The earliest railways were built and paid for by the owners of the mines they served.

An earlier local railway, once carried freight and some passengers.

The early railways were private lines, but from 184?

The earliest railways in the German states were often run by private entrepreneurs.

One of these cases are the many early secondary (connecting) railway lines that were built in the onset of the 20th century.

The financial success of the early railways was phenomenal, as they had no real competition.

This was a common problem during the construction phase of early railways.

The early railways in Queensland started at a sea or river port and made their way inland.

The earlier railways had electrified the underground sections of their lines by 1907.

Locomotives for the early railways were usually built in the country of the designing engineer.