March 2004 marked two centuries since the "Penydarren Engine," designed by the great engineer Richard Trevithick, hauled a 10-ton load over 9.5 miles of track in South Wales, making it the world's first railway locomotive. This photo-filled history traces the early development of the railways and their subsequent spread over five continents during the course of the 19th century. It then goes on to chart the quest for greater speed and luxury in the first half of the 20th century and the demise of steam, culminating in today's high-speed trains, like France's TGV and Shanghai's mag-lev train. "On the Rails" also includes chapters on the visionary 19th-century railway contractors, the lives of the working railwaymen, the great luxury trains, the epic feats of engineering that made possible the likes of America's transcontinental system, and the future prospects of the modern railway.