This photograph was taken during the celebrations to mark the centenary. It shows a replica of Locomotion 1 pulling the world’s first rail passenger coach Experiment, and passengers sitting in wagons, in a mock up of the opening event in 1825. The anniversary events were attended by the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and the Queen Mother), as well as hundreds of ordinary people and enthusiasts.
There were, of course, no cameras to record the opening in 1825. Sketches, descriptions and John Dobbin’s famous painting ‘Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, 1825’ give us a good idea of what the original event must have looked like.
Image courtesy of Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum