History of rail transport
The history of rail transport began before the beginning of the common era. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used.
The British Salamanca locomotive, 1812
Salzburg's Reisszug, as it appears today
Minecart shown in De Re Metallica (1556). The guide pin fits in a groove between two wooden planks.
A replica of a "Little Eaton Tramway" wagon, the tracks are plateways.
The Diolkos was a paved trackway near Corinth in Ancient Greece which enabled boats to be moved overland across the Isthmus of Corinth. The shortcut allowed ancient vessels to avoid the long and dangerous circumnavigation of the Peloponnese peninsula. The phrase "as fast as a Corinthian", penned by the comic playwright Aristophanes, indicates that the trackway was common knowledge and had acquired a reputation for swiftness.
The Isthmus with the Canal of Corinth close to where the diolkos ran.
Excavated western end close to the Gulf of Corinth
Mooring place
Image of a ship on Attic black-figure pottery (c. 520 BC). This is the sort of boat that the Diolkos may have transported in Periander's time.