Steam-powered trains were first developed in Great Britain during the 1800s. Trains did not become popular in the United States until later in the 1800s. By 1840 railroad companies had laid about 2,800 miles of tracks and that was more than all of Europe’s tracks combined. Most British railroads ran on straight tracks across flat grounds, but in the United States many railroads had to run up and down steep mountains, around tight curves, and over swift rivers. By 1860 about 30,000 miles