1825 Stockton and Darlington Railway

The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington. Passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833. The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The S&DR was involved in the building of the East Coast Main Line between York and Darlington, but its main expansion was at Middlesbrough Docks and west into Weardale and east to Redcar. The company was taken over by the North Eastern Railway in 1863, transferring 200 route miles (320 km) of line and about 160 locomotives, but continued to operate independently as the Darlington Section until 1876. Much of the original route is now served by the Tees Valley Line, operated by Northern Rail.