Invented the first train. The very first train in the world: the history of the creation of railways and trains. Train History: Russian Railways Museum

Trains are one of the most important modes of transport worldwide. Millions of passengers travel by rail every day, and it no longer surprises anyone that you can buy a train ticket on the website without leaving your home and board the train by simply presenting an electronic ticket (boarding pass) to the conductor on paper (A4 format) or on the screen mobile device and an identity document of the passenger (electronic registration). Often only a passport is enough.

Although trains appeared much earlier than road transport, and even more so air transport, in fact, the emergence of railway communication is, one might say, a recent matter. Even 200 years ago, no one could have imagined that soon people would be able to comfortably travel any distance without the help of horses. The same applies to cargo transportation and mail delivery: only railways were able to create a unified transport system in the vast territories of America, Europe, and Russia, which significantly influenced the development of the economy. So, when and where was the very first train in the world created, and what was its speed?

The prototype of the modern train

The prototype of the train, very primitive, can be called trolleys, which began to be used in the 18th century in Europe. Between certain points, for example, a mine and a village, wooden beams (beds) were laid, which served as modern rails. On them, trolleys moved back and forth, moved by horses or ... people. At the end of the 18th century, single trolleys began to be interconnected with iron rings in order to increase the efficiency of transportation. These short trains of several loaded trolleys, transported on wooden rails with the help of horses, became the prototype of those trains that are used in our time.

Russia is not far behind England. The first freight train with locomotive traction was launched in 1834, and already in 1837 the Tsarskoye Selo railway was built and opened, along which passenger trains ran at a speed of 33 km / h. The honor of creating the first Russian steam locomotive belongs to the Cherepanov brothers.

First steam locomotive

In 1804, the English engineer-inventor Richard Treitwick demonstrated the first steam locomotive to curious spectators. This design was a cylindrical steam boiler, to which a tender (a wagon with coal and a place for a stoker) and one wagon were attached, in which those who wished could ride. The first steam locomotive did not arouse much interest among the owners of mines and mines, which was exactly what Treitwick wanted to be interested in. Perhaps his, in fact, ingenious invention was ahead of its time, as is often the case. The high cost of materials for the manufacture of rails, the need to create all the details of the locomotive by hand, the lack of funds and qualified assistants - all these negative factors led to the fact that in 1811 Treitwick abandoned his work.

First freight train

Using the drawings and developments of Treitwick, many European engineers began to actively create and improve various types of steam locomotives. Since 1814, several models have been designed (Blucher, Puffing Billy, Killingworth, etc.), which were successfully operated by the owners of large mines and mines. The first freight trains could carry about 30-40 tons of cargo and reach speeds of up to 6-8 km/h.

First main train

On September 19, 1825, the first public railway between Darlington and Stockton ran the first train operated by its creator, George Stephenson. The train consisted of the locomotive "Movement", 12 freight wagons with flour and coal, and 22 wagons with passengers. The mass of the train, together with the cargo and passengers, was 90 tons, the speed of its movement in various sections was from 10 to 24 km / h. For comparison: today the speed of passenger trains is on average 50 km/h, and high-speed trains such as "Sapsan" - 250 km/h. In 1830, the Liverpool-Manchester highway was opened in England. On the opening day, the first passenger train passed through it, which included a mail car - also the first in the world.

Such complex types of technology as electric trains do not appear suddenly. Their history is the history of the development of transport technologies from the first key inventions, such as the invention of the wheel or the railway, to the use of electricity and electric motors.

Below is a brief overview of the key developments and inventions that eventually led to the creation of electric trains in our modern sense.

Model of the first wheel in the Iranian History Museum.
Source: Wikipedia.

Peutinger's table is one of the most famous maps of the 5th century AD. The length of the original map is 6.75 m, and the width is 0.34 m. It depicts the roads of the Roman Empire, the total length of which was about 200 thousand km, and also marked cities, seas, rivers, forests and mountains. The map shows the entire Roman Empire, the Middle East and India, the Ganges, Sri Lanka and China are marked.
Source: Wikipedia.

First experiments with electricity. Engraving from 1670
Source: Wikipedia.

Attraction train by Richard Trevithick. Drawing from 1804
Source: Wikipedia.

Model of the Cherepanovs steam locomotive, presented in the IrGUPS museum.
Photo: Oleg Nazarov, 2005

Petersburg - Moscow train, 1854
Source: Wikipedia.

Westinghouse automatic air brake, 1872

Sit at the train, take yourselves there, maybe at Prague, maybe at Viden.(Piccardy third)

Trains - how many things in this word, especially right now, in the summer, when the long-awaited time for vacations has come and something inside pulls somewhere to the south, closer to the sea, beaches and the warm sun. Therefore, it is not at all surprising to observe huge queues at railway ticket offices, people are massively buying train tickets to Crimea. Whatever you say, trains are perhaps the most comfortable way to travel, and definitely the safest. So yes, trains are the safest means of transportation in the world, the number of accidents involving trains is minimal (which cannot be said about vehicles, which, on the contrary, are the most dangerous). And trains are just a wonderful place to communicate with various interesting random fellow travelers (sometimes those philosophical discussions for life sound in the cars) it’s great to travel by trains with a cheerful friendly company, with which it’s no less fun to spend time, sing songs, play different games, and etc. In a word - trains, so that we can only do without them, but how did it all begin and where did they come from?

So, the first prototypes of the oldest trains appeared at the end of the 15th century and had absolutely nothing to do with railway transport. In those days, the word “train” was understood simply as a series of carts linked together, which were moved by one draft force - it could be a horse, or an ox, or some other representative of large (and sometimes horned) cattle. Some inventive residents of the time used such cart trains for military purposes as fortifications. In particular, our Ukrainian Cossacks were very fond of doing this, who always took several such coupled cart-trains with them on military campaigns and, in which case, created a fortified camp out of them, a real mobile fortress on wheels.

Take places according to the purchased tickets, broads! It’s just that the Cossacks didn’t have so many cavalry, so they had to fight on foot, shooting opponents from firearms. And since the quality of those weapons left much to be desired, and there was a high probability of being chopped up by the enemy cavalry for cabbage while the Cossack reloaded the musket, so the cart-trains became for them just a lifesaver, and an integral element of the military tactics of our glorious ancestors. There is even historical evidence of how once 50 Cossacks in such a fortress made of wagons successfully repelled the attack of 500 Turkish horsemen.

But back to trains, this word acquired a new meaning already at the end of the 17th century, it was at this time that the first trolleys appeared, which were an open small wagon designed to transport various goods. Horses were used as draft power. The trolleys moved along a special wooden road, in fact it was the prototype of the first railway. Times moved forward and progress did not stand still, railways improved, and already in 1804, the English inventor and engineer Richard Treutik designed the world's first train (already in its modern sense) and a locomotive ("locomotive" means - to move). The horses breathed a sigh of relief.

This is how he looked.

Only one passenger car was attached to the first train and let it go around in a circle, for the entertainment of the noble London public. The train itself was playfully nicknamed "Catch me if you can" - "Catch me if you can."

But it wasn't until seven years later that the British realized that trains were cool. And now, since 1811, trains have been actively built and railways have been laid. At first, only in England, and then other countries adopted the English example, and now grandmother Europe is laid with iron rails, along which trains merrily smoke.

A small lyrical digression: In general, the development of trains and railways had simply a huge impact on the development of an entire human civilization, and the railways themselves gradually turned into the blood arteries of human civilization, especially its economy. Even in various strategic computer games (there are economic strategies like Civilization 5), there will be no progress without the competent construction of railways.

Solemn arrival of a train on the Tsarkoye Selo railway, the first in Russia, built in 1837.

Even then, there was a division of trains into passenger and freight, in general, the first freight train with locomotive traction appeared in 1820, he carried coal from the English mine Hatton to the town of Sunderland. Of course, the trains in those days were different from the current ones, they had a steam engine and smoked so oh-yo-yo, and were turtles by modern standards, because the maximum speed of the first trains was a maximum of 40 km. at one o'clock. For the movement of the train, coal had to be constantly thrown into the stove of the engine room. That's just for the environment, of course, such trains were not very useful, although then nature was not yet so devastated as in our "ultra progressive" times.

During the First World War, the Civil War and the Second World War, trains again began to be actively used for military purposes, the so-called armored trains appeared - steel mastodons stuffed with all kinds of tools.

Somehow it turns out that many human inventions, conceived at first for peaceful purposes, were then used for all sorts of military things.

But already at the beginning of the 20th century, with the invention of electricity, the first electric locomotives appeared, trains moved with the help of the magical power of electric current and no longer smoked like those steam locomotives.

The first electric locomotives, photo from the 20s, 20th century.

This is the story of trains that have come a long evolutionary path from carts, through retro smoking trains of the 19th century to such modern beauties.

In conclusion, a good song from the group "Pikkardiyskaya tertsiya" - "Sit at the train."

Since the opening of the first railway in Russia, the desire to increase train speeds and, consequently, reduce travel time has been a priority for the country's engineering corps.

On September 1, 1853, the first high-speed train left St. Petersburg for Moscow. He was on the road for 12 hours, of which 1 hour 20 minutes. had to park.

The first experiments on the creation of high-speed models of locomotives in the Soviet Union began in the thirties of the twentieth century. In 1934, draft designs of high-speed steam locomotives were completed at the Kolomna Plant - type 2-3-1 with a grate of 5 sq.m and types 1-3-2 and 2-3-2 with a grate of 6.5 sq. m. m. 2 experimental steam locomotives were made. Experimental trips of new locomotives took place on the Moscow-Leningrad line. On April 24, 1938, when following a single steam locomotive, a speed of 160 km / h was reached, and on June 29, on the Likhoslavl-Kalinin section, one of the steam locomotives with a train of 14 axles (4 wagons) reached a speed of 170 km / h.

It was planned to build 10 more locomotives of this type for the Oktyabrskaya railway, but the war prevented this from being done.

In 1937, the Voroshilovgrad plant produced steam locomotive IS20-16("Joseph Stalin") with a casing-fairing. During testing, this steam locomotive reached a speed of 155 km / h.

High-speed steam locomotive No. 6998 designed at the Voroshilovgrad plant under the guidance of engineer D.V. Lvov. Its production was completed in April 1938. The diameter of the wheels was 2200 mm, and the design speed was 180 km/h.

Officially, the beginning of the development of high-speed traffic on the railways of our country dates back to 1957, when by order of the Ministry of Railways dated May 29, 1957 "On the preparation of the Moscow-Leningrad line for the movement of passenger trains at higher speeds", an action program was developed and organizational and technical measures that ensure the solution of the task.

In 1957 diesel locomotive TE7-001 on the Klin-Reshetnikovo-Zavidovo section with a train weighing 1010 tons, it developed a maximum speed of 129 km/h, on the Pokrovka-Klin section, which has a slope of 5‰, the highest speed was 134 km/h. With trains weighing 800-900 tons, the locomotive developed a speed of 140 km/h.

Diesel locomotives TE7 served passenger trains on the Moscow-Leningrad line until 1963, and since 1960 they have operated "Day Express", passing from Moscow to Leningrad in 6 hours and 20 minutes.

Opportunities to increase traffic speeds are inextricably linked with the readiness of the infrastructure. At the first stage, the stations were the bottleneck that slowed down the growth of speeds. The speed of movement on the turnouts of the stations was allowed only up to 100 km / h. To overcome these restrictions, 18 low-traffic stations were closed and more than 100 rarely used turnouts were removed from the main tracks of other separate points. In 1960, the track was completely laid on a crushed stone base with rails of the P50 type, the curves were lengthened and straight inserts between the curves were laid, artificial structures were strengthened, and a number of crossings were closed. During the period of mastering higher speeds up to 120 km/h, the switch facilities of the line underwent a significant reconstruction. Turnouts began to be used, having an insert-overlay root fastening and more powerful crosses. After the tests, the speed of movement on such transfers in a straight line was increased to 120 km/h.

Since 1961, the use of reinforced turnouts type Р65. Trains began to pass along such arrows at a speed of up to 140 km / h.

In 1963, an experimental laying of specialized high-speed turnouts began. The operation of such transfers proved that they ensure the movement of trains at speeds up to 160 km/h.

Electric locomotives series ChS2 operated on the Moscow - Leningrad line, serving high-speed trains and developing speeds up to 160 km / h. In 1965, experimental trips were carried out, during which an electric locomotive of the ChS2 series with a train traveled from Leningrad to Moscow in 4 hours and 59 minutes.

On June 12, 1963, an experimental trip of the Aurora bullet train took place., which traveled the path in 5 hours 27 minutes. The systems of power supply, automation, telemechanics and communications were improved, thanks to which in 1965 the travel time of the Aurora express was reduced to 4 hours 59 minutes, and the route speed was increased to 130.4 km / h.

For the period 1961-1965. along the entire length, long rails of the R-65 type were laid on reinforced concrete sleepers. More than 250 turnouts have been replaced with high-speed ones, the number of crossings has been reduced by 2 times, and all of them are equipped with automatic barriers with automatic crossing signaling, fences have been installed along the line to prevent pets and forest dwellers from entering the line. The expediency of narrowing the gauge by 4-6 mm - up to 1520 mm was established, which ensured greater stability of the track grid and increased the life of the sleepers. The second contact wire was mounted along the entire length, the contact suspension was adjusted.

In 1970, to conduct research on the interaction between the crew and the track, the Design Bureau of Aviation Technology A.S. Yakovlev, the Kalinin Carriage Works and VNIIV developed and manufactured an experimental high-speed laboratory car with an aircraft jet engine. Two AI-25 turbojet engines and aerodynamic fairings were installed on the head car of the ER22 electric train. Dynamic tests of a two-car train weighing 60 tons took place in 1972 on the Pridneprovskaya road. In the process of experimental trips, a maximum speed of 249 km / h was reached.

"Russian Troika"

The design of the new RT200 car was carried out by the Kalinin Carriage Works. In 1972, experimental cars were built. In total, eight cars and a buffet car were manufactured, which, together with the power station car, formed a ten-car train.

In Czechoslovakia, locomotives were ordered for a speed of 200 km / h - ChS200.

Tests of the "Russian Troika" were carried out on the Leningrad - Moscow line, mostly on the Leningrad - Chudovo section, where successful dynamic tests of the train were carried out at a speed of 210 km / h with electric locomotives ChS2M, ChS2T and later ChS200. On June 26, 1976, the Russian Troika, driven by the ChS200 electric locomotive, proceeded through the Lyuban-Chudovo section at a speed of 220 km/h.

Tests of the first RT200 car were carried out during June - August 1973. Train No. 5003 consisted of an electric locomotive ChS2M, two all-metal cover cars and a RT200 car between them.

September 18, 1973 "Russian Troika" made the first test flight from Leningrad to Moscow. On July 8, 1975, the Russian Troika set off on its first regular flight with passengers. The train was running according to the Aurora schedule, arriving in Moscow at 18:43. RT200 made regular flights until 1980.

On March 1, 1984, the first regular flight was made by Estonia200. From 1984 until February 2009, it ran between St. Petersburg and Moscow at a maximum speed of 200 km/h.

In 1993, on the St. Petersburg-Moscow section of the Oktyabrskaya highway diesel locomotive TEP80 a record speed for diesel locomotives was reached - 271 km / h.

However, the super-fast locomotive TEP80 turned out to be completely unclaimed in practice. If in the years of the creation of the previous model, TEP75, there was still a test site where passenger diesel locomotives with a capacity of 6000 hp were required, then by the time the TEP80 was built, all lines where this diesel locomotive could find application had already been electrified. In addition, due to the collapse of the USSR, they did not manage to establish serial production of this diesel locomotive (the Kolomna Plant produced only two TEP80 diesel locomotives). But it still holds the palm in terms of speed among diesel locomotives and is still the fastest in the world.

In 1995, the Collegium of the Ministry of Railways of the Russian Federation made a decision on the comprehensive reconstruction of the St. Petersburg - Moscow highway for the organization of high-speed traffic.

In 1996-2000 a grandiose reconstruction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow highway was carried out, and in fact a new railway was built using modern technologies. Thanks to the reconstruction, trains can already reach speeds of 200-250 km/h.

The use of domestic discharge-pulse technology for "treatment" of the subgrade was tested, the contact network KS-200 was developed and manufactured from domestic parts, a new type of auto-blocking with tone-on-tone track circuits was used in the modernization of signaling and communication devices.

"Nevsky Express"

In 2001, the first train "Nevsky Express" entered regular operation. The cars, designed for a speed of 200 km / h, were created at the same plant as the Russian Troika, although they are not a logical continuation of it.

By the autumn of 2001, the first domestic high-speed train "Sokol-250" (speed up to 250 km/h) appeared on the main course of the road.

During the complex reconstruction of the St. Petersburg-Moscow highway, a unique depot for maintenance of high-speed electric trains was built at the Metallostroy station. Its territory is 44.3 hectares.

"Sapsan"

Since 2009, on the lines of the wide (1520 mm) gauge railway. Russia operated new Sapsan trains of Siemens technology. The composition of the train is 4 motor and 6 trailer cars, the number of bogies is 20, of which 8 are motor. Mains supply 3 kV DC and 25 kV, 50 Hz AC. Rated power - 8800 kW, maximum speed - 250 km / h. Number of seats - 600.

Over the past 40 years, the demand for high-speed rail has grown significantly. High-speed trains, from the point of view of consumers, are superior to other modes of transport in terms of travel time, comfort and safety, and environmental friendliness. These advantages will increase in the near future due to the increase in the length of lines suitable for high speed traffic.

The first railroads

The first railways were created mainly for the needs of industry. Engineers working on steam engines did not keep in mind the possibility of passenger transportation. It was about creating a convenient, inexpensive and labor-intensive way to deliver goods. First of all, coal. That is why the first railways in the history of mankind began to appear in large and deep mines. On the surface of the earth, these roads got out only at the end of the 18th century, with one exception. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Wallaton Carriage Railway functioned in England. Railroads connected the villages of Wallaton and Strelli, which is near Nottingham. The three-kilometer road is believed to have been built between 1602 and 1604. It carried coal from one village to another. In 1620 the mines at Strelli were closed and the road fell into disrepair.

Former Wallaton Railroad. (wikipedia.org)

By the way, the question of how exactly coal was transported still remains open. Steam engines began to appear only in the second half of the 18th century. Watt's machine was first demonstrated in 1784. In Russia, the first railway appeared in 1788. This, we repeat, was not a passenger, but an industrial road. The cast-iron wheel duct, as it was called, was built at the Alexander Cannon Factory in Petrozavodsk for the needs of this enterprise. The project was developed by the head of the Olonets mining works, Charles Gascoigne. The road was intended for the transport of coal and guns. By the way, the cast-iron wheel duct is considered the world's first industrial railway.

Charles Gascoigne. (wikipedia.org)

steam engines
Watt began work on his first steam engine as early as 1773. A year later, he opened a company for the production of such machines, but in the early years it did not have much success. The shah's leaders bought the plant's products, but they did it very reluctantly. Watt's car was considered expensive and slow. It was then that the engineer thought about creating a universal mechanism. The idea was to make the steam engine suitable for use outside of coal mines.

Newcomen engine. (wikipedia.org)

In 1784, Watt built his first heat engine. The machine converted the energy of water vapor into mechanical work by driving a piston. Watt's project was based on the work of the French mathematician Danny Papin. Papen designed the steam-powered car a hundred years before Watt, but he was not so lucky. His project did not receive the support of the Paris Academy. As a result, the inventor never found the money to implement his ideas.

Danny Papin. (wikipedia.org)

How steam locomotives appeared

Railroads have long been used only to transport heavy goods. Basically, they carried coal, cast iron and artillery pieces. The first passenger railway was built only in 1801. It connected the cities of Wandsworth and Croydon. Horses were used for transportation, since the first steam locomotive appeared only three years later, in 1804.

The horse carries passengers. (wikipedia.org)

It was built by engineer and inventor Richard Trevithick. True, his locomotive was too expensive and heavy. The cast iron rails could not bear the weight of Tretiwick's machine. Far more successful was another inventor - George Stephenson. He proposed a more economical model of a steam locomotive and even persuaded the management of several mines to build, by joint efforts, a railway between Darlington and Stockton.

Railway between Darlington and Stockton. (wikipedia.org)

Its rails were strong enough to support the weight of a locomotive. Later, construction began on a public railway between Liverpool and Manchester. Only the question of which steam locomotives would run between cities remained open. By that time, several dozen inventors had already proposed projects for steam-powered machines. There was a real fight for patents. The leaders of the railroad, at the suggestion of Stephenson, came up with a worthy way out of the situation. They organized a steam locomotive race, the winner of the competition got the right to become the main locomotive of the road. Steam locomotive competitions were held in 1829 in the city of Rainhill. The Rocket locomotive designed by Stephenson won the competition.

Rocket Stephenson. (wikipedia.org)

Only the "Rocket" managed to pass all the tests, developing an average speed of up to 20 kilometers per hour (the weight of the cargo was 13 tons). The competitors of the Stefinson steam locomotive (4 cars) quickly fell out of the race. The decisive moment was the explosion of the boiler of the Novelty steam locomotive, which reached speeds of up to 45 kilometers per hour and was considered the main contender for victory. By the way, the first models of the Rocket, like the first models of other steam locomotives, did not pull the cars behind them, as is happening now, but pushed them. Nevertheless, it was the success of the "Rocket" that marked the beginning of the locomotive boom in Europe. Railways began to appear in England, France, Germany and Austria. Russia did not stand aside either. Emperor Nicholas I was a big fan of railway transport. In 1837, a 27-kilometer road was opened connecting Tsarskoye Selo and St. Petersburg. The engine that drove the train was purchased from George Stephenson. By the way, by that time Russia already had its own steam locomotive project. Father and son Cherepanovs designed a steam engine in the mid-1930s. She drove trains with ore and developed a speed of up to 15 kilometers per hour. However, the production of steam locomotives was established in Russia only in 1870. Prior to this, the Empire preferred to buy cars abroad. And yet, Russia has made a significant contribution to the development of railway transport. It was the Russian railway workers who proposed the concept of a sleeping car, where a passenger could live for several days or even a week. In 1924, a diesel locomotive was built for the first time in the Soviet Union. Over time, diesel locomotives replaced steam locomotives from railways around the world.

Opening of the Manchester-Liverpool railway. (wikipedia.org)

The construction of steam locomotives in the United States also developed rapidly. It is known that in some states the railways came even earlier than the local authorities. In the United States, before the start of the Civil War, the practice of locomotive racing was widely used. Such competitions helped inventors to identify the shortcomings of their new models and, at the same time, attracted public interest in the railways. In the 40s of the 19th century, about ten such competitions were held in the United States.