Locomotion

Locomotion: Dan Snow’s History of Railways episode 3 – Dan Snow traces the development of Britain’s railways from the late 19th century to the outbreak of World War II. During this time the railways changed the economy profoundly. Over just 50 years, Britain’s railways grew from a handful of small lines carrying coal to the biggest industry in the strongest nation on the planet. A nation had built the railways and now those railways would build a nation, influencing working conditions for its employees, proving a valuable export across the globe and even changing warfare.       Yet the […]

Locomotion: Dan Snow’s History of Railways episode 2 – Dan Snow traces the development of Britain’s railways, from the beginnings of a true national network in the late 1830s through to the end of the ‘railway mania’ in 1847. In the late 1830s, the railways arrived in London and linked the capital to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. This was the start of a truly national network – and one of the greatest civil engineering projects in history.       The spread of the railways triggered a mania across Britain. Railway tycoons like Samuel Morton Peto and George Hudson made

Locomotion: Dan Snow’s History of Railways episode 1 – Dan Snow looks at how, from their beginnings as track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways developed into the pivotal technology for modern Britain. From their beginnings as a primitive system of track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways quickly developed into the driving force behind the industrial revolution and the pivotal technology for modern Britain, and a connected world.       Rapid industrial growth during the early 19th century, coupled with the prospect of vast profits, drove inventors and entrepreneurs to develop steam