I read “Early Railways” by J.B. Snell this week. I received the book as a gift 40 years ago or so, and I wondered if reading it would entail history I know well, so I was pleased when I found facts that intrigued me on the first page. 1. The Greeks made ruts in rocks in which they ran wagons. 2. Railroads at the start of the Industrial Revolution started as an extension of horse-drawn coal mine tracks in England, and it was a natural next step to extend the tracks to the dock at the rivers, followed by development of stationary steam engines and conversion of those engines to motive power.

This photo shows stone supports instead of wooden ties in Britain.