The Expansion of the Railways

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The Expansion of the Railways
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Aims

• Examine how the railway system developed in
  Britain in the 19th century (1800s).

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• With the development of industry in Britain such
  as coal mining there was a growing need for an
  efficient and fast way system of transport.
• A nationwide transport system would allow the
  transportation of goods and people.
• This led to the development of the railways.

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James Watt

• In 1765 James Watt invented the modern steam
  engine.
• By 1803 Richard Trevithick designed the first
  locomotive a vehicle powered by steam but it
  was designed for the road.

Richard Trevithick
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• George Stephenson is called the Father of the
  Railways and he launched rail transport in
  September 1825.
• He adapted Trevithicks invention to travel on
  iron rails.
• His Locomotion ran from Darlington to Stockton
  carrying 450 people at 15mph.
• This first railway line connect various
  collieries (coal mines)

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The Locomotion

• Note the horse walking in front of the train!

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Railway Mania

• Gradually trains became faster and the craze for
  building railway lines increased dramatically.
  This was railway mania.
• The first public railway line opened in Scotland
  in 1826 between Monklands and Kirkintilloch in
  the central belt.
• Over the next 40 years a network of railways
  spread across the whole country.

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• Once goods had travelled by train, canals were
  used to
• transport them to the major cities of Glasgow and
  
• Edinburgh. This cut down journey times by over a
  
• week.

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Tasks

1. Copy the keywords into your glossary.
2. Complete Task 17 and 18 q1-2 from your work
   guide.
3. Copy the table from page 43 of your textbook into
   your jotter and include a note below which
   explains what the figures tell us about the
   building of railways in Britain.
4. Now go onto the Letter Task about Reactions to
   the Railways