Rail transport is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road transport. It is used for about 8% of passenger and freight transport globally, thanks to its energy efficiency and potentially high speed.
1604 (MDCIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1604th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 604th year of the 2nd millennium, the 4th year of the 17th century, and the 5th year of the 1600s decade. As of the start of 1604, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.
Wagonways, also known as horse-drawn railways and horse-drawn railroad consisted of the horses, equipment and tracks used for hauling wagons, which preceded steam-powered railways. The terms plateway, tramway, dramway, were used. The advantage of wagonways was that far bigger loads could be transported with the same power.
The history of rail transport began before the beginning of the common era. It can be divided into several discrete periods defined by the principal means of track material and motive power used.
The year 1604 in science and technology involved some significant events.
Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuildings. The surrounding parkland has a herd of deer, and is regularly used for large-scale outdoor events such as rock concerts, sporting events and festivals.
Broseley is a market town in Shropshire, England, with a population of 4,929 at the 2011 Census and an estimate of 5,022 in 2019. The River Severn flows to its north and east. The first iron bridge in the world was built in 1779 across the Severn, linking Broseley with Coalbrookdale and Madeley. This contributed to the early industrial development in the Ironbridge Gorge, which is now part of a World Heritage Site.
Wollaton is a suburb and former civil parish in the western part of Nottingham, in the Nottingham district, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Wollaton has two wards in the City of Nottingham, with a total population of 24,693 at the 2011 census. It is home to Wollaton Hall, with its museum, deer park, lake, walks and golf course.
A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later.
Strelley is a village and former civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe and City of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It is to the west of Nottingham. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 653, and 496 at the 2021 census. It is also the name of the nearby post war council housing estate. The village lies mainly in the Broxtowe district with a small portion crossing over into the city administrative area, whilst the estate is fully contained in the city of Nottingham. The village is separated from the housing estate by the A6002 road.
Aspley is a council estate and a ward of the city of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. It is located within the boundaries of Nottingham City Council. The ward is located 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Nottingham City Centre and is located only 1.6 miles west of Junction 26 of the M1. It lies south of Bulwell, west of Basford and is north of Bilborough. The principal road in the ward is the A610. At the 2001 Census the ward had a population of 15,689, increasing to 17,622 at the 2011 census.
Jackfield is a village in the Telford and Wrekin borough of Shropshire, England, lying on the south bank of River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, downstream from Ironbridge. Like many of the settlements in the area, it is notable for its place in the Industrial Revolution.
Huntingdon Beaumont (c.1560–1624) was an English coal mining entrepreneur who built two of the earliest wagonways in England for trans-shipment of coal. He was less successful as a businessman and died having been imprisoned for debt.
Sir Percival Willoughby of Wollaton Hall, Nottinghamshire was a prominent land owner, businessman, and entrepreneur involved during his lifetime variously in mining, iron smelting, and glass making enterprises in Nottinghamshire. He was also an important investor in the Newfoundland Company.
The history of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830 covers the period up to the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the world's first intercity passenger railway operated solely by steam locomotives. The earliest form of railways, horse-drawn wagonways, originated in Germany in the 16th century. Soon wagonways were also built in Britain. However, the first use of steam locomotives was in Wales. The invention of wrought iron rails, together with Richard Trevithick's pioneering steam locomotive meant that Britain had the first modern railways in the world.
The Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway was an early waggonway, possibly the first in Scotland, opened in 1722. It was 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) miles long and connected coal pits at Tranent with the salt pans at Cockenzie and harbour at Port Seton in East Lothian, Scotland. The track was wooden, and wagons were drawn by horses. The Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 was fought across the line.
Sir Francis Willoughby (1546/7–1596) was an English industrialist and coalowner, who built Wollaton Hall in Nottinghamshire.
A mine railway, sometimes pit railway, is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and overburden. It is little remembered, but the mix of heavy and bulky materials which had to be hauled into and out of mines gave rise to the first several generations of railways, at first made of wooden rails, but eventually adding protective iron, steam locomotion by fixed engines and the earliest commercial steam locomotives, all in and around the works around mines.
This article lists events relating to rail transport that occurred during the 1720s.
