September 27, 1825 - World's First Passenger Train

The above image was copied from "The History of Transportation", a small book published by the Railway Education Bureau in 1927.

On September 27, 1825, Locomotion No. 1 became the world's first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway, in North East England.

Locomotion No. 1 was built by George Stephenson at his son Robert's company, the Robert Stephenson and Company.

George Stephenson drove the first train. The engine was called Active (later renamed Locomotion). It pulled a train with 450 passengers at a speed of 15 miles an hour.

George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – – 12 August 1848) was a self made mechanical engineer, largely credited with building the first railway line and becoming the ‘father of the railways’.

His rail gauge of 4 feet 8.5 inches became the global standard gauge for most of the world's railways.

George also built the first public inter-city railway line in the world to use locomotives, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830. 

Stephenson's "Locomotion No. 1" can be seen at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, located in an original 1840s railway station.