Trains - When And Why

Have you ever been trying to solve a train puzzle and start wondering how long trains and railways have been around? Most people think of the railways as being invented only a couple hundred years ago. They actually had railways over 500 years ago. Back then railways were built in European mines to help move coal from one end of the mine to the other. Miners used wagons that had a metal pin on the bottom which was fitted between two wooden planks which allowed them to guide the wagons through the mines along these planks. The miners called these wagons "dogs" because of the noise they made. There were no engines, or even horses to push or pull the wagons along, the miners had to push them around themselves.

The first railway was built in Britain in 1604, but it was called a wagonway back then. It was made of wood, was only two miles long, and cost $166. Wooden railways started to spread throughout the country. During the 1700s and 1800s is when people began making them out of iron. The nice thing about iron railways is they could carry heavier loads. By this time people were getting tired of pushing these wagons so then they were pulled by horses instead of people. The trains in these train puzzles have come a long way since the old horse pulled trains. Do you think this is where they came up with horse power?