ABSTRACT
Although the principal developments occurred after 1830, when the success of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway demonstrated the potential for railway transport linked with steam traction, progress made before this time should not be ignored. The Railway Age would never have blossomed without the technical advances made during the early decades of the nineteenth century and it is evident that in many cases the pre-1830 railways influenced the layout of the lines built for locomotivehauled long-distance trains. I They also contributed to a developing fund of expertise on railway engineering through the building of a permanent way (including bridging, culverting and tunnelling) as weil as incline engines, locomotives and rolling stock.2 Moreover, the early railways played an important economic role in allowing the Industrial Revolution to gather momentum and in some cases they continued to operate into the twentieth century.3 This was achieved through the bulk transport of minerals (mainly coal, limestone and ores) and iron goods in areas beyond the limits of both inland waterways and coastal shipping. The early railways did not comprise integrated systems: rather they were important accessories to the navigations in pI aces where the cost of extending a canal was prohibitive for reasons of difficult terrain or limited traffic.
