<P> The earliest railways employed horses to draw carts along railway tracks . In 1784, William Murdoch, a Scottish inventor, built a small - scale prototype of a steam road locomotive in Birmingham . A full - scale rail steam locomotive was proposed by William Reynolds around 1787 . An early working model of a steam rail locomotive was designed and constructed by steamboat pioneer John Fitch in the US during 1794 . His steam locomotive used interior bladed wheels guided by rails or tracks . The model still exists at the Ohio Historical Society Museum in Columbus . The authenticity and date of this locomotive is disputed by some experts and a workable steam train would have to await the invention of the high - pressure steam engine by Richard Trevithick, who pioneered the use of steam locomotives . </P> <P> The first full - scale working railway steam locomotive, was the 3 ft (914 mm) gauge Coalbrookdale Locomotive, built by Trevithick in 1802 . It was constructed for the Coalbrookdale ironworks in Shropshire in the United Kingdom though no record of it working there has survived . On 21 February 1804, the first recorded steam - hauled railway journey took place as another of Trevithick's locomotives hauled a train along the 4 ft 4 in (1,321 mm) tramway from the Pen - y - darren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil, to Abercynon in South Wales . Accompanied by Andrew Vivian, it ran with mixed success . The design incorporated a number of important innovations that included using high - pressure steam which reduced the weight of the engine and increased its efficiency . </P> <P> Trevithick visited the Newcastle area in 1804 and had a ready audience of colliery (coal mine) owners and engineers . The visit was so successful that the colliery railways in north - east England became the leading centre for experimentation and development of the steam locomotive . Trevithick continued his own steam propulsion experiments through another trio of locomotives, concluding with the Catch Me Who Can in 1808 . </P> <P> In 1812, Matthew Murray's successful twin - cylinder rack locomotive Salamanca first ran on the edge - railed rack - and - pinion Middleton Railway . Another well - known early locomotive was Puffing Billy, built 1813--14 by engineer William Hedley . It was intended to work on the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne . This locomotive is the oldest preserved, and is on static display in the Science Museum, London . George Stephenson built Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, north - east England, which was the first public steam railway in the world . In 1829, his son Robert built in Newcastle The Rocket which was entered in and won the Rainhill Trials . This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the UK, US and much of Europe . The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened a year later making exclusive use of steam power for passenger and goods trains . </P>

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