My Science School

A drive shaft is a rod which carries power from a bike’s engine to its rear wheel. Some early bikes, such as the Belgian FN of 1906, had drive shafts instead of belts or chains. The shaft turned the wheel using gears.

Amazing! In the early 1900s, women always wore dresses, even when they rode on motorbikes. So some bikes had a dress guard made of string which stopped dresses getting tangled in the engine or rear wheel.

What were leather belts for?

Most motorcycles today use a chain to drive the rear wheel. But many motorcycles made before 1910 used a thick leather belt instead. Belts were unreliable, as they wore out quickly, often broke and even slipped in the rain!

When was a drive chain first used?

Most modern bikes have a flexible metal chain which carries power from the engine to the rear wheel. Chain drives were introduced on some bikes in the early 1900s, such as the 1905 Scott. Chains are made up of dozens of short pieces linked together.

Is it true? Belt drives are still used today.

Yes. Most modern bikes use a chain drive, but some have belts instead. The belts are made from rubber, strengthened with fabric. Belts are lighter than chains and need less maintenance. A few modern bikes have drive shafts instead of a chain or belt.

The Michaux-Perreaux bicycle of 1869 had a steam engine under its saddle. Wood or coal had to be put in the engine every few minutes to keep the water boiling, to work the engine.

Who put an engine above a front wheel?

The Werner brothers in France built a motorcycle in 1899. It was a safety bicycle with a petrol engine above the front wheel, in front of the handlebars.

Amazing! American engineer Lucius Copeland made a motorcycle by adding a small steam engine to a penny farthing. He rode the bicycle backwards, using the small wheel to steer. The machine could travel at 20 kph.

What did the first motorbike look like?

The first proper motorbike had a heavy wooden frame, wooden wheels with metal rims, and two stabilising wheels to stop it toppling over. It was the first motorbike to have a lightweight petrol engine, but it was very slow. It was built by German engineers Daimler and Maybach in 1885.

Is it true? Early motorcycles had pedals.

Yes. The engines on early motorcycles were not very powerful or reliable. So the bikes had pedals for going up hills or in case of a breakdown. Some modern bikes, such as mopeds, still have pedals.

In 1838, a Scottish blacksmith called Kirkpatrick Macmillan built the first bicycle with pedals. Before this, bicycle riders kicked the ground to move along.

What was a penny farthing?

A penny farthing was a bicycle of the 1870s, named after two British coins. It had an enormous front wheel (the penny) and a small rear wheel (the farthing).

Amazing! In the 1880s, couples often rode side by side on tricycles (cycles with three wheels) called sociables. Each person had a set of pedals, which turned the huge rear wheels.

Is it true? People raced tricycles.

Yes. In the 1880s, the tricycle was not just a cycle for children, as it is today. It was popular with adults too. Tricycle racing was one of the first forms of cycle racing. Race events were held on bumpy roads and wooden tracks.

What was a safety bicycle?

The safety bicycle was the first bicycle to look like today’s bikes. It appeared in 1885. It had two wheels the same size, a diamond-shaped metal frame, pedals that turned the rear wheel using a chain, and brakes worked by levers on the handlebars.

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Really fast future trains might not bother with wheels. They could ride on a cushion of air, like a hovercraft. The nose of the train squashes air underneath its belly as it jets along, and the squashed air lifts it above the ground. The Aerotrain already exists as an experimental vehicle.

What is a bullet train?

Japan’s fastest trains, the Shinkansen, were nicknamed bullet trains because of their pointy noses - and high speed! The fastest, Nozomi, travels at 300 kph. With no time wasted at airports, travelling by Nozomi can be quicker than flying by jet!

Amazing! One sled travelled at Mach 8. An unmanned rocket vehicle on rails achieved 9,851 kph in an American experiment in 1982. On straight track, it could make the eight-day Trans-Siberian trip in less than one hour!

Is it true? Some trains run on magnets.

Yes. Germany and Japan have both tested trains that use repelling magnets to float above the track. The track doesn’t wear out, and the trains can slip along at amazing speeds.

Are trains ‘green’?

Trains are less harmful to the environment than most other kinds of transport. They are particularly important in cities, where underground trains, trams and monorails can reduce pollution from cars, buses and taxis. For long distance journeys, trains use much less fuel than jet aircraft.

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The longest train ever was a freight train measuring 7.3 kilometers! The longest passenger train was a measly 1.7 kilometres, but the Belgian railway couldn’t find a platform long enough to park it!

Amazing! Eight men can lay 16 kilometers of track in a day! A team of eight track-layers in America set this world record on April 18, 1869.

Which train is fastest?

France pioneered fast trains after World War Two When Japan introduced the Shinkansen ‘bullet train’ in the 1960s, France responded with the TGV. An experimental TGV has reached 515 kph!

Is it true? A train can weigh more than the Eiffel Tower.

Yes. An Australian mine train was weighed in 1996 at 72,191 tonnes – that’s more than eight Eiffel Towers!

Which train travels farthest?

The once-daily service between Moscow and Vladivostok in Russia travels 9,350 kilometres, taking eight days. Known as the Trans-Siberian Express, or The Russia, the train has featured in several books and films. It is second only in fame to the Orient Express.

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In 1963 a train full of used banknotes was robbed in Buckinghamshire, England. The thieves got away with over £2.5 million, a huge sum of money even today.

Amazing! Trains at Mwatate Dam have to mind out for demons. The Kenyan villagers nearby, thought that trains were having a lot of accidents there because the local spirits were angry. Trains began pausing briefly to salute the spirits, and there hasn’t been a crash since!

Do trains crash?

Trains occasionally crash for a number of reasons — there might be a points failure, or a weak bridge. Amazingly, no one was killed when this cattle train crashed through the front of an Irish railway station. Rail travel is usually very safe though.

Did railway projects always work?

No. The English almost built a Channel Tunnel in 1883. They tunneled roughly two kilometres under the sea, but the government was worried the French would use the tunnel to invade England, so it was abandoned!

Is it true? Some trains are too big.

Yes. The Soviet Union made a locomotive in 1934 that was too long. Its non-swivelling wheels and heavy weight actually straightened out curves in the track, leaving it stuck in a ditch!

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Trains use big bridges or deep tunnels to cross the largest rivers. The Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, invented strong metal bridges to carry the weight of a train. Some bridges are so big that repainting them is a full-time job!

Is the Channel Tunnel longest?

Not quite. The Channel Tunnel is 49.8 kilometres in total. The Seikan, Japan’s tunnel between the main islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, travels an amazing 53.9 kilometres underground.

Where was the first raised city railway?

New York City had a serious traffic problem in the 1880s, and that was before cars! An ‘Elevated Railway’, known as ‘the L’ for short, was built above the streets. It still works today.

Amazing! You can take a train on a boat. Train ferries started operating in the late 1800s between England and France. Passengers stayed in their seats all the way from London to Paris!

Is it true? Box Hill tunnel knows its creator’s birthday.

Yes. Brunel built it at a special angle. Each year, only on his birthday, the sun shines right through the entire 3.2 kilometre tunnel in southern England.

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Cable cars, such as the ones in San Francisco, are pulled along by a moving loop of cable, made from strong steel. The cable passes through a slot between the rails, and the cars fix on to it. This way, cable cars can climb very steep hills.

Where is the longest straight?

It’s difficult to build straight stretches of track near towns, but much easier in empty parts of the world. The longest stretch of straight track is in the desert of Australia. It is perfectly straight for 478 kilometres.

Amazing! Railways can go missing! During the American Civil War, the South ripped up some of its less important railways to use as spare parts along the battle front. The states of Florida and Texas gave up their entire networks!

Can trains travel the length of Africa?

There is no direct link from Cairo in North Africa to Cape Town, South Africa, 9,760 kilometres away. Cecil Rhodes tried to build a railway line in the late 19th century, but one of his problems was finding enough workmen. Twenty eight of his men were eaten by lions on the Athi Plains in Kenya! However there are plans to complete this link soon.

Is it true? America’s rail network is longer than the equator!

Yes. If the entire train track in America was laid end-to-end it would form a single track which would go almost six times around the world –that’s 240,000 kilometres!

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France was the first country to use electric trains on a major mainline route, making the whole of the Paris to Orleans route electric in 1900. French electric trains have broken many speed records. This 1981 train was able to travel as fast as 380 kph, which was a record at the time.

Is it true? Electric trains were invented in 1879.

Yes. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric train at the Berlin Trades Exhibition, in Germany in 1879. People queued up to have a ride on the tiny carriages.

What’s a pantograph?

A pantograph is the metal connecter that reaches from the roof of an electric engine to the live wire overhead — just like the pole at the back of a fairground bumper car.

Amazing! One electric train travels all over Europe. Trans-Europ-Express was designed to use the different electricity supplies in different European countries. Engineers have to change its wheels though, every time it travels in and out of Spain.

Are electric engines better than diesel?

Electric power lets trains use energy without creating too much mess. The only pollution is at the power station where the electricity is made. Electric power is ideal for trams and underground trains in cities. Diesels are better on long routes where great lengths of electricity would be too expensive.

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America’s Pennsylvania Railroad used Baldwin diesel engines in pairs. Each one had twelve small wheels on each side. Linked together, making a 6,000 horse-power monster, they looked like they had 24 ‘legs’.

Amazing! Diesel engines can be steam engines too. The 1924 Kitson-Still used a diesel engine for its main power, but also used the heat of the engine to create steam. This powered an extra set of drive wheels.

Why did diesel take over from steam?

Diesel power first came into use to cope with the problem of smoke in cities and underground railways. During World War Two, military diesel engines became lighter and smaller. Just like today’s trains, the engines fitted under the floors of the carriages.

Which diesel looked like an aeroplane?

The German Kruckenburg of 1931 had a huge propeller at the back which pushed it along like an aeroplane on rails. It reached speeds up to 230 kph during a ten- kilometre speed trial. Unfortunately, it was too noisy and dangerous for everyday use.

Is it true? Diesel engines use electric motors.

Yes. Many diesel-engined trains actually use electric motor to turn the wheels. The engine itself uses diesel fuel. It turns a generator, which creates the electricity needed by the electric motors. This is because electric motors turn powerfully at all speeds, unlike a diesel engine.

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Between 1800 and 1825, there were ‘trains’ without engines in Wales and Austria. Horses pulled carriages along the rails. It was a smoother ride than road travel.

Which train was the first to carry passengers?

Stephenson’s Locomotion was the first engine to be used on a public railway, the Stockton and Darlington, in 1825. Stephenson’s Rocket won £500 in competition at Rain hill, Liverpool, four years later.

What was the first train engine?

Richard Trevithick, a mine engineer, first demonstrated a mobile engine on rails in 1804. It pulled 70 men and ten tonnes of iron ore, in front of a crowd of amazed onlookers. His next engine became a fairground ride.

Amazing! There were horse-drawn trains 50 years ago! The Fintona Branch of Ireland’s Great Northern railway remained horse-powered until the early 1950S.

Is it true? The ancient Greeks had a steam engine!

Yes. Hero of Alexander wrote about a steam-powered spinning ball, called the ‘aeolipile’ in 200 BC. But since slave labour was free, no one bothered to use the engine as a labour-saving device.

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