![]() Schivelbusch also mentions some of the many novel ways of pulling trains that were suggested by people in the 19th century and people’s perceptions about how these gigantic mechanical monsters were being pulled by that steam engine. Schivelbusch then moves on to discuss the issues revolving around the coal production in Restoration France and its effects on the viability of trains and hence influence on aspects of rail travel. However, the debate over the Corn Laws was a crossroads in the transition of the Britain from a feudalist society, to a more modern, industrial one. The import tariffs ostensibly designed to “protect” British farmers and landowners against competition from cheap foreign grain imports was basically displaying the power of the British aristocracy. The author then proceeds to the effect of the Corn Laws on the economics of animal power and how it affected trains. This was no different from the shift in the shipbuilding industry which also employed steel as the technology developed and the experts learnt to use it. These practices of using wood were slowly but surely substituted by the more durable and stronger steel in the 18th century as the methods of construction developed and the advantages of steel were recognized. ![]() He begins by the talking of the methods of construction employed in the 18th century using wood, both in the United States and Europe. Schivelbusch begins by providing a history of the railroad and how it developed during the years of the 19th century. As such, this book by Wolfgang Schivelbusch is a considerable step at establishing the important part played by railways in the creation of what can be called an industrial consciousness, a prime example of the interaction between technology and culture. The manner in which this rapid inclusion of new mechanical advancement influenced the thought of the people in Europe and North America is astounding. Their dominant inclusion into the daily lives of the people and the changes brought by them were inescapable. Through them we pass out into adventure and sunshine, to them, alas! we return.” The sentence in its essence signifies the marked importance that the railways occupied in the hearts and minds of the people in the 19th century. Foster once wrote, “Railway terminals are our gates to the glorious and the unknown.
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