railroad

Introduction

railroad or railway, form of transportation most commonly consisting of steel rails, called tracks, on which trains of freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock are drawn by one locomotive or more. However, there are other types of railways, including those whose units consist of single self-propelled cars, cable-drawn railways used to ascend steep grades, and monorails whose cars are usually propelled along a single rail.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
High-Speed Passenger Service
Railroads in Other Countries
Amtrak
Decline and Revival
Abuses and Regulation
Technological Innovations
An Era of Rapid Expansion
The Early Nineteenth Century
Early Railroads
Bibliography

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