Editing Train (section)

=== Early history ===
[[File:Stockton & Darlington Railway (Brown via Getty Images).jpg|thumb|Stockton and Darlington special inaugural train 1825: six wagons of coal, directors coach, then people in wagons.]]
Trains are an evolution of wheeled wagons running on stone [[wagonway]]s, the earliest of which were built by [[Babylon]] circa 2,200 BCE.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=8}} Starting in the 1500s, wagonways were introduced to haul material from mines; from the 1790s, stronger iron rails were introduced.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=8}} Following early developments in the second half of the 1700s, in 1804 a steam locomotive built by British inventor [[Richard Trevithick]] powered the first ever steam train.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=9}} Outside of coal mines, where fuel was readily available, steam locomotives remained untried until the opening of the [[Stockton and Darlington Railway]] in 1825. British engineer [[George Stephenson]] ran a steam locomotive named [[Locomotion No. 1]] on this {{convert|25|mi|km|abbr=off|adj=on|sp=us|order=flip}} long line, hauling over 400 passengers at up to {{convert|8|mph|km/h|sp=us|order=flip}}. The success of this locomotive, and [[Stephenson's Rocket]] in 1829, convinced many of the value in steam locomotives, and within a decade the [[stock market bubble]] known as "[[Railway Mania]]" started across the United Kingdom.{{sfn|Herring|2000|pp=9-11}}
[[File:Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 Departing Las Vegas, NV, October 8th, 2019.jpg|thumb|The [[Union Pacific Big Boy]] locomotives represented the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology and power.]]
News of the success of steam locomotives quickly reached the [[History of rail transportation in the United States|United States]], where the first steam railroad opened in 1829.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=12}} American railroad pioneers soon started manufacturing their own locomotives, designed to handle the sharper curves and rougher track typical of the country's railroads.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=12-13}} The other nations of [[History of rail transport#Europe|Europe]] also took note of British railroad developments, and most countries on the continent constructed and opened their first railroads in the 1830s and 1840s, following the first run of a steam train in [[History of rail transport in France|France]] in late 1829.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=14-15}} In the 1850s, trains continued to expand across Europe, with many influenced by or purchases of American locomotive designs.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=14-15}} Other European countries pursued their own distinct designs. Around the world, steam locomotives grew larger and more powerful throughout the rest of the century as technology advanced.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=15}}

Trains first entered service in [[History of rail transport#Latin America|South America]], [[History of rail transport#Africa|Africa]], and [[History of rail transport#Asia|Asia]] through construction by [[Imperialism|imperial powers]], which starting in the 1840s built railroads to solidify control of their colonies and transport cargo for export.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=16-17}} In [[History of rail transport in Japan|Japan]], which was never colonized, railroads first arrived in the early 1870s. By 1900, railroads were operating on every continent besides uninhabited Antarctica.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=17}}