Steam+Locomotive

The **Steam Locomotive** is a railway locomotive that produces its pulling power through a steam engine.
====These locomotives are fueled by burning combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine. Both fuel and water supplies are carried with the locomotive. Railway transport dates back to Ancient Greece, where wagons were pulled by man or horse. From 1500-1800 wagon ways were mainly used for working mines in Europe. In 1820, Mechanized railways first appeared in England, where metal rails were installed for the newly developed steam locomotives. This new innovation was due to the Industrial Revolution for the export of goods and services all across Europe and beyond (Wikipedia). ====

=Before the Steam Powered Locomotive=

====Around 600 B.C., Ancient Greece was the first nation to have evidence of the first functional wagon way, which was the first railway based form of transportation for goods and services. This new wagonway also provided a new track element that focused on a transport that was a planned route to a specific location (like a train on rails). This method was used for humans and animals until 1 A.D., where the wagon way was primary pulled by horses. In 1794, John Fitch, an American inventor and entrepreneur developed and constructed the first functioning model of the steam locomotive. In 1804, Richard Trevithick, an English engineer developed and constructed the first working full scale steam locomotive on metal rails. Later in 1812, Trevithick constructed the first commercial steam locomotive in England named the Salamanca which ran on the newly developed edge-railed railway (Wikipedia). “For the first time in history something was transported over land that was not the muscle of a man or animal” (Eyewitnesshistory). At this point, steam locomotives were being developed in England by several other engineers and inventors modeled after Trevithick's Salamanca. Then later in 1829, these new English ideas and innovations spread to the United States, and thus the United States entered the business of the steam locomotive. ====

=The Steam Locomotive, Transportation of the Future=

====From the beginning, mankind has developed ideas of how to get to places in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Man has tried walking, running, the assistance of animals, and of course, the invention of the wheel. The steam locomotive changed all that. The steam locomotive was a faster, more alternative way of travel and transport for years to come. The steam locomotive was an amazing, new and improved form a transport during the Industrial Revolution. Once the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in May of 1869, locomotives could travel coast to coast with supplies like raw materials from the west for factories in the east (Brain). Materials in the western part of the United States included gold, silver, and iron that helped with factory production in the eastern parts of the United States. The locomotives also helped tourism and settling in the West for vast numbers of immigrants and citizens alike. The Steam Locomotive was the fastest and most efficient way to get around, until the invention of the automobile (Wikipedia).====

Wikipedia Contributors "History of Rail Transport." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
===="Completing the Transcontinental Railroad, 1869." Completing the Transcontinental Railroad, 1869. Eyewitnesshistory, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. ====