How quickly did railroads spread around the world?

Question

an invention which began in england spread throughout the world very quickly?
How did it do so?
How did European colonies pay for their railroads?
Who paid for it?
How quickly did regions in Persia come about it?When?

ATTENTION FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO SAY THIS IS A HOMEWORK QUESTION. I AM NOT DOING THIS FOR HOMEWORK , SIMPLY INTEREST. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YAHOO HISTORY FORUM ? THIS IS NOT A PLACE TO INSULT AND REDICULE PEOPLE OR ADD YOUR COMEDY ACTS. JUST BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW THE ANSWER PLEASE DONT MAKE ACCUSATIONS LIKE THIS

Answer 1

This seems like a homework question to me and I don't know the answer so you'd better do your own research like a good student. Man! I wish we had yahoo answers when I was in highschool! PC's weren't around when then.

Answer 2

Railways as we call them in UK spread very quickly throughout the world. Previous to their coming people travelled by horse and cart and it was much more convenient and quicker to go across country by rail and pick up a taxi in the form of a horse and cart at the stations. Lengths of rail were built and owned by rail companies - like the Great Western railway in England. They were financed by shareholders who invested in railways across the globe. The railways in UK despite the high investment made some profit in the 1800's but with the arrival of the twentieth century were finding it more difficult to make ends meet and were not reinvesting so the British government took them all over with a view to pouring in money.. Despite this they never were profitable and a man called Lord Beeching closed down hundreds of small stations not long after WWll in an endeavour to cut costs The British railways are now back in private hands and seem at last to be profitable. The shape of them is completely different - gone are the long lines of freight trains and a ticket for a long journey is often more expensive then using a car. This is not an internet answer - if you find it on the internet it was me that wrote it

Answer 3

Well this is a question which you could probably research on the Internet. However, my answer is: Once they started building railroads outside the UK, they spread rapidly and on time. Exceptions being the former countries in the Empire, where the trains still run on the UK pattern. Invariably late and overcrowded.

Answer 4

Try here.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/indrev6.html