Steam-powered trains first began to gain traction in the United States in 1830.
Tom Thumb, built in 1830, was the first steam locomotive built in the United States, and the first to operate in the United States. It operated on the oldest rail company in the US, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, also established in 1830. From the 1830s to 1860s, there was much expansion of railroad building and locomotive travel in the US.