200 years ago today, at roughly 9am, between 450 and 600 people boarded 21 waggons with seats on them at Brusselton, County Durham, England. There were also 8 coal and one flour Waggon attached to the train, and Experiment, a closed carriage.

This train was hauled by a steam engine built by Timothy Hackworth and James Kennedy, engineers at the Robert Stephenson and Co. factory in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. At the time, it had no designation, but it was given number 1 by 1827, and was named “Locomotion” sometime around 1833.

This engine proceeded to haul the train to Darlington over the next two hours, with two stops, one due to a broken waggon, and the other for some minor repairs to the engine. It reached a peak speed of 15mph, and averaged 8mph on that trip if you discount the time needed for repairs.

This is widely considered to be a turning point for the railways, as the first steam-hauled passenger train in England, and is being celebrated for that today. #SDR200 #Rail200