16) Toy Train

 TRAIN

The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive was built in the United Kingdom in 1804 by Richard Trevithick, an English engineer born in Cornwall. (The story goes that it was constructed to satisfy a bet by Samuel Homfray, the local iron master.)

James Watt, a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer, was responsible for improvements to the steam engine of Thomas Newcomen, hitherto used to pump water out of mines. Watt developed a reciprocating engine, capable of powering a wheel. Although the Watt engine powered cotton mills and a variety of machinery, it was a large stationary engine. It could not be otherwise: the state of boiler technology necessitated the use of low pressure steam acting upon a vacuum in the cylinder; this required a separate condenser and an air pump. Nevertheless, as the construction of boilers improved, Watt investigated the use of high-pressure steam acting directly upon a piston. This raised the possibility of a smaller engine, that might be used to power a vehicle, and he patented a design for a steam locomotive in 1784. His employee William Murdoch produced a working model of a self-propelled steam carriage in that year.

The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray's rack locomotive Salamanca built for the narrow gauge Middleton Railway in Leeds in 1812. This twin-cylinder locomotive was not heavy enough to break the edge-rails track, and solved the problem of adhesion by a cog-wheel using teeth cast on the side of one of the rails. It was the first rack railway.

MODELED BY AMAL NAMBIAR

INTERESTING FACTS :

1. If someone commits suicide in Japan by jumping onto an oncoming train, the train company can/will sue his/her family for cleanup fees, loss of income and negative publicity brought on by the suicide. 
2. In Japan trains are so punctual that any delay over 5 minutes usually incurs an apology and a "delay certificate" for passengers on their way to work. When trains are delayed for an hour or more,it may even be in news.
3.  There is a device known as a derailer. It is used to intentionally derail trains that enter into unauthorized areas.
4. The engineer who designed the Japanese Kamikaze dive-bombing planes of WWII felt bad about his role in the war, so at its end, he decided to use his skills for peace by designing the body of the Shinkansen (Bullet Train), which has, to this day, operated with zero accident-caused fatalities.

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Sources:wiki,train facts