Editing Train (section)

=== New technologies ===
[[File:Djursholmsbanan 1890-tal.jpg|thumb|right|Electric train on [[Djursholmsbanan]] in Stockholm in the 1890s.]]
Even as steam locomotive technology continued to improve, inventors in [[Germany]] started work on alternative methods for powering trains. [[Werner von Siemens]] built the first train powered by electricity in 1879, and went on to pioneer electric [[tram]]s.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=15}} Another German inventor, [[Rudolf Diesel]], constructed the first [[diesel engine]] in the 1890s, though the potential of his invention to power trains was not realized until decades later.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=15}} Between 1897 and 1903, tests of experimental electric locomotives on the [[Royal Prussian Military Railway]] in Germany demonstrated they were viable, setting speed records in excess of {{convert|100|mph|km/h|sp=us|order=flip}}.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=20-21}}[[File:Locomotora_FSBC_2203.jpg|thumb|The [[EMD FT]] set the stage for diesel locomotives to take over from steam.]]Early gas powered "[[Doodlebug (railcar)|doodlebug]]" self-propelled railcars entered service on railroads in the first decade of the 1900s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Schafer|first=Mike|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38738930|title=Vintage diesel locomotives|date=1998|publisher=Motorbooks International|isbn=0-7603-0507-2|location=Osceola, WI|pages=10–12|oclc=38738930}}</ref> Experimentation with diesel and gas power continued, culminating in the German "[[DRG Class SVT 877|Flying Hamburger]]" in 1933, and the influential American [[EMD FT]] in 1939.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=20-22}} These successful diesel locomotives showed that diesel power was superior to steam, due to lower costs, ease of maintenance, and better reliability.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=20-23}} Meanwhile, Italy developed an extensive network of electric trains during the first decades of the 20th century, driven by that country's lack of significant coal reserves.{{sfn|Herring|2000|p=20-21}}