<P> The success of some of the early canals led to a canal building boom, during which work began on many canals which would prove to be financially unsuccessful . As the canal boom was underway in the late 1820s, a small number of horse railways were being built . These were quickly followed by the first steam railways in the 1830s . </P> <P> In 1780 the United States had three major steam engines, all of which were used for pumping water: two in mines and one for New York City's water supply . Most power in the U.S. was supplied by water wheels and water turbines after their introduction in 1840 . By 1807 when the North River Steamboat (unofficially called Clermont) first sailed, there were estimated to be fewer than a dozen steam engines operating in the U.S. Steam power did not overtake water power until sometime after 1850 . </P> <P> Oliver Evans began developing a high pressure steam engine that was more practical than the engine developed around the same time by Richard Trevithick in England . The high pressure engine did away with the separate condenser and thus did not require cooling water . It also had a higher power to weight ratio, making it suitable for powering steamboats and locomotives . Evans produced a few custom steam engines from 1801 to 1806, when he opened the Mars Works foundry and factory near Philadelphia, where he produced additional engines . In 1812 he produced his successful Colombian engine at Mars . As his business grew and orders were being shipped inland, Evans and a partner formed the Pittsburgh Steam Engine Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania . Steam engines soon became common in public water supply, sawmills and flour milling, especially in areas with little or no water power . </P> <P> In 1828 Paul Moody substituted leather belting for gearing in mills . Leather belting from line shafts was the common way to distribute power from steam engines and water turbines in mills and factories . In the factory boom of the late 19th century it was common for large factories the have many miles of line shafts . Leather belting continued in use until it was displaced by unit drive electric motors in the early decades of the 20th century . </P>

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