CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 1 THE WORLD'S FASTEST TRAINS Some trains are traditional wheeled vehicles Some trains are traditional wheeled vehicles Others rise above the tracks using powerful magnets to produce incredible speed 4
The fastest trains run at speeds of 375 mph 604 kph or more These blurs of speed carry people and products from place to place sometimes as fast as airplanes A bullet train races into a station 5
CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 2 HISTORY Trains were first created to carry products Ancient Greeks and Egyptians used horses or bulls to pull simple train cars Steam engines first powered trains in England in the early 1800s George Stephenson’s 1829 steam powered Rocket had a top speed of 28 mph 45 kph 6
Soon train tracks were laid all across Europe In the United States tracks connected the eastern and western coasts in 1869 Before long train travel was common for passengers and goods The faster the train the more popular and successful it became On May 10 1869 Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad workers celebrated the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory Summit Utah 77
