<P> "A good horse on an ordinary turnpike road can draw two thousand pounds, or one ton . A party of gentlemen were invited to witness the experiment, that the superiority of the new road might be established by ocular demonstration . Twelve wagons were loaded with stones, till each wagon weighed three tons, and the wagons were fastened together . A horse was then attached, which drew the wagons with ease, six miles in two hours, having stopped four times, in order to show he had the power of starting, as well as drawing his great load ." </P> <P> Railways were made practical by the widespread introduction of inexpensive puddled iron after 1800, the rolling mill for making rails, and the development of the high - pressure steam engine also around 1800 . </P> <P> Wagonways for moving coal in the mining areas had started in the 17th century and were often associated with canal or river systems for the further movement of coal . These were all horse drawn or relied on gravity, with a stationary steam engine to haul the wagons back to the top of the incline . The first applications of the steam locomotive were on wagon or plate ways (as they were then often called from the cast - iron plates used). Horse - drawn public railways did not begin until the early years of the 19th century when improvements to pig and wrought iron production were lowering costs . See: Metallurgy </P> <P> Steam locomotives began being built after the introduction of high - pressure steam engines after the expiration of the Boulton and Watt patent in 1800 . High - pressure engines exhausted used steam to the atmosphere, doing away with the condenser and cooling water . They were also much lighter weight and smaller in size for a given horsepower than the stationary condensing engines . A few of these early locomotives were used in mines . Steam - hauled public railways began with the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 . </P>

The industrial revolution took place in england during