History of rail transport
Videos
The history of rail transport began before the common era. It can be divided into several discrete periods, defined by the principal track material and power used.
"Puffing Billy", the oldest surviving steam locomotive in the UK.
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.
Reisszug
Videos
The Reisszug is a private cable railway providing goods access to the Hohensalzburg Castle at Salzburg in Austria. It is notable for its extreme age, as it is believed to date back to 1460. A wall for
History of rail transport
…until at least the 1st century AD. Paved trackways were also later built in Roman Egypt. In 1515, Cardinal Matthäus Lang wrote a description of the Reisszug, a funicular railway at the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Austria. The line originally used wooden rails and a hemp haulage rope and was operated by human…
The Hohensalzburg Castle, with the lower route of the Reiszug picked out by two parallel vertical walls, whilst the gateways on the upper route can just be seen
The Reisszug car