1st Railroad in North AmericaThe first railroad in North America — the Baltimore & Ohio — is chartered by Baltimore merchants.
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The Middleton Railway in Leeds, which was built in 1758, later became the world's oldest operational railway (other than funiculars), albeit now in an upgraded form.
Much of the growth can be attributed to the building of the transcontinental railroads. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which authorized the construction of a transcontinental railroad. The first such railroad was completed on May 10, 1869.
The railroad was first developed in Great Britain. A man named George Stephenson successfully applied the steam technology of the day and created the world's first successful locomotive.
Railways were introduced in England in the seventeenth century as a way to reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first North American gravity road, as it was called, was erected in 1764 for military purposes at the Niagara portage in Lewiston, New York.
The first to be chartered and built was the Granite Railway of Massachusetts, which ran approximately three miles (1826). The first regular carrier of passengers and freight was the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, completed on February 28, 1827.
John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. In 1826 Stevens demonstrated the feasibility of steam locomotion on a circular experimental track constructed on his estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, three years before George Stephenson perfected a practical steam locomotive in England.
The Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest operating railroad in the United States. Founded in 1832, it is known as a short line and is only seven kilometers long. Short lines connected passengers and goods to a main line that traveled to bigger cities.
The Metropolitan line is the oldest underground railway in the world. The Metropolitan Railway opened in January 1863 and was an immediate success, though its construction took nearly two years and caused huge disruption in the streets.
Boston, MA, opened the nation's first underground, electric subway line on September 1, 1897. along a route known as the Tremont Street Subway in the heart of the city.
Puffing Billy is the world's oldest surviving steam locomotive, constructed in 1813–1814 by colliery viewer William Hedley, enginewright Jonathan Forster and blacksmith Timothy Hackworth for Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne, in the United Kingdom.
While much of the original transcontinental railroad tracks are still in use, the complete, intact line fell out of operation in 1904, when a shorter route bypassed Promontory Summit.
Jay Gould Infamous for manipulating stock, Jay Gould was the most notoriously corrupt railroad owner. He became involved in the budding railroad industry in New York during the Civil War, and in 1867 became a director of the Erie Railroad.