When did the Railway Age take off?

The Railway Age started with attempts to make a steam engine small enough to be fitted to a wagon for hauling coal at collieries, the wheels moving on a wooden or iron rail for guidance. Improvements to the drive mechanism led directly to the designing of the ‘Locomotion’ by George Stephenson. The first passenger and goods service for the 27 miles between Stockton and Darlington in County Durham was opened in 1825.

This was followed in 1830 with a line between Manchester and Liverpool, but the opening saw the first railway fatality: a local MP, Mr Huskisson, who was run down by the locomotive ‘Rocket’.

Both railways were an immediate success, allowing raw materials and manufactures to be transported much faster than by canal. Their popularity with the public was great, both for leisure and work. The railway network expanded fast, although the greatest period of expansion occurred a little later, when railway mania took hold in the 1840s.