【简译】英国工业革命中的铁路

The railways were perhaps the most visible element of the Industrial Revolution for many. Trains powered by steam engines carried goods and people faster than ever before and reached new destinations, connecting businesses to new markets. There were also unfortunate consequences such as the decline in traditional transport like canal boats and stagecoaches, and the impact on unspoilt countryside.

          对许多人来说，铁路也许是工业革命中最引人注目的元素。由蒸汽机驱动的火车比以往任何时候都更快地运输货物和人员抵达新的目的地，将工厂与新市场连接起来。但工业革命也带来了一些不幸的后果，例如运河船和驿站马车等传统交通工具的衰落，以及对原始乡村的影响。

蒸 汽 机

The steam engine was perhaps the most important invention of the Industrial Revolution and without it, fast-moving trains would not have been possible. In 1698, a steam-powered pump was invented by Thomas Savery (c. 1650-1715). In 1712, Thomas Newcomen (1664-1729) adjusted Savery's design and greatly increased the power. James Watt (1736-1819) worked on Newcomen's design, and by 1778, he had greatly reduced the fuel consumption of the steam engine. Engineers continued to improve the engine until it worked using a pressure high enough to create the power capable of moving large weights with a minimum amount of fuel. In 1801, Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) invented the first steam-powered vehicle. Trevithick's machine was pretty good, but his real problem was the poor condition of the roads at that time. The inventor solved the problem in 1803 by having his vehicle run on purpose-built tracks of its own. The idea of a steam-powered railway train was born.

          蒸汽机也许是工业革命中最重要的发明，没有它，就不可能有快速行驶的火车。1698年，托马斯·萨弗里（Thomas Savery，约1650-1715年）发明了蒸汽动力泵。1712 年，托马斯·纽科门（Thomas Newcomen，1664-1729年）对萨弗里的设计进行了调整，大大提高了功率。詹姆斯·瓦特（1736-1819 年）对纽科门的设计进行了改进，到1778年，已经大大降低了蒸汽机的燃料消耗。工程师们不断改进蒸汽机，直到它的工作压力足以产生用最少的燃料驱动大重量物体的动力。1801年，理查德·特雷维西克（1771-1833年）发明了第一辆蒸汽动力机车。特雷维西克的机器相当不错，但他真正面临的问题是当时糟糕的道路状况。1803年，这位发明家让他的机车在自己专门建造的轨道上行驶，从而解决了这一问题。蒸汽动力铁路列车的想法由此诞生。

更换旧设备

The driving force behind the Industrial Revolution was commercial enterprise and the search for profit. Transportation was one area where a brand-new power source could really change how things were done. Traditionally, goods in larger quantities were transported across Britain by river and canal boats. Rivers were obviously limited to where they ran but a canal system was built to specifically connect large urban centres. Canal boats could transport goods safely and relatively cheaply, but the problem was the speed. Taking into consideration the necessity to go through lock systems where the terrain rose or fell, the average speed of a canal boat on its journey from one destination to another was around 4.8 km/h (3 mph). Not very impressive. It was usually quicker to transport goods from one continent to another than from one inland town to another. The land journey was the weak link. Another problem was that canals were very expensive to build. Investors and company owners saw that a cheaper but faster alternative to canals would reduce the time taken to reach markets for their goods and open up new markets if a network were built bigger and better than the existing canal system. A second area of potential was private travellers obliged to use horse-drawn stagecoaches, which were slow and uncomfortable. The railways, then, could serve two customer bases: freight companies and passengers.

          工业革命背后的驱动力是企业商业化和对利润的追求。在运输领域，全新的动力源能够真正改变人们的工作方式。传统上，大量货物通内河和运河船运往英国各地。河流显然仅限于其流经的地方，但运河系统是专门为连接大型城市中心而修建的。运河船可以安全、相对便宜地运输货物，但问题在于运输速度。考虑到必须通过地势起伏的水闸系统，运河船从一个目的地到另一个目的地的平均速度约为4.8公里/小时（3英里/小时）。这不值一提。将货物从一个大陆运到另一个大陆通常比从一个内陆城镇运到另一个内陆城镇要快，而陆路运输也是薄弱环节。另一个问题是运河的建造成本非常高昂。投资者和公司所有者看到，如果能建造一个比现有运河系统更大、更好的运输网络，那么一个比运河更便宜但更快的替代方案将缩短货物到达市场的时间，并开辟新的市场。第二个有潜力的领域是不得不使用马车的私人旅行者，因为马车既慢又不舒适。因此，铁路可以服务于两个客户群：货运公司与乘客。

史蒂芬生一家与“火箭号”

The first move towards finding an alternative to canals and river boats was to use wheeled carriages running on iron rails with the carriages pulled by horses. This sort of hybrid technology worked well sometimes (for example, on the short Surrey Iron Railway to Croydon) but was hardly the great leap forward big business was looking for. Trevithick's engine on rails showed the way. Next up came George Stephenson (1781-1848), who had his own company in Newcastle that specialised in building railway trains to transport coal over short distances at coal mines. Stephenson designed the Locomotion 1 train engine. This locomotive was powerful enough to pull carriages, and it transported the first steam railway passengers from Stockton to Darlington in the northeast of England in 1825. This line was a success and showed what might be achieved elsewhere on a grander scale as the age of steam took off.

          为了找到运河运输的替代品，人们首先使用了在铁轨上行驶的轮式车厢，车厢由马匹拉动。这种混合技术有时效果不错（例如，在通往克罗伊登的短途铁轨铁路上），但这并不是大公司所寻求的巨大飞跃。特雷维西克的铁路机车指明了方向。紧随其后的是乔治·史蒂芬生（1781-1848 年），他在纽卡斯尔拥有自己的公司，专门建造铁路列车，用于在煤矿短途运输煤炭。史蒂芬生设计了机车一号(Locomotion No.1)机车。这台机车动力强劲，足以牵引车厢。1825年，它运送了从斯托克顿到英格兰东北部达灵顿的第一批乘客。随着蒸汽时代的到来，这条铁路线取得了成功，并向人们展示了其他地方可以以更高的速度实现的目标。

A new railway line was built from Liverpool to Manchester in 1829, the world's first inter-city railway. The problem was the directors of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company (L&MR) did not have any locomotives for their line. The directors organised a competition, inviting inventors to the Rainhill Trials where their machines would be extensively tested for speed, reliability, ability to pull carriages, and total fuel and water consumption. The winning locomotive was Rocket, designed by George Stephenson's son Robert Stephenson (1803-1859). Stephenson's Rocket was essentially the sum of all the inventions up to that point regarding steam engines. Running with flanged wheels on smooth cast iron rails, Rocket's top speed was at least 48 km/h (30 mph), not great today but astounding for the people of the mid-19th century and something that had never been seen or experienced before. The L&MR directors immediately commissioned Stephenson to make four more Rocket locomotives, and their train line was opened on 15 September 1830. The line was a roaring success (despite the death of William Huskisson MP, run over by a locomotive on the very first day). Soon the line was carrying 1,200 passengers every day. Goods were also carried on the line where a single train could carry 20 times the cargo of a canal boat and reach its destination eight times faster. It was now merely a question of time before all of Britain had access to the railways.

          1829年，一条从利物浦到曼彻斯特的新铁路线建成，这是世界上第一条城际铁路。问题是利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路公司（Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company，L&MR）的董事们没有为其线路配备机车。董事们组织了一次竞赛，邀请发明家参加“雨山试验”，在那里对他们的机车进行了广泛的测试，包括速度、可靠性、牵引力以及燃料和水的总消耗量。最终，乔治·史蒂芬生的儿子罗伯特·史蒂芬生（1803-1859年）设计的 “火箭号”机车脱颖而出。史蒂芬生的“火箭号”蒸汽机车基本上集当时所有蒸汽机发明技术之总和。在光滑的铸铁轨道上使用带凸缘的车轮，“火箭号”的最高时速至少为 48公里（30英里/小时），这在今天看来并不算高，但对于19世纪中叶的人们来说却是惊人的，也是前所未有的。利物浦和曼彻斯特铁路公司董事立即委托史蒂芬生再制造四台“火箭号”机车，他们的火车线路于1830年9月15日开通。这条线路取得了巨大成功（尽管国会议员威廉·赫斯基森在开通第一天就被机车轧死）。很快，这条线路每天运送1200名乘客。货物运输也在这条线路上进行，一列火车的载货量是运河船只的20倍，到达目的地的速度是运河船只的8倍。此时，全英国都能使用铁路只是一个时间问题。

铁路狂热

The railway lines spread quickly. In 1838, Birmingham was connected to London, and in 1841, passengers could take the train from the capital to Bristol. The latter line was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) and run by the innovative Great Western Railway which built Paddington Station in London. The line was another success and was later extended into Devon and Cornwall. The iron tracks spread so quickly across Britain, the phenomena became known as 'railway mania'. By 1845, there was a line from Manchester to London, which took eight hours of travel (a passenger on the old stagecoaches would have shaken and shivered for 80 hours to make the same journey). From 1848, passengers could travel from London to Glasgow in 12 hours as trains reached speeds of 80 km/h (50 mph). Newspapers boasted that fortunate businessmen could have breakfast in London, a business lunch in Birmingham, and be back again to dine in London, all in the same day. The trunk lines between major cities began to be connected by secondary lines to smaller cities and towns as the rail network became much denser across Britain. By 1870, there were over 24,000 kilometres (15,000 miles) of rail lines.

          铁路线迅速扩展。1838年，伯明翰与伦敦相连，1841年，乘客可以乘坐火车从首都前往布里斯托尔。后一条铁路线由伊桑巴德·布鲁内尔（Isambard Kingdom Brunel，1806-1859 年）设计，由大西部铁路公司运营，该公司在伦敦修建了帕丁顿车站。这条铁路线也取得了巨大成功，后来又延伸到德文郡和康沃尔郡。铁轨在英国迅速蔓延，这种现象被称为“铁路狂热”。到 1845 年，从曼彻斯特到伦敦的铁路线已经开通，全程仅需 8 小时（如果乘坐旧式驿车，同样的路程需要摇晃和颠簸 80 个小时）。从 1848 年起，火车时速达到 80 公里/小时（50 英里/小时），乘客从伦敦到格拉斯哥只需 12 小时。报纸吹嘘幸运的商人可以在伦敦吃早餐，在伯明翰吃商务午餐，然后再回到伦敦吃晚餐，所有这些都能在同一天内完成。随着铁路网变得更加密集，主要城市之间的干线开始由支线连接到较小的城市和城镇。到 1870 年，英国铁路线已超过 24,000 公里（15,000 英里）。

It was not all smooth running. Train lines required some major feats of engineering such as viaducts, tunnels, bridges, and the draining of marshlands. Early steam engines lacked the power to pull carriages up very steep inclines and so had to be helped by larger rope-hauling steam machines set by the track. The invention of mass-produced steel by Henry Bessemer (1813-1898) in 1856 allowed for rails that could carry heavier, more powerful, and faster trains, which meant these static engine assistants were no longer required.

          并非所有的运行都一帆风顺。火车线路需要一些重大的工程，如高架桥、隧道、桥梁和沼泽地排水。早期的蒸汽机动力不足，无法将车厢牵引上非常陡峭的斜坡，因此必须借助轨道旁的大型绳索牵引蒸汽机。1856 年，亨利·贝塞麦（1813-1898 年）发明了贝塞麦转炉炼钢法，使得铁轨可以承载更重、更强、更快的火车，这意味着不再需要这些静态的发动机辅助装置。

As with many new technologies, parallel development meant that sometimes there were compatibility problems across regions. The Stephenson trains ran on rails with a gauge of 1.4 metres (4 ft 8.5 in). Brunel's trains ran on rails with a gauge of 2.1 metres (7 ft), better for the stability of the train when carrying heavy goods but more expensive to build. The 'gauge wars', as these technical differences became known, meant some stretches of line had three parallel rails so that both types of train could run on them. Otherwise, where this was not the case, passengers often had to disembark, luggage and all, and join a different train that could run on the alternative gauge tracks. For goods trains this was even more impractical creating delays reminiscent of a canal boat going through a series of locks, the very system trains were meant to replace. A Royal Commission was charged with investigating this damaging impediment to the progress of the railways, and eventually, the great gauge battle was settled in favour of the narrower gauge. Consequently, the railways were made uniform by an 1846 Act of Parliament.

          与许多新技术一样，并行开发有时会涉及区域之间的兼容性问题。史蒂芬生火车的轨距为 1.4 米（4 英尺 8.5 英寸）。布鲁内尔的火车使用轨距为 2.1 米（7 英尺）的钢轨，这种轨距更有利于火车在运载重型货物时保持稳定，但建造成本更高。这些技术上的差异被称为“轨距之争”，这意味着有些路段有三条平行的铁轨，这样两种类型的列车都能在上面行驶。否则，乘客往往要带着行李下车，换乘另一条可以在其他轨距轨道上运行的列车。对于货物列车来说，这种做法更加不切实际，造成的延误让人联想到运河船穿过一系列船闸，而火车正是要取代这种系统。皇家委员会负责调查这一阻碍铁路发展的破坏性因素，最终，大轨距之争以窄轨距获胜而告终。因此，1846 年的议会法案规定了铁路统一标准。

There were other problems besides engineering ones. Some town councils and large estate owners blocked the building of train lines in their domains (Northampton and Stamford, for example), but this only meant that in the longer term, these places were left behind economically while a nearby rival town that had accepted the railways flourished. Many of those towns that had not accepted a main line were, in any case, eventually obliged to pressure the relevant railway company to build a branch line linking them to the rail network. In short, for good or bad, there was no going back to the old ways. By 1871, trains across Britain were carrying over 300 million passengers and over 150 million tonnes of goods each year.

           除了工程问题，还有其他问题。一些镇议会和大庄园主阻止在其领地内修建火车线路（例如北安普顿和斯坦福德），但从长远来看，这只能意味着这些地方在经济上被抛在后面，而附近已接受铁路的对立城镇则蓬勃发展。无论如何，许多没有接受铁路干线的城镇最终不得不向相关铁路公司施压，要求修建一条支线，将它们与铁路网连接起来。总之，无论好坏，都没有回头路了。到 1871 年，全英国的火车每年运送乘客超过 3 亿人次，运送货物超过 1.5 亿吨。

全球现象

The idea of railways spread around the world, and then innovations came back to Britain to improve the railways there. In the United States, the first working railroad was completed in 1833 and connected New York to Philadelphia. The immense size of the USA had always been a problem, but now the railroads forged ahead, meaning that the huge resources such a great land produced could be, at last, fully exploited.

          铁路的理念传播到世界各地，然后创新又传回英国，以改进那里的铁路。在美国，第一条运营铁路于 1833 年建成，连接纽约和费城。美国幅员辽阔，这一直是个问题，但现在，铁路的发展，意味着这片广袤土地上蕴藏的巨大资源终于可以得到充分开发。

The first railway line in Continental Europe was completed in Belgium in 1835 to connect Brussels and Malines. The American engineer George Pullman (1831-1897) created the first sleeping cars in 1856 which used seat cushions which could be moved to create a sleeping berth. In 1868, the New Yorker George Westinghouse (1846-1914) developed a trio of successful inventions: the air brake, which used compressed air to quickly stop the wheels turning, a signal system, and the frog that meant a train could cross intersecting tracks. By 1870, Canada, Australia, India, and most of Europe had joined in the railway mania. Trains were becoming ever more ambitious in the distance and comfort they promised their passengers. The luxurious Orient Express ran from 1883 and connected Paris to Constantinople (Istanbul). The railroads became a symbol of the modern age, but not everyone benefitted or liked this new and faster world.

          欧洲大陆的第一条铁路线于 1835 年在比利时建成，连接布鲁塞尔和梅赫伦。1856 年，美国工程师乔治·普尔曼（George Pullman，1831-1897 年）发明了第一辆卧铺车厢。1868 年，纽约人乔治·威斯汀豪斯（George Westinghouse，1846-1914 年）开发出了三项成功的发明：空气制动器（使用压缩空气快速阻止车轮旋转）、信号系统和允许火车穿过相交铁轨的道岔装置，这意味着火车可以穿越交叉的铁轨。到 1870 年，加拿大、澳大利亚、印度和欧洲大部分国家都加入了铁路狂热的行列。火车在向乘客承诺的距离和舒适度方面变得越来越雄心勃勃。豪华的东方快车从 1883 年开始运行，连接巴黎和君士坦丁堡（伊斯坦布尔）。铁路成为现代的象征，但并不是每个人都能从中受益，也不是每个人都喜欢这个更快的新世界。

铁路带来的影响

At first, many train companies bought out the canals in their area so that they could control the competition. Many canals were kept running, but eventually, they simply could not compete with the trains, and the canal system fell into neglect. The other direct competitor of trains, the stagecoaches, fared no better. Stagecoach and mail coach operators, coaching inns dotted along the roads, turnpike roads (private roads which charged a passage toll), and those who bred and cared for horses all suffered badly as trains took their business. As an example of the decline, before the railways, 29 stagecoaches travelled from Manchester to Liverpool every day, but after the arrival of the trains, there were only two providing this service.

          起初，许多火车公司收购了所在地区的运河，以便控制竞争。许多运河得以继续运行，但最终还是无法与火车竞争，运河系统逐渐荒废。火车的另一个直接竞争对手——驿站马车的情况也好不到哪里去。由于火车抢走了他们的生意，驿站马车和邮车经营者、遍布公路两旁的驿站、收费公路（收取通行费的私人公路）以及那些饲养和照顾马匹的人都遭受了重创。铁路开通前，每天有 29 辆驿马车从曼彻斯特前往利物浦，但火车开通后，只有两辆驿站马车提供这项服务。

People had to leave their homes and family land to make way for the metal tracks being laid everywhere. Private Acts of Parliament were passed for each line, and these gave the railway companies the right to buy the land they needed and evict anyone that blocked the building plans. People worried that passing trains scared livestock and disrupted forest hunting. Finally, air pollution, both from the trains themselves and the coal mines that fed them, noticeably worsened.

         人们不得不离开家园和自留地，为到处铺设的金属铁轨让路。每条铁路线都通过了《议会私人法案》，这些法案赋予铁路公司购买所需土地和驱逐任何阻挠建设计划的人的权利。人们担心火车经过时会惊吓到牲畜，破坏森林狩猎活动。最后，火车本身和为火车提供燃料的煤矿造成的空气污染明显加剧。

There were many positives to the new railways besides cheaper and faster transportation of people and goods. Steam trains needed huge amounts of coal, which resulted in more mines and more jobs (far more than were lost in other areas). The steel and iron needed for the locomotives, carriages, rails, bridges, and tunnels caused a boom in those industries. Britain produced annually just 2.5 million tonnes of coal in 1700, but by 1900, this figure had rocketed to 224 million tonnes. The railways created vast construction projects which employed tens of thousands of labourers. The railway companies also needed engineers, drivers, stationmasters, ticket collectors, and in the stations were porters, lavatory attendants, and staff for refreshment rooms as millions of first-, second-, and third-class passengers were now using the train services regularly.

          除了更便宜、更快捷的人员和货物运输外，新铁路还有许多积极意义。蒸汽火车需要大量的煤炭，这创造了更多的矿山和更多的就业机会（比其他地方失去的就业机会多得多）。机车、车厢、铁轨、桥梁和隧道所需的钢铁也促进了这些行业的繁荣。1700 年，英国的煤炭年产量仅为 250 万吨，而到了 1900 年，这一数字猛增至 2.24 亿吨。铁路带来了庞大的建设项目，雇佣了数以万计的工人。铁路公司还需要工程师、司机、站长、收票员，车站还需要搬运工、盥洗室服务员和茶水间工作人员，因为有数百万一等、二等和三等舱乘客定期乘坐火车。

Factory owners could now build their factories anywhere, no longer restricted to sites close to waterways or coal fields. Outer suburbs developed in cities as workers commuted by train to their jobs in city centres. The cost of raw materials decreased and business practices changed. Manufacturers no longer had to keep a large inventory of goods but could move them on as soon as ready. The cost savings of reduced warehouses meant more money and factory space could be devoted to manufacturing, further bringing down costs and creating more jobs.

          工厂主可以在任何地方建厂，不再局限于靠近水道或煤田的地方。工人们乘火车前往市中心上班，城市的外围郊区也随之发展起来。原材料成本降低，经营方式也发生了变化。制造商不再需要保留大量的货物库存，而是可以在货物准备就绪后立即转移。减少仓储成本，这意味着有更多的资金和工厂空间可以用于生产，从而进一步降低了成本，创造了更多的就业机会。

As the trains connected more and more towns, people could travel to places they had never or very seldom been to. Seaside resorts, in particular, boomed thanks to cheap weekend excursion tickets and factory workers forming clubs which were paid into regularly to save up for a works outing. Places like Blackpool, Scarborough, and Brighton became familiar names around the country, conjuring up images of fun and holidays by the sea. The same worked for schools as children could now travel to prestigious private institutions far from home.

          随着火车将越来越多的城镇连接起来，人们可以去从未去过或很少去过的地方旅行。特别是海滨度假胜地，由于周末短途旅行票价便宜，工厂工人们成立了俱乐部，定期缴纳会费，为工作旅行攒钱，从而使海滨度假胜地蓬勃发展起来。布莱克浦（Blackpool）、斯卡伯勒（Scarborough）和布莱顿（Brighton）等地成为全国人民耳熟能详的名字，让人联想到海滨乐趣和度假的景象。学校也是如此，孩子们现在可以到离家很远的著名私立学校上学。

The ever-greater efficiency of trains meant goods could be transported more cheaply, and so they became more affordable to more people. Businesses could now sell their products to new markets. Products like fresh fish were available in inland areas for the first time. This resulted in a boom in advertising as the physical distance between businesses and their customers grew. Train stations became mass gathering places of humanity and so were perfect locations in which to advertise.

          火车效率的提高使得运输更便宜的货物成为可能，因此更多人也能负担得起。企业可以将其产品销售到新市场。鲜鱼等产品首次在内陆地区上市。随着企业与客户之间的实际距离拉近，广告业也随之蓬勃发展。火车站成为了群众聚集地，因此也是广告宣传的绝佳地点。

Trains carried mail, which became cheaper than ever after Sir Henry Cole (1808-1882) created the Universal Penny Post in 1840 where senders used the famous Penny Black postage stamps. Trains allowed someone in Scotland to read the morning newspaper issued that day in London. The whole world seemed to have shrunk, and people, goods, and information whizzed from one place to another at a pace never before imagined. The celebrated author Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was not exaggerating when he noted that the railways had brought more change than any other development since the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

          1840 年，亨利·科尔爵士（1808-1882 年）创建了通用便士邮政，寄信人使用著名的黑便士邮票，此后，火车运送邮件变得比以往任何时候都便宜。火车可以让苏格兰人阅读当天伦敦发行的早报。整个世界似乎缩小了，人员、货物和信息以前所未有的速度从一个地方飞驰到另一个地方。著名作家托马斯·哈代（Thomas Hardy，1840-1928 年）毫不夸张地指出，自 1066 年诺曼人征服英格兰以来，铁路带来的变化比任何其他事件都多。

参考书目：

Allen, Robert C. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Armstrong, Benjamin. Britain 1783-1885. Hodder Education, 2020.

Bryan, Tim. Brunel. Ian Allan Publishing, 2023.

Corey, Melinda & Ochoa, George. The Encyclopedia of the Victorian World. Henry Holt & Co, 1996.

Dugan, Sally & Dugan, David. The Day the World Took Off. Channel 4 Book, 2023.

Hepplewhite, Peter. All About. Wayland, 2016.

Hewitt, Eric J. Capital of Discontent. The History Press, 2014.

Horn, Jeff. The Industrial Revolution. ABC-CLIO, 2016.

Waller, David & Foster, Norman. Iron Men. Anthem Press, 2016.

Yorke, Stan. The Industrial Revolution Explained& Massive Wheels. Countryside Books, 2005.

原文作者：Mark Cartwright

          驻意大利的历史作家。他的主要兴趣包括陶瓷、建筑、世界神话和发现所有文明的共同思想。他拥有政治哲学硕士学位，是《世界历史百科全书》的出版总监。

原文网址：https://www.worldhistory.org/article/2167/the-railways-in-the-british-industrial-revolution/