NEXT STOP: THE FUTURE

All aboard as JD Savage takes the fast track through 200 years of train travel.

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This year celebrates Railway 200 – two centuries since the first modern railway opened in the UK. This incredible story hits the rails in 1825, as the first train ran on north-east England's brand new Stockton & Darlington Railway. Engineer George Stephenson and his son Robert's engine Locomotion No.1 wasn't fast - it only travelled about 15 miles per hour - but it carried 450 passengers, as huge crowds gathered to watch the strange vehicle in action.

Rocketing ahead

Four years later, a competition was held to find the best engine for a new line between Liverpool and Manchester. The Stephensons entered their latest invention: the Rocket.

Thanks to clever engineering - including a boiler with 25 copper tubes, instead of just one or two - it won easily, reaching an amazing 36mph. Stephenson's Rocket set the standard for train tech. Steam engines would follow its basic layout for over a century. Meanwhile, the tracks themselves were getting an upgrade. Cast-iron rails, which cracked easily, were replaced by tougher wrought iron, and later steel rails.

Sleek machines

Steam trains rapidly increased in size and power, and 100 years after Stephenson's Rocket, they also became much faster. One of the most famous speedsters was Mallard, built in 1938 by British engineer Sir Nigel Gresley. It had a smooth, streamlined shape, which was tested inside a wind tunnel to reduce drag caused by air resistance. Mallard sliced through the air at top speed, driven by three powerful cylinders (the power units in a steam engine), rather than the usual two. It also sported a more efficient "blastpipe" exhaust system that sucked smoke and steam out of the engine, drawing air through the burning coal and making the fire burn hotter.