- Easier - A
railroad is a system of transport made up of trains,
tracks, stations, and other equipment. Because
railroads can carry large cargo over great distances
in a single trip, they use less fuel and produce less
pollution than cars and trucks.
- Harder - A
train is a group of connected railroad cars that are
powered by steam, diesel fuel, or electricity. A
locomotive is normally the engine car out front. A
caboose is the car that is usually last. Other cars
may carry freight or people.
- A train runs on a railway or a path of rails.
Traditionally, the railway contains a pair of parallel
metal rails. There are enough tracks in the world to
circle the earth more than 100 times. Switches are
intersections that move trains from one stretch of
track to another. The places where railways and roads
cross are very dangerous. There are many accidents
every year at railroad crossings.
- The ancient Greeks thought of the idea for a
railroad. They used deep grooves in the ground to move
heavy wagons. By the 15th century, Europeans used
hand-carts on wooden rails.
- The first modern railroads were built over 150
years ago. The first stream locomotive was built in
England by Richard Trevithick in 1803. The 1800 mile
transcontinental railroad linked the east and west
coast of the United States in 1869. The Central
Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met in Promontory
Point, Utah. A ceremony used a golden spike to link
the two tracks. The east and west coasts were linked
again in the late 1880s with the completion of the
Canadian transcontinental railroad. In 1904, the
longest railway at 5,787 miles was completed in
- The Native Americans called the train an 'iron
horse.' Many small towns evolved along the railroads
causing increased tension in the American west. Trains
opened North America from coast to coast across both
the United States and Canada. They also linked land
masses in other parts of the world. Trains allowed the
quick movement of large numbers of people and products
over large distances. Trains also dramatically
increased the speed of communication.
- Today, there are many types of trains. For
example, San Francisco is known for their historic
cable cars. Many cities contain underground systems
called subways trains.
- Because they are so fuel efficient, some people
think that trains are the transportation of the
future. For example, Japan has a high speed train
powered by magnetic force, and France has a high-speed
train powered by electricity. Others think that
railroads are dying as the tracks and trains are being
replaced by airplanes and trucks.
Science and Technology Museum: Trains
- Explore common questions about stream engines
including: What is a steam train? What part of the
train makes it move? What is a steam locomotive? What
are the parts of a steam locomotive? What makes the
locomotive wheels turn? What is a railway track? Why
does a locomotive stay on the rail? How does a steam
locomotive work? Who makes the train go? What tasks
does the train crew perform?
- Within This Website:
- 2) Steamin': Information for Teachers
- Other Canadian Railway Websites:
- 3) Dates in Canadian Railway History http://infoweb.magi.com/~churcher/candate/candate.htm
- 4) Railways of Canada Archives http://www.trainweb.org/canadianrailways/index.html
- Take a virtual tour of the world's largest
railroad museum located in the United Kingdom. This
site contains excellent online exhibits on the topics
of railroad photography, railroad posters, and
roadroad art. They also have a nice links list.
- Other Websites from Europe:
- 2) Harcourt St. Line (Ireland) http://www.stmaryscollegecssp.ie/harcourt/
- 3) Railways of the 19th Century http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/railways.htm
Technology - Current Projects
- Explore current railway projects around the world
including high speed railways, light rail systems,
heavy railways, and metro systems. The website
contains links to hundreds of current railroad
projects including background information, maps, and
other information about the projects.
Rails and Iron Horses by C. Barna, R. Brook
and E. Reiben from the Bureau of Land
- A detailed history of the railroad industry in the
United States is available here. This website also
contains classroom activities. It also provides a nice
page on the transcontinental railroad.
- More U.S. Transcontinental Railroad
- 2) Driving the Last Spike from the Museum of
the City of San Francisco http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/rail.html
- 3) First American Transcontinental Railroad
- 4) Iron Road at PBS American Experience http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/iron/index.html
- 5) Leland Stanford (1824-1893) at PBS: People
in the West http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/wpages/wpgs400/w4stanfd.htm
- 6) Leland Stanford
- 7) Taming the Web Lesson http://historychannel.com/classroom/guides/rrtame.html
- 8) Transcontinental Railroad Lesson http://historychannel.com/classroom/guides/railroad.html
- Using the websites, complete the
- Have Some Fun With Trains.
(Pre-school-Grade 2) Read a simple page on
Click on over to the Fun
with Trains site. Here come three
different trains. See what you can see
that is different. You can also print out
and color some trains at My
Trains Coloring Book. Learn about a
train named Thomas.
Hold a train
- Send an Electronic Post Card.
Check out historic
railroad station postcards. Choose an
electronic post card from My
Trains.com. Write to your pal about
- Create a Diagram. Compare and
contrast modern locomotives and steam
locomotives. Create a Venn diagram showing
the similarities and differences.
- Make a Map. Explore the
railroad maps of the United States.
Select an area and create your own
- Plan a Trip. Many people ride
the Amtrak railroad. Where would you like
to visit? Plan a trip. Use the planning
information at the Amtrak
- Design a "Rail-to-Trail Park".
Visit the Rails-to-Trails
website. Many old railroad lines have been
turned into walking, hiking, and biking
trails. Choose a railroad anywhere in the
world that you think would make a good
trail. How long would the trail be? What
would people see on the trail? Do you
think the park project is a good
- Nominate a Railroad Hero. Read
about the people who owned and built the
railroads. Select the person you think
made the biggest contribution to railroad
history. Create a special stamp for that
person along with a letter stating why the
stamp should be made.
- Highball a Story. The railroad
has lots of slang words such as "bee
line". Read the list
of slang. Write a historic story that
includes railroad slang.
- Relive the Depression-era
Railroads. The railroads played an
important role in the Depression. Many
people "rode the rails" in search of jobs.
The railroad jobs were difficult to get.
Check out the salary
of a railroad worker in the Depression.
Then, find out about the cost of living.
Could you live on the salary of a railroad
worker? Use the Then
and Now chart for prices.
- Make a Timeline. Create a
timeline comparing US and Canadian
railroad history. Now, read about the
Railway. Compare it to the
transcontinental railroad in the US or
- Read about Chinese Railroad
Workers. Who built the
transcontinental railroad? Read the book
Dragon's Gate by Laurence Yep to
learn more about the Chinese workers.
Learn more at Chinese
- Trace the Role of Women. Women
have played an interesting role in
railroad history. Learn about the roles
women played during World
War I and II in England. Learn about
the roles of women on railroads in the
- Ride the Orphan Train. Learn
about the Orphan
Trains. Write a story about what it
was like to be a child on an orphan
- Make a Mural. Create a wall
mural running along a hallway. Each car
should represent something that often
moves by rail. Create a map showing the
current, popular rail lines in North
- Picture the Railroad. Use the
Clipart Collection to identify images
that represent different aspects of
railroad history. Explore FreePhotos:
Stream, and FreePhotos:
WorldWide, and Conrail
Cyclopedia for photographs. Create a
collage showing some aspect of the
railroad industry in the past, present, or
- Design a Railroad Herald. Each
railroad has its own logo. Explore
heralds. List characteristics of these
heralds. For example, do they tell you
about the name of the railroad or place
that they originate? Then, invent your own
railroad and design a herald. Explain why
you create the design you made.
- Create a Railroad Station.
Learn to read a railroad
schedules. Create your own train, rail
line and schedule. Create a rail station
in your classroom. Design railroad posters
for your station.
- Explore a Subway. There are
subways around the world. Choose a subway
from the map
and learn more about the city that
contains this form of transportation.
- Demonstrate How Trains Work.
How do trains work? Read about How
Steam Engines Work and How
the Maglev Train Works. Create a
series of posters or a slide show
reviewing how a train works.
- Create a Railroad Quiz. Read
Life Saver, Rail
on Safety, and Safety
Resources. Create a short skit or
speech to tell younger children about the
importance of railroad safety. Or, create
a short video about driving safety and
- Send a Train. Locate a railroad
track near your school. Send a toy train
from school to school along the railway.
Each school should write in a journal
about the train and their community. Share
your experiences on the Internet.
- Take a Train Quiz. What do you
know about trains? Read the page about
Create a list of things you remember. Now,
take the Advanced
Train Quiz, Intermediate
Train Quiz, or Beginner
Train Quiz. Now, read the Train
Era page and take the quiz.
- Complete a Railroad WebQuest.
Use or adapt the following webquest:
- 1) Transcontinental Railroad Quest
(Grade 8) http://www.scps.k12.fl.us/curriculum/technology/wq2000web/Jefferson/railroad.htm
- Websites By Kids For Kids
with West Was Sung (ThinkQuest)
- This project discusses trains, the
transcontinental roadroad, and Promontory, Utah
- More Railroad Sites
- This site focuses on the role of the railroads in
protecting, promoting, and selling Yellowstone and
Yosemite National Parks.
Railroad Women Research Project
- Learn about the roles that women have played on
the railroad through history.
- Other Women and Railroad Sites:
- 2) Railway Women in Wartime
- This museum is dedicated to the preservation and
interpretation of American railroading through the
history and storiesof the B&O Railroad, the
C&O Railway, the Western Maryland Railway, and the
railroads of the mid-Atlantic region.
- Other Railroad Museums:
- 2) California State Railroad Museum http://www.csrmf.org/history.html
- 3) History of the Railway http://www.jaam.ee/eng/history.rw.1.php
- Central Pacific
- The Central Pacific Railroad website contains
resources and links to the western half of the
- Related Website:
- 2) Central Pacific Railroad History http://www.tahoenet.com/tdhs/tpcprr.html
- 3) Central Pacific Railroad
. . .
Transformed by B. Dreyfus
- This article is about railroads and their
influence on the growth of Chicago in the 1850s.
- This site provides a collection of train clip art
featuring railroad signs, rolling stock (cars),
railroaders, and railroad structures. You can also
find pictures of steam, diesel, traction, and electric
engines and locomotives.
- Related Railroad Image Websites:
- 2) 30 Years of Railroading with the Great Northern
- 3) Steam Locomotives and Other Railroad Images by
K. Teague http://www.retroweb.com/steamtrains.html
Ahead: Historic Railway Disasters
- This website contains examples of railway
disasters of the past and present.
Railroad Administration of the U.S.
Department of Transportation
- This comprehensive site contains a wide variety of
railway information for the United States and the
- Not To Be Missed Section:
- 2) Education, Career Development, and Safety
Facts about Railroads at the Kids
Corner of the Railroad Retirement
- Here you can learn some fun facts about railroads
including Depression-era information, railroad
nicknames, and slogans. The site also has railroad
maps and other information.
Stephenson 1781 - 1848 at BBC
- Examine the biography and timeline for this
inventor and creator of the railway system.
- Related Websites:
- 2) George Stephenson http://www.woodberry.org/acad/hist/irwww/Transportation/Biography/George_Stephenson.htm
- 3) George Stephenson: Father of Railway
Transportation at the Estonian Railway Museum
- Golden Spike
National Historic Park
- This National Historic Parks contains information
about the completion of the world's first
transcontinental railroad. It occurred at the park
location where the Central Pacific and Union Pacific
Railroads met on May 10, 1869.
- Other US National Parks and Historic Sites
Related to Trains:
- 2) Allegheny Portage Railroad http://www.nps.gov/alpo/
- 3) Mojave National Preserve http://www.nps.gov/moja/mojahtrr.htm
- This page provides information about the history
of the railroad in the United States.
- Other Pages a Website:
- 2) Railroad http://historychannel.com/perl/print_book.pl?ID=26115
Steam Engines Work by M. Brain at How Stuff
- This article describes how steam engines in
- Other Railroad Sites at How Stuff
- 2) How Maglev Trains Will Work by K. Bonser
J. Hill by C. Muller
- Unlike other railroad builders such as
CorneliusVanderbilt who built their railroads around a
population, Hill built a population around his
American Railroad Terminal
- This site houses the North American Tourist
Railroad and Railroad Museum directory. Find the sites
that are near you!
Trains at PBS American Experience
- Read about the trains that carried orphaned and
neglected children from cities in the northeast to the
midwest. Includes a transcript from the PBS show.
- Other Websites about the Orphan
- 2) Iowa Orphan Train Project http://www.maquoketa.k12.ia.us/orphan_train.html
- 3) Orphan Trains http://www.outfitters.com/~melissa/ot/ot.html
- 4) Orphan Trains of Kansas
- 5) They Rode the Orphan Trains http://www.rootsweb.com/~mogrundy/orphans.html
Center of the Nation (Student essay at
- The nation network of railroads laid from 1848
through the Civil War, and the steam powered
locomotives that traversed them, supplied Chicago with
vast new markets, resources, and people who quickly
transformed it from a quiet Frontier village into a
highly populated industrial powerhouse.
History at the National Railroad
Museum, Green Bay, WI
- Exploring Americas railroad heritage with museums,
collections and exhibits about the railroad.
- Another Railroad History Websites:
- 2) Train Era at Transportation and Public Transit
Maps: 1828-1900 at American Memory,
Library of Congress
- This railroad maps collection represents an
important historical record, illustrating the growth
of travel and settlement as well as the development of
industry and agriculture in the United States.
- Related Website:
- 2) 1891 Grain Dealers and Shippers Gazetteer
(Railroad maps index) http://www.livgenmi.com/1891shippersgazindex.htm
the Rails from PBS American
- Learn about the lives of teen hobos who traveled
around the country by hopping freight trains during
- More Hobo Websites:
- 2) Hobo Jungle http://www.2ndarmoredhellonwheels.com/hobo-jungle.html
- 3) Hobo Signs & Symbols http://www.slackaction.com/signroll.htm
- 4) The Road (Online novel by Jack London)
Invention and History
- Explore links to information about the history of
railroad invention and history.
Safety from the Railroad Commission of
- This site is devoted to crossing safety education.
Find information in three sections: (1) Highway-Rail
Grade Crossing Safety, (2) Railroad Pedestrian Safety,
and (3) School Bus Safety .
- Other Railroad Safety WebSites:
- 2) Operation Lifesaver http://www.ol-og-canada.org/princ/home2.html
from PBS American Experience
- Visit the companion site to this PBS show; site
includes a timeline, film summary, and a photo
- Related Website:
- 2) Pioneer Zephr from Museum of Science and
Industry, Chicago http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/zephyr/
the Tank Engine
- Thomas the Tank Engine is a popular story.
- Other Thomas Train Websites:
- 2) Drew's http://www.iglobal.com/Drew/
- Find tons of news and info here about model
trains, real trains, plus rail travel and safety. Take
a look at the web cams too!
Pacific Railroad History
- Learn all about the rich history of this railroad,
its equipment, locations, important people, and
- Not To Be Missed Sections:
- 2) It's Just Railroad Talk http://www.uprr.com/uprr/ffh/rrtalk/
- 3) Union Pacific Railroad Photo Gallery http://www.uprr.com/uprr/ffh/photos/
- This simple page contains basic information about
trains. The page also links to a quiz.
- Other Easy-to-Read Train Pages:
- 2) Beginner Level Train http://wings.ucdavis.edu/Book/Vehicles/beginner/trains-01.html
- 3) Train Era http://www.transitpeople.org/lesson/train.htm
and Hypertext Railroad Company by C.
- It is neither a real company nor a real railroad,
rather it is a site for the archiving of historical
and informational documents and binaries concerning
railroads, railfanning, and model railroading.
- Websites For Teachers
Tennessee: Train Town
- Explore information and lessons related to
historic train stations and towns.
- Learn about the role Chinese people played in
constructing the transcontinental railroad.
Channel: Lesson Plans: Railroad (Grades
. . .
- Explore the historical role of trains. The lesson
also compares that costs of different methods of
5 Train Trip
- This lesson involves students in math and planning
a train trip.
in Antebellum Augusta and Franklin
- This lesson focuses on historical documents and
railroads in the 1800s.
Promotory Point, UT
high speed railway
- Created by
2/01. Updated by King