Large scale use of coal predates electrification and railroads.

1712: Newcomen's steam engine.

1765: Watt's first engine.

1800: First battery.

1804: First steam locomotive.

1832: First DC generator.

The book (https://archive.org/details/ahistorycoalmin00gallgoog/page/n...) referenced by wikipedia claims that the change from wood to coal for domestic use occurred during the reign of the first Elizabeth.

The first steam locomotive was built by a cornishman. He was interested in pumping out mines, but not coal mines, as they didn't have coal. The resultant need for efficient use of the imported Welsh coal may have been the driver of the next evolutionary step and then allowed the miniaturisation which led to locomotives.

(The Cornish steam engines also come up a lot due to them doing a lot of improvements that Watt held back with patent shenanigans, and a collaborative approach to their improvements)

Before electricity was a thing the steam engines were also used to pump water which then ran machinery hydraulicly, like cranes. Which piggybacked on improvements in civic water supplies.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Armstrong,_1st_Baron...

(Same guy had the first house lit by hydroelectric power later)

Look, we use wood at home now, and given the chimneys in this house everyone else here has always done that too (or the house wouldn't have made it).

My point is that this sort of transition isn't immediate and universal. Some people had the motivation and opportunity to use coal, there were lots of advantages and it spread... slowly... at the same time the infrastructure to extract and distribute it developed.

There are no transitions. It's a myth fueled by relative use graphics, in really in absolute value consumption has only been growing.

You're missing the point. That's not incompatible with what I say. The critical mass just wasn't reached.