Steam Locomotives Roar: The World's First Public Railway Opens
The engine was called Locomotion No. 1, and it pulled 450 passengers in coal wagons — some sitting on top of the coal itself — for 26 miles from Shildon to Stockton at about 15 miles per hour. Crowds lined the tracks. One man was killed when he fell under the wheels. The Stockton and Darlington's engineer, George Stephenson, had argued for years that steam could replace horses. This 26-mile journey proved it. Every commuter train running today traces its lineage back to that single cold September ride.
September 27, 1825
201 years ago
What Else Happened on September 27
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