The Stockton and Darlington railway was officially opened in September 1825. It was the first public railway in the world. Two hundred years later, in 2025, I decided to spend a year doing as much railway related stuff as I could to celebrate this anniversary.
Photographs
A Selection of photographs taken by me in 2025.
Railways
In 2025 I visited twenty steam or heritage railways and rode trains at:
The Welsh Highland Railway
The Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway
The Talyllyn Railway
The South Devon Railway
The Isle of Wight Steam Railway
The Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway
The Didcot Railway Centre
The North Norfolk Railway
The Bure Valley Railway
The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway
The Dean Forest Railway
The Snaefell Mountain Railway
The Isle of Man Steam Railway
The Groudle Glen Railway
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Great Central Railway
The Hampton & Kempton Waterworks Railway
The Barrow Hill Roundhouse
The Bluebell Railway
Stations
I also traveled the country by train, and visited 250 different railway stations as a part of journeys by train:
Aberdovey, Abergavenny, Abergynolwyn^, Ashford International, Aylsham^, Baker Street, Bank, Barking, Barrow-in-Furness, Basingstoke, Bat & Ball, Battersea Park, Battersea Power Station, Beckton, Beckton Park, Berney Arms, Blackfriars, Blackpool South, Bond Street, Bridgnorth^, Brockenhurt, Buckfastleigh^, Bungalow°, Bushey, Camden Town, Canada Water, Canary Wharf (Docklands Light Railway), Cannon Street, Carlisle, Castletown^, Charing Cross, Chessington North, Chester, Chesterfield, City Thameslink, Clapham Common, Clapham Junction, Clapham North, Colchester, Crewe, Criccieth, Cromer, Cyprus, Dalegarth^, Damems^ (Request), Darlington, Dawlish, Dawlish Warren, Deganwy, Dent, Didcot Parkway, Dinsdale, Doncaster, Douglas^, Dover Priory, Dungeness^, Ealing Broadway, Earlsfield, East Croydon, East Grinstead, East Grinstead^ (Bluebell Railway), Ebbsfleet International, Ebbw Vale Town, Elephant & castle, Elstree & Borehamwood, Euston, Exeter Central, Exeter St Davids, Eynsham^, Feltham, Fenchurch Street, Finchley Road, Finsbury Park, Folkestone West, Fulwell, Gloucester, Golspie, Great Yarmouth, Green Park, Greenford, Hamilton Square, Hammersmith (Circle and Hammersmith & City), Hammersmith (District and Piccadilly), Hampstead, Hampton, Hampton Court, Hampton Wick, Hanworth Halt^, Havenstreet^, Haworth^, Helmsdale, Heron Quays, Highley^, Holt^, Horsted Keynes^, Hoverton and Wroxham, Hythe, Ingrow West^, Inverness, James Street, Keighley, Kennington, Kensal Rise, Kew Gardens, Kidderminster, Kidderminster Town^, King’s Cross, Kingston, Lake, Lancaster, Laxey°, Leeds, Leicester, Leicester North^, Lhen Coan^, Lime Kiln Halt^ (Request), Limehouse, Liverpool Street, Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Llanfair Caereinion^, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, London Bridge, Loughborough, Loughborough Central^, Ludlow, Lydney Junction^, Lydney^, Manningtree, Market Harborough, Marylebone, Moorgate, Morecambe, Mornington Crescent, Nant Gwernol^, New Malden, New Romney^, Newark Castle, Newark Northgate, Newcastle, Newport, Norchad High Level^, Norwich, Nottingham, Oakworth^, Okehampton, Old Street, Oxenhope^, Oxford Circus, Oxford Road^, Paddington, Parkend^, Peterborough, Pimlico, Poplar, Port Erin^, Port Soderick^, Porthmadog, Porthmadog Harbour^, Portsmouth & Southsea, Portsmouth Harbour, Preston, Pudding Mill Lane, Queenstown Road, Quorn & Woodhouse^, Ravenglass, Ravenglass^, Raynes Park, Reading, Rhyd Ddu^, Richmond, Romney Sands^, Ronaldsway Halt^ (Request), Rothley^, Roundhouse Halt, Royal Oak, Ryde Esplanade, Sandling, Sandown, Sea Lion Rocks^, Sellafield, Seven Kings, Seven Sisters, Sevenoaks, Shadwell (Docklands Light Railway), Sheffield Park^, Sherborne, Sheringham, Sheringham^ (North Norfolk Railway), Shipley, Shrewsbury, Slough, Smallbrook Junction, Smethwick Galton Bridge, Snaefell Summit°, South Wimbledon, Southampton Central, Southwark, St Annes-on-the-sea, St Bees, St Pancras International, Staverton^, Stockton, Stockwell, Stourbridge Junction, Stourbridge Town, Stratford, Strawberry Hill, Teddington, Thornaby, Thurso, Tisbury, Totnes, Totnes Riverside^, Turnham Green, Twickenham, Tywyn, Tywyn Wharf^, Upney, Vauxhall, Victoria, Wapping, Warren Street, Warrington Bank Quay, Waterloo, Waterloo East, Welshpool, Welshpool Raven Square^, West Ealing, West Hampstead, West Hampstead (Jubilee line), West Hampstead Thameslink, West India Quay, West Ruislip, Weybourne^, Weybridge, Whitehaven, Whitton, Willesden Junction, Wimbledon, Windsor & Eton Central, Windsor & Eton Riverside, Woking, Wootton^, Worcester Shrub Hill, Workington, Wraysbury, Wroxham^, Yeovil Junction, and York
^Travelling by steam hauled train.
°Travelling by electric vehicle over 125 years old.
(Request) means the train was stopped for me.