·1881年建造的 “龍?zhí)枴睓C(jī)車

清光緒六年(1880),李鴻章為了開(kāi)平礦務(wù)局運(yùn)煤的需要，同時(shí)從軍事上考慮，認(rèn)為“非鐵路不能收使臂使指之效” ,于是聘請(qǐng)英人金達(dá)為技師，于光緒七年(1881),修建了一條從唐山礦地到胥各莊的鐵路，約長(zhǎng)11公里； 鐵路寬度為4尺8寸半，是日后路軌的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)寬度。1933年定稿的《天津政俗沿革記》對(duì)此做了記載：“光緒七年，開(kāi)平礦局始創(chuàng)，造鐵路二十里，以便轉(zhuǎn)運(yùn)?！边@是中國(guó)早期自己修造的最長(zhǎng)的一條鐵路。
但是，鐵路建成后，腐朽的清朝統(tǒng)治者害怕機(jī)車震壞了皇陵，不準(zhǔn)使用運(yùn)行，只準(zhǔn)用騾馬拖帶，使火車變成了馬車，當(dāng)時(shí)被人們謔稱為“馬車鐵路” 。后來(lái)，經(jīng)過(guò)一番周折，才重新獲準(zhǔn)使用機(jī)車。
光緒十二年(1886),唐山煤礦積煤日多，運(yùn)煤的路程卻不通暢。李鴻章又提議把唐山胥各莊鐵路延伸到蘆臺(tái)，全長(zhǎng)32公里，建筑費(fèi)用13.5萬(wàn)兩銀； 同時(shí)，鐵路脫離礦務(wù)局而另設(shè)開(kāi)平鐵路公司經(jīng)營(yíng)。不久，又建議把唐山蘆臺(tái)鐵路續(xù)修到大沽和天津，不僅利于開(kāi)平運(yùn)煤，而且為北洋海防調(diào)運(yùn)軍隊(duì)和軍火之用。
轉(zhuǎn)年3月，李鴻章將開(kāi)平鐵路公司改名為天津鐵路公司 (又稱津沽鐵路公司) ,并且加以擴(kuò)充，負(fù)責(zé)筑路工程事宜。這就是外國(guó)人所稱的“中國(guó)鐵路公司” ,它也是中國(guó)最早的鐵路公司。李鴻章任命伍廷芳主持公司事務(wù)并兼管財(cái)務(wù)； 英國(guó)人金達(dá)為技術(shù)監(jiān)督兼理事，負(fù)責(zé)鐵路工程。該公司為官督商辦，擬招商股100萬(wàn)兩銀，但是僅招商股10.85萬(wàn)兩，其余大部分資金由李鴻章籌集，主要向天津海防支應(yīng)局等借支銀16萬(wàn)兩，向怡和洋行及德商華泰銀行借款107.6萬(wàn)兩，總計(jì)耗資銀約150萬(wàn)兩。《天津政俗沿革記》對(duì)此也有記載： “光緒十三年，設(shè)開(kāi)平鐵路商局于紅樓，蓋純是商辦也，后因兵船運(yùn)煤不便，復(fù)接造六十五里，南抵薊河上嚴(yán)莊為止，此即北塘至山海關(guān)中段之路?！?br>光緒十四年(1888)七月，正當(dāng)津唐鐵路由蘆臺(tái)向塘沽、天津展修時(shí)，朝廷的親德派聯(lián)芳和廊昌請(qǐng)來(lái)德國(guó)工程師鮑爾，結(jié)果與英籍工程師金達(dá)發(fā)生爭(zhēng)執(zhí)。于是留美學(xué)生詹天佑被推薦為“中國(guó)鐵路公司”工程師，他以卓越的才能，親自出色指揮了塘沽至天津段的路軌鋪設(shè)工程，僅用了80天即完成。但是，李鴻章竟將這一功績(jī)歸于洋人金達(dá)身上，中國(guó)工程師詹天佑的辛勤勞動(dòng)成果，被統(tǒng)治者抹煞了。
同年10月，唐山到天津的鐵路全線竣工，時(shí)稱北洋鐵路，亦即津唐鐵路，并在天津的旺道莊修建了天津火車站。李鴻章率官商乘火車勘驗(yàn)全線工程。10月19日在車站舉行了盛大的通車典禮，直隸按察史周馥奉李鴻章之命率官員出席。這是中國(guó)的第一條運(yùn)營(yíng)鐵路。
津唐鐵路通車后，李鴻章又想將這條鐵路延修到通州。但是清政府沒(méi)有批準(zhǔn)。理由是： 鐵路一旦通到北京，害怕外國(guó)軍隊(duì)從大沽登陸可以乘火車直取京城； 修筑鐵路要鏟墳、拆廬，滋擾民眾等等。
光緒二十一年(1895),中日甲午戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)之后，李鴻章再次提議將津唐鐵路由天津延伸到北京。為防頑固派阻擾，這次奏請(qǐng)將終點(diǎn)站設(shè)在盧溝橋。獲得朝廷允準(zhǔn)后，于同年開(kāi)始動(dòng)工。
光緒二十三年(1897),京津鐵路由天津延伸到豐臺(tái)； 接著又通到永定門外的馬家堡。并由豐臺(tái)修建一條支線抵盧溝橋。同年九月五日，京津 (馬家堡—天津)鐵路正式通車。由此構(gòu)成了以天津?yàn)橹行牡娜珖?guó)聞名的京山鐵路。

·早期的天津火車站

In 1880 (the 6th year of Emperor Guangxu),LiHongzhang decided to build a railway to transport thecoal produced at the Kailuan Coal Mining Bureau andto meet military uses. He hired a British by the nameof Jinda as the engineer. In 1881,an 11-kilometre-long railway was built from Kuangdi of Tangshan toXugezhuang. Its breadth between the two rails was 1.5metres,which became the standard of railways later.In 1933,the author of Tianjin Zhengsu Yan`geji wrote,"In the 7th year of Emperor Guangxu,Kaiping CoalMining Bureau built a railway of 20 miles for the use oftransportation." This was the longest railway built by theChinese people in earlier modern China.
After the completion of the railway,the Qing rulerswere afraid that the locomotives would shake the royalmausoleum. It forbade the use of the locomotives,andmules and horses were used instead. It was ridiculousthat the railway became a carriage,and the train wascalled "carriage railway". After many setbacks,thelocomotives were permitted to use.
In 1886,the raw coal in Tangshan accumulated toa large amount but suffered from poor transportation. LiHongzhang decided to extend the Tangshan-XugezhuangRailway to Lutai. The total cost of the 32-kilometer-longrailway was 135,000 taels. The railway was managedby Kaiping Railway Company instead of Kaiping CoalMining Bureau. Later,Tangshan-Lutai Raiway wasextended to Dagu and Tianjin,to transport coal producedfrom Kaiping and ammunitions for coastal defense.
In March 1887,Governor-General Li Hong zhangchanged the name of Kaiping Railway Company toTianjin Railway Company (or Jingu Railway Company),responsible for railway construction. It was called byforeigners as the "China Railway Company",whichwas the first railway company in China. Li appointedWu Tingfang in charge of the company and its financeand British Jinda responsible for techniques of therailway construction. The company was owned by thegovernment and run by businessmen. The offer was 1million taels but the company only raised 108,500 taels.The remaining 1.5 million was borrowed by Li fromTianjin Coastal Defense Bureau (1.6 million taels) andYihe Yanghang & Huatai Bank (1.076 million taels). TheTianjin Zhengsu Yan`geji noted that "in the 13th year ofEmperor Guangxu,Kaiping Railway Company was setup in a red building. Because it was inconvenient forwarships to carry coal,the railway was extended by 65li to the south of Shangyan Village near the Jihe River.This is the railway from Beitang to Shanhaiguan."
In July 1888,Lian Fang and Langchang of QingGovernment invited Paul,a German,as the engineerand quarreled with British engineer Jinda when JintangRailway was extended to Tanggu and Tianjin,so ZhanTianyou,who had studied in the US,was recommendedas the engineer of the China Railway Company. Zhanwas excellent in leadership of the project. It took himonly 80 days to finish the construction from Tanggu toTianjin,but Governor-General Li Hongzhang later owedall these achievements toJinda. Zhan`s contributionswere ignored by the government.
In October,the railway from Tangshan to Tianjinwas finished. It was called Northern Railway or JintangRailway. The railway station was built at WangdaoVillage of Tianjin. Li Hongzhang led the officialsand businessmen to inspect the railwayinthetrain.Under Li`s order,Zhou Fu led the officials to attend theopening ceremony,which was held at the railway stationon October 19. This was the first business operation ofrailway in China.
After Jintang Railway came into operation,Li planned to extend it to Tongzhou; but the QingGovernment overruled the plan,worrying that once therailway reached Beijing,the foreign armies could landon Dagu and then occupied the capital by train. TheQing Court also worried that the construction of railwayswould shovel tombs,demolish civilian houses anddisturb the people.
After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,LiHongzhang proposed again to extend Jintang Railwayto Beijing. To avoid interruption,the end of the railwaywas built at Lugou Bridge. With the approval from thecourt,the construction began.
In 1897,the Jingjin Railway was extendedfrom Tianjin to Fengtai,then to Majiabao out ofYongdingmen,and finally to Fengtai by a lateral line.On September 5,the Jingjin Railway from Majiabao toTianjin opened to traffic. This was the famous JinshanRailway with Tianjin as the center in China.

·1888年李鴻章率唐廷樞、伍廷芳等視察唐津鐵路