The iron industry consumed large quantities of lumber to produce charcoal, needed for production of pig iron. The iron industry was coming to a halt. In the early 1760's through the 1780's, James Watt improved the design of the steam engine so that it could generate power. This was the most important of all the inventions of the time because it enabled coal to be burned to drive machinery. Steam-driven bellows enabled coke (produced from coal) to be burned in a blast furnace rather than charcoal. In the 1780's Henry Cort developed the puddling furnace, and steam-powered rolling mills. These developments revitalized the iron industry. All of the above developments were to change the source of energy from
wood to coal, and the preferred construction material from wood to iron. These are hallmarks of industrialization. The problem of transportation. The process would nevertheless have stagnated if there had not been a
revolution in transportation. Iron rails were developed for coal carts to be hauled to nearby water transport. The combination of iron rails and the steam engine to transport people and goods was the railroad. This was the greatest achievement in transportation since ancient times. Once accepted, it brought great numbers of consumers within reach of the growing volume of goods being produced. It made a market economy possible. Industrial development on the continent lagged behind England for at least a generation. The separation of England from the Continent by the Napoleonic Wars delayed the spread of English technology. Eventually, industrialization spread, first to the lowlands and the northeastern United States, then eastward and southward across Europe and westward across North America. For per-capita levels of industrialization during the 19th Century.
When it did come, English skilled technicians were much in demand and paid high wages. Governments played a more prominent role on the continent, particularly in the financing of railroads. These were the most visual evidence of industrialization, but required large amounts of capital.