Category: Historical
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The world’s first railway to be authorised by an Act of Parliament was the Surrey Iron Railway. This was a certainty despite the long held assertion the line had been the world’s first public railway. In the first part of this feature, the Surrey Iron Railway had numerous other achievements that were too a first,…
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The tube was the first in the UK or Europe to adopt automated train control or Centralised Train Control (CTC) on a passenger line. This was used on the Metropolitan Railway’s new Stanmore branch which opened in 1932. The CTC was fully completed in 1933 when the branch became part of LPTB. In 1939 the…
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A recent video from Our History Underfoot (26th May 2026) covering the former Hayfield branch in Derbyshire was featured, along with the peculiar train operation at New Mills Central. This brought to mind a piece written a few years ago that included a picture of a DMU at rest within the tunnel leading to the…
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When it comes to the history of the London Underground, the Morden-Edgware Line is essentially unknown. It is undoubtedly mentioned in a variety of historical sources, both online and in books, but only briefly. There is absolutely no thorough history of that tube line. In its original presentation, this had been the first in-depth write-up…
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Plateways, characterized by their flat-topped rails or “plates” often laid on stone blocks, were designed to be pulled by horses. These early railways were primarily for private transport of goods – usually for canals, mines or factories. The Surrey Iron Railway was in essence a public railway, being accessible to any individual or company willing…
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Remember the post A Revisionist Surrey Iron Railway? This post goes further that the detail featured in the previous one – and that because its not a revision in any way or form. In fact its a prequel of sorts to the Surrey and Croydon to Merstham iron railways. And that means its both factual…
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2026 is the 180th anniversary of the closure of one of the world’s earliest public railways. It wasn’t a passenger carrying railway however. The Surrey Iron Railway was officially closed on 31st August 1846. Its traffic had been considerably low for at least two decades prior to that date and in the final years there…
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The final day of the space mission, including splashdown, which takes place in the early hours of tomorrow (11th April 2026). But first this interesting video from Speedify which attempted to explain the differences between 2026’s Artemis 2 mission and that of the Apollo missions. He is quite right about these things. The Apollo broadcasts…
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This is an intermediary post, as I’m keeping the number of posts towards splashdown to a minimum. To start with after the lunar flyby the question on earth for everyone interested is when do we get to see the high quality images and videos? Have been thinking this since last night – and despite a…
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Its the big day! The one where they go round Luna and see the dark side of the moon (DSOTM) – no doubt Pink Floyd’s iconic album needs to enter the dialogue somehow! Some might wonder why would London Rail be following the Artemis 2 program? Its because I faithfully followed the Apollo program and…
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Latest Posts
- The Surrey Iron Railway #2
- London’s first CTC project
- New Mill’s mystery ‘DMU’ tunnel
- The Morden-Edgware line
- The Wetterhorn Aufzug
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