Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways episode 1 - Dan Snow looks at how, from their beginnings as track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways developed into the pivotal technology for modern Britain. From their beginnings as a primitive system of track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways quickly developed into the driving force behind the industrial revolution and the pivotal technology for modern Britain, and a connected world.