Steam Train Coloring Page

In 1804 a Cornish engineer named Richard Trevithick built the first steam locomotive to pull a load along rails. It hauled about 10 tons of iron and 70 men along 9 miles of track in Wales, at about walking pace. His engine was squat and strange, nothing like the locomotive in the picture.

Wagons on rails had been pulled by horses for years, so a machine that could do the job without one was a big surprise. Steam locomotives improved quickly, and by the 1830s railways were carrying people and goods between cities. Trains cut journeys from days to hours and helped towns grow along the tracks.