When was the railroad locomotive invented and what is its use/ importance?

In the United States, the first locomotive, the "Tom Thumb," ran on the first section of track for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The rails were wooden beams with metal affixed to the top; maximum speed, 10 miles per hour. The construction of this first section of track began on July 4, 1828, the fifty-second anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; Charles Carroll, age 91, attended the festivities, stating that this was the greatest event of his life. Charles was the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. By 1830, 23 miles of track had been laid. By 1833, merchants financed a 136-mile long run from Charleston, South Carolina into the interior of the state. At the time, it was the longest privately owned railway in the world. By 1840, 3,000 miles of track had been laid; by 1850, 9,000; and by 1860, 30,000. One of the key reasons the North won the Civil War was its ability to move troops and materiel; the South, having a much smaller percentage of the total miles of track was at a strategic disadvantage. During the invasion, General Sherman, in his “March to the Sea” made it a point to destroy what little railway and equipment the South possessed. Once he captured Atlanta, the center of the Southern railway system, Confederate forces could no longer be resupplied. At the peak of railway activity in the 1920's, the United States possessed 250,000 miles of track.