How Much Do You Know About Railroad History?

The distance between the tracks of a railroad is known as the gauge. There are traditionally three different gauges of railroad tracks: narrow, standard and broad. Different manufacturers of locomotives often determined the size of the gauge.

Montana was not a state that the Transcontinental Railroad passed through. With starting points in Omaha and San Francisco, the Transcontinental Railroad met in Utah and was completed in 1869 with the final golden spike.

In the early railroad days, construction of the rails was more profitable than running an actual railroad company. Crédit Mobilier took advantage of this and offered themselves construction contracts on behalf of the Union Pacific railroad.

John Henry is a folklore hero in the annals of railroad construction. Thousands of men worked to construct railroads. John Henry challenged a steam-powered drill to the work of drilling a tunnel. His superhuman effort beat the machine, but it cost him his life as he died of exhaustion.

A combination of materials was spread out on the ground in order to create drainage and a stable surface for railroad tracks. The material is called ballast. The ingredients of ballast often included gravel, cinder, slag and sand.

The first locomotive that ran in the United States was called Tom Thumb. It ran on a short piece of track near Baltimore, MD in 1830. The locomotive was designed to carry a few passengers for a short distance as a demonstration of what a steam locomotive could do.

The last train car on a large freight train is known as the caboose. The caboose was originally designed as a shelter for the crew members aboard a train. In pop culture, the word is also used as a slang reference to a person's behind.

Japan is responsible for developing the first bullet trains. Known as "Shinkansen" in Japan, these trains can travel at speeds over 185 miles per hour. The high speed rail system was developed in time for the 1964 Olympics, which were held in Tokyo.

In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act was signed by Congress under President Abraham Lincoln. This act allowed the government to provide subsidies in funds and land to help construct the Transcontinental Railroad, which was completed in 1869.

The Central Pacific Railroad was tasked with starting tracks in the west and eventually meeting the tracks that had started in Omaha. The tracks finally converged in Utah in 1869, which completed the Transcontinental Railroad.

The companies building the Transcontinental Railroad were paid by the mile of track laid down. This caused a competition of sorts to create the most miles of track. The companies would constantly set new records with how much track they could put down in a day.

A large portion of immigrants who worked on the railroads were Irish, and this was particularly true for the Transcontinental Railroad project. Of the two companies working on this project, the Union Pacific company relied mainly on Irish workers.

The number of miles that connected the Transcontinental Railroad totaled 1,776 miles that stretched from Sacramento, CA to Omaha, NE. Central Pacific Railroad completed 690 miles and Union Pacific Railroad completed 1,086 miles.

The world record for laying railroad track is just over 10 miles. This was completed a small army of workers, most of whom were Chinese. It was achieved during a 12-hour day and just a few miles from the meeting of the tracks at Promontory, UT.

The locomotive was first created in England by inventor George Stephenson. He employed a steam-powered engine to move along the steel tracks. He created the first locomotive in 1825. It was then introduced and manufactured in other countries, including the United States, by 1830.

Eli Janney was a famous woodworker and whittler who improved the method by which train cars were connected. The early way was a link and pin system. He improved upon this with what is known as a knuckle system.

Theodore Judah was a railroad and civil engineer from Connecticut. He was involved in starting the Central Pacific Railroad in Sacramento, CA. He encouraged others to invest in a railroad that would connect the east and west coasts of the U.S.

France's rail service, the fastest in the world, is called the TGV. The trains can travel at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour! These aerodynamic trains were created to minimize the environmental impact of the system.

"Hell on Wheels" refers to the small towns and villages that usually accompanied the railroads as they were being built. These towns were infamous for lawlessness. They were hotbeds for drinking, gambling and prostitution.

In 1849, the discovery of gold in the hills of California sparked a frenzy of westward migration. This sudden demand for faster transportation served as the catalyst for new railroads that were built to bring people and supplies out west.

The "Big Four" refers to the four original investors of the Central Pacific Railroad. They were Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker, and were all brought together by Theodore Judah.

The New York Central Railroad ran primarily in the Great Lakes area. It connected New York and Boston with areas such as Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis. The track featured a train car named after the famous American, Paul Revere.

The fastest mode of transportation before the train was the horse-drawn stagecoach, which averaged about seven miles per hour. The car and the airplane were both invented after the train. The train would shorten a months-long cross-country journey into a trip lasting several days.

Most modern train systems, including both above ground and subway systems, run on electric power. Earlier locomotives were steam-powered by burning wood and coal. Many modern train systems carry passengers long distances using diesel-powered engines.

Cog-and-rack trains are able to climb steep hills using a toothed wheel that catches on a toothed rail, which pulls it up the slope. These trains are often found in the steep mountains of Europe.

George Stephenson, who invented the first steam-powered locomotive, created the Rocket. The Rocket, located England, was known as the first intercity passenger train. It ran between Liverpool and Manchester around 1829.

The Mallard was an English-built locomotive that reached a speed of 126 miles per hour in 1930. The record has never been matched by another steam-powered locomotive. The train maintained this speed for a couple of minutes.

London was the first city to build an underground metro railway system. The system was created in 1863 to relieve traffic congestion and is known today as the Underground or Tube system.

In order for a freight train to pull a heavy load, multiple engines are attached together to act as one. For long freights with hilly routes, up to eight engines may be required to pull the heavy loads.

The United States has the longest railway system in the world. There are over 150,000 miles of rail track spanning the nation. About 80 percent of those railways are used by freight lines, and the other 20 percent are for passenger trains.

The Orient Express is the famous passenger train that ran from Paris to Istanbul from 1883-1977. It was known for its luxury and service. It has a place in pop culture lore as the setting for Agatha Christie's famous murder mystery novel, "Murder on the Orient Express."

The China-Europe Block Train is the longest continuous ride on rails in the world. You can take a train from Spain all the way to Yiwu, China, a distance of 8,077 miles! The trip covers all of Europe and Asia.

Some trains operate on a single rail system known as a monorail. The track looks like a beam, and the train moves along the top. The monorail system is popular for trains operating in Japan.

India has the fourth largest railway system in the world with half of its railway tracks operating on an electric system. The railway service in India began operation in 1853. Today, they have over 75,000 miles of railways.

The Fairy Queen is the oldest steam-powered locomotive still in operation. The locomotive was built in England but started operation in Calcutta in 1855. The locomotive wasn't named the Fairy Queen until 1895.