ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

History of rail transport in Liberia

Okay, imagine you're playing with toy cars on a big table. Now imagine if those cars were really big - so big you could actually ride in them. That's what trains are! They're really big cars that people can ride in, and they run on special tracks called railways.

Now, a long time ago in a country called Liberia, there were no roads like we have today where people could drive their cars. There were just dirt paths and muddy trails. But people still needed to get around, so they built railways for their trains to run on. This was a long time ago - way before you were born, and even before your parents were born!

The first railway built in Liberia was in the late 1800s. A company called the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company built it so they could transport goods to their rubber plantations. They used steam locomotives to pull the trains, which were filled with rubber and other things they needed.

Over time, more and more railways were built in Liberia, and people could ride on them to get to different places in the country. This was very helpful, especially for people who lived far away from each other and had to travel long distances.

But then, in the 1980s, a civil war broke out in Liberia. This meant that many of the railways were destroyed or left unused, and the trains stopped running. It was a very sad time for Liberia, and it took a long time for the country to recover.

Today, there are still some railways in Liberia that are in use, but they are not as common as they used to be. People mostly use cars and trucks to get around now. But the history of rail transport in Liberia is still important, because it helped people connect with each other and transport goods all across the country.