The history of tracks and trains: a lesson in joined-up thinking

Abstract

Last year was both the 400th anniversary of the first recorded use of railways in Britain, laid down by the Nottingham entrepreneur, Huntington Beaumont; and the 200th anniversary of the first recorded use of railway steam locomotion by the Cornish engineer, Richard Trevithick. This paper, based on the author's ICE Smeaton Lecture, charts the early development of rail track in the UK, from the first wooden wagonways to the wrought-iron rails of the mid-nineteenth century. In particular it compares Trevithick's failed venture into steam locomotives with Stephenson's subsequent success—confirming that then, as now, economics and advances in vehicle and infrastructure technology should develop together.