Railway

A railway, also called a railroad or rail line was transportation system used by trains.

The first steam engine was Locomotion No. 1, built by Robert Stephenson, which ran along the Stockton and Darlington Railway, officially opened in 1825. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)

Railways soon became the preferred method of long-distance travel. Trains offered speed and comfort that other transport could not. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)

In the mid-19th century, Theodore Maxtible was approached and asked if he would consider financing the construction of a rail line through the Bosphorus region of Turkey. (PROSE: The Evil of the Daleks)

In 1883, a time when most travel was still uncomfortable and occasionally dangerous, the Orient Express began operating in Europe. It offered an unprecedented level of luxury and comfort. (PROSE: A History of Humankind)

On 15 September 1885, two elephants in P. T. Barnum's circus, Jumbo and Tom Thumb, were struck in a railway accident in St Thomas, Ontario, Canada. At the time, no was was around to flag oncoming trains to warn them that the elephants were crossing the track on their way back to their own carriages. (AUDIO: The Wondrous Box)

Prior to 1931, the Russians built a railway which stretched from Europe to their Pacific port of Vladivostok. Consequently, the Chinese province of Manchuria was threatened with trade strangulation. Japanese trade was also threatened, influencing their decision to invade Manchuria. (PROSE: The Shadow of Weng-Chiang)

Chris Dent and Emma Wilding once liaised with aborigine leaders to ensure that a proposed railroad link between Alice Springs and Darwin didn't damage any sacred sites. (PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People)