Trains & Railroads Trivia

Railroads did something almost nothing before them had managed: they shrank continents. A journey that once took months by wagon could suddenly be measured in days, and the technology behind it, from steam pistons to air brakes, became one of the defining engineering stories of the 19th century.

Building the Iron Road

The joining of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads at Promontory Summit in 1869 was as much a triumph of labor as of engineering. Chinese immigrant workers blasted and graded the brutal Sierra Nevada crossings for the Central Pacific, while Irish immigrant crews pushed the Union Pacific's line westward across the plains, often racing each other for mileage bonuses.

• The Golden Spike ceremony connected rail lines built from two directions at once.
• Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway used a wider track gauge than most of Britain's other lines.
• Narrow-gauge railways became popular in mountainous terrain because tighter curves were easier to build.

Speed, Safety, and Legendary Engines

As railroads matured, speed records became a point of national pride, and the British locomotive Mallard still holds the record for the fastest steam engine ever built. Safety caught up too: George Westinghouse's air brake, patented in 1869, let an entire train stop at once instead of car by car, saving countless lives.