam locomotive used for traction in railways