The iron horses. In 1825, they were new, exciting and extremely dangerous. Bellowing sparks and flames, this was a new invention of travel. Was it going to be a novelty or a way to move people and goods across the great expanse of our lands?

The rails they traveled were wooden with iron strips on top to take the weight. However, they we flawed. As the trains traveled, the rails started to curve with the weight, and at times they broke loose and pierced the train cars. They were called “snake heads.” It was all to common and ended up killing passengers. Something new was needed.

I started as a fireman, loading the wood into the wood car that followed the locomotive. It was my job to load the furnace to heat the boiler’s water to build the steam. Once the steam was built up in this complex process, the train started to move slowly as the driving wheels gained traction.

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