JOURNEY INTO THE CHUFFING UNKNOWN...

Two centuries on from the birth of the world's first passenger trainline, ROB CROSSAN goes in search of the historical roots of the Stockton And Darlington Railway, and discovers some very odd facts indeed

THERE are many reasons to be fearful of train travel in the current age delays, cost, the state of the toilets but rarely do today's passengers cite fear of their uterus exploding as a reason not to board a loco. Yet that was one of the prime concerns of female passengers who were beginning to learn about the purpose of the immense construction work being undertaken around the coal fields and countryside of Darlington and Stockton.

"Women really were worried, once they found out how fast this new invention could travel, that they could come to severe medical harm, including the danger that their uteruses could start erupting," reveals Caroline Hardie, an archaeologist, children's writer, podcaster and trustee of the Friends of the Stockton and Darlington Railway society.

"Not only that, but some people were concerned that the amount of iron being placed on the land would disrupt and move magnetic north!" The legacy of the small railway line built two centuries ago is immense and, to many, a mixed blessing.

Neither miserable intercity commutes nor glorious journeys on the Orient Express or the Trans-Siberian would be possible without the innovation and determination of George Stephenson and a wool merchant (and prominent Quaker) called Edward Pease.

For anyone walking around the lanes and coaching roads of the area now known as Teesside in 1824, the noise and scale of the building work taking place would have been unavoidable. Although there were already some primitive train lines in existence around the pits to transport coal, this would be the very first train line to carry both cargo and paying passengers.

RUMOUR and fact intermingled among the local population, with missives from the nascent train company promising scheduled daily travel on the 25 miles from the Phoenix Pit near Whitton Park to Cottage Row in Stockton at the, then quite terrifyingly fast, speed of 12 to 15 miles per hour.