Train travel before the TGV

Book cover courtesy Douglas & McIntyre

If you are a fan of train travel and railway technology, you are going to like Derek Hayes' book — Historical Atlas of Early Railways.

Mr. Hayes describes how train travel evolved from the first railways —which were simply ruts in the earth dug by carts passing over soft ground — pushed or pulled by humans — to the use of horses, wooden rails, iron rails, steam and electricity to move people and goods from one place to another.

The book details how railways evolved throughout Britain and continental Europe as well as the colonies.

Canada’s first railway — a portage line from the Richelieu River at St. Jean sur Richelieu to the St. Lawrence River at La Prairie (near Montreal) was opened in 1836 and was 24 kilometres (15 miles) long.

A replica of the first steam locomotive in Canada — the Dorchester — is on display at the Canadian Railway Museum in Montreal. 

Historical Atlas of Early Railways is a visually-rich coffee table book containing 770 photographs, maps and illustrations.