The Development of the Railroads in North Atlantic Countries, Especially the USA
by North Atlantic countries potentially had a great deal to gain from the successful construction of an extensive railroad system in terms of economic development and the expansion of basic infrastructures, factors that will be evaluated below. The invention of steam locomotives and railroad systems was one of the most important technological advances of the 19th century, an advance that arguably had several economic and social consequences not only in North Atlantic countries such as the USA and Canada, but in other regions as well.
Railroad systems were originally developed and constructed in Britain, which had been the first country to industrialise, and had the advantages of covering a relatively small geographical area, as well as having abundant supplies of readily assessable coal to power its steam locomotives. George Stephenson’s Rocket was indeed regarded as a great engineering feat by his contemporaries (Hobsbawm, 1962 p. 278). Railroads were a boost to the British economy, as increased iron and coal production was needed to build steam locomotives, railway tracks and to power the train engines. The new railway networks improved transport and communication facilities to such an extent that other countries in Western Europe such as Belgium, France, and Germany soon decided to construct their own separate railway networks. Belgium, surprisingly enough was the second most industrialised nation up to the middle of the 19th century and the rapid completion of its railroad system was helpful for the expansion of its heavy industries (Hobsbawm, 1962 p. 51).
Railway construction also boosted iron and coal production in these countries as well as in Britain, whilst such railroad construction improved links between continental countries as well as within those countries. Railroad construction arguably meant that these countries had larger and better linked internal national economies whilst helping to speed up trade between countries. It was the British that were probably keenest to develop railroad systems abroad as well as at home, in colonies such as Australia, and of relevance here, Canada. British banks and businesses were keen to invest in countries that wished to build their own railroads. The British were also happy to export expertise, technology, and machinery to other countries, as they believed that would boost trade and their profits. The British not only constructed railroad systems in their own colonies; they also invested in railroad construction in Latin America in countries such as Argentina (Hobsbawm, 1975 p. 55).
Railroad construction accelerated large increases in transatlantic trade, fuelled by the increased spending power of a British population that was aware that the steam train and the steam ship together allowed goods to be received and sent over a much shorter time span. American ports on the Atlantic coast had to expand to handle higher levels of imports and exports. In 1875 alone the USA’s east coast ports received 5.8 million tons of imported goods. The existence of railroad systems allowed American ports to handle ever increasing amounts of imports and exports, helping to speed up the industrialisation of the USA (Hobsbawm, 1975 p. 58).
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