Railroads were a major factor in the forming of our United States as we know them. Let's learn some history! And please think about your ancestor's timeline fitting into these bits.
* The first railroad in the U.S. was a short track of wooden rails built in 1795 at Boston and was operated by horsepower. :-)
* Along with horsepower, the early railroads were powered by the use of sails and a horse walking on a treadmill aboard the train. Steam soon made all that obsolete.
*In 1815, the first railroad was chartered to run between New Brunswick and Trenton, New Jersey
* Steam power was a major force for railroad locomotion until the 1950s when most U.S. railroads shifted to diesel-electric engines.
* Early rails were built of wood with strips of iron attached on the top. By 1850, most track was made of iron and soon of steel.
* Andrew Jackson was the first U.S. president to travel by rail; he went 13 miles in 1833.
* The greatest period of growth for U.S. railroads was during the country's westward expansion, especially during the 1870s and 1880s.
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