Early trains had "fire", which was the beeping and smoking steam locomotives we saw in movies and TV series. In 1804, the world's first steam locomotive was born. Because coal or firewood was used as fuel at that time, people called it "train", and it has been used ever since.
The origin of trains can be traced back to the middle of the Middle Ages in Europe. The Renaissance opened up Europeans’ exploration of efficient productivity, and the mining industry, as an ancient industry, set a precedent for improving efficiency. In European countries In the mining areas, smart Europeans discovered that horses pulling wooden-wheeled mine carts on narrow-gauge wooden tracks were faster and more efficient than running on dirt roads.
With the advancement of the industrial revolution and the improvement of steel production technology, it became possible for the wooden rails in various mining areas to be replaced by cast iron rails. In 1881, the Germans invented the electric locomotive. In 1912, diesel locomotives also appeared in Germany.
Later, as the technical performance of these two types of locomotives continued to improve, their costs continued to decline. In contrast, the shortcomings of steam locomotives such as serious pollution and loud noise are becoming more and more prominent. Due to these shortcomings, steam locomotives gradually withdrew from railways and were replaced by diesel locomotives and electric locomotives.
Extended information:
In 1781, train pioneer George Stephenson was born in a British miner family. Until the age of 18, he was still illiterate. He ignored the ridicule of others and sat in class with seven or eight-year-old children to study. In 1810, he began building steam locomotives.
In 1817, when Stephenson decided that he would preside over the construction of a railway line from Liverpool to Manchester that would be completely transported by steam locomotives, trains began to run on the stage of human history.
In 1804, a British mining technician named Drivesque first used Watt's steam engine to build the world's first steam locomotive. This is a single-cylinder steam engine that can pull 5 carriages. Its speed is 5 to 6 kilometers per hour. The real steam locomotive or train was invented by Stephenson (also translated as George Stephenson).
Because this kind of car used coal or firewood as fuel at that time, people called it "train", and this name is still used today.
The earliest coal-fired steam locomotives to use coal-fired steam power had a big disadvantage, which was that facilities for adding coal and water had to be installed along the railway line, and a lot of time was spent adding coal to the locomotives during operation. and water. These are very uneconomical. At the end of the 19th century, many scientists turned to electric and fuel locomotives.
The world's first steam train that actually ran on rails was designed by Cornish engineer Charles Rivithick. Its train has four power wheels. It was tested on February 22, 1840. When empty, the speed is 20 kilometers per hour, and when loaded, the speed is 8 kilometers per hour (equivalent to the speed of a person walking quickly).
In 1879, the German Siemens Electric Company developed the first electric locomotive, which weighed about 954 kilograms and was only performed once at a Berlin trade fair. On October 27, 1903, the first practical electric locomotive developed by Siemens and General Electric was put into use.
Fuel locomotive In 1894, Germany successfully developed the first gasoline internal combustion locomotive. And applied it to railway transportation, creating a new era of diesel locomotives. However, this kind of locomotive burns gasoline, which is too expensive and difficult to promote.
In 1924, Germany, the United States, France and other countries successfully developed diesel internal combustion locomotives, which were widely used in the world. In 1941, Switzerland successfully developed a new type of fuel steam turbine locomotive, using diesel as fuel. It has a simple structure, small vibration and good operating performance, so it is widely used in industrial countries.
Since the 2010s, various countries have vigorously developed high-speed trains. For example, the high-speed train from Paris to Lyon in France has a speed of 300 kilometers per hour; the high-speed train from Tokyo to Morioka in Japan has a speed of more than 250 kilometers per hour. People are still greedy and dissatisfied with such high-speed trains. France, Germany and other countries took the lead in developing maglev trains.
China has also built the world's first commercial maglev train line in Shanghai. The line from Longyang Road Station to Pudong Airport has been losing hundreds of millions of yuan every year. This kind of train is suspended above the track and can reach a maximum speed of 400-500 kilometers per hour but consumes huge amounts of energy and radiation.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Train