27 September 1825: Locomotion No. 1 sets off on the Stockton and Darlington railway, built by George and Robert Stephenson. This is the first ever public railway journey, and this date is considered to be the beginning of the Railway Age.
Over the next few decades, a railway boom would engulf first Britain and then the world, fuelling the industrial revolution and shrinking travel times. Poor families who had not left their village in generations would soon be able to travel great distances.
On this occasion, amid great fanfare, the engine transported around 600 people 8.7 miles - at an average of 8 miles per hour.