It is now over 200 years since the world’s first steam railway locomotive made its maiden voyage along a primitive plateway in South Wales – in 1804 Richard Trevithick’s high-pressure steam locomotive successfully hauled a loaded train a distance of nine miles at an average speed of two mph.
The Mid Norfolk Railway is running a static Mother’s Day event this year at Dereham station, as unfortunately, over-running engineering works mean that the planned start of passenger services has had to be delayed.
When most people think about the birth of the steam locomotive, they think of Robert Stephenson’s famous Rocket – but that engine followed more than 20 years of development during the late Georgian era.
The life and work of an ingenious engineer, Colonel Stephens, who inspired Britain’s preserved railway sector is celebrated in a new publication written by Heritage Railway magazine editor Robin Jones.
