††An English engineer, Richard Trevithick, invented a steam locomotive in 1804. It ran on rails and was able to haul 9 tonnes of iron over 15 kilometres. Locomotive design did not improve significantly until George Stephenson built the Rocket in 1829. This featured a multitube boiler and blastpipe. In 1879, an electric locomotive was demonstrated in Berlin, Gemany by Werner von Siemens. Two years later he went on to build the first electric tramway in Berlin. The first diesel locomotive was built in Switzerland in 1912. Today most locomotives are diesel or electric. Diesel locomotives have a powerful diesel engine that burns oil. The diesel engine may drive the wheels directly or drive a generator to produce electricity to power electric motors that turn the wheels.
