History of trains

On February 21, 1804, British mining engineer, inventor and explorer Richard Trevithick debuted the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive in the Welsh mining town of Merthyr Tydfil. Following that debut, locomotives have been powered by a myriad of fuels, including wood and coal.

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Regular, scheduled steam train operations officially ended in most Western countries between the 1960s and early 1980s, largely replaced by diesel and electric power. In New Zealand, the last scheduled steam service ran on October 25, 1971, while in the US, major steam operations ceased in the late 1950s, with some private industrial use continuing into 1980.

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