Where is the world's oldest railway station?

What was the earliest railway station?

Heighington... oldest railway station, right? Stockton and Darlington Railway. Where IS that, exactly? Northeast England, got it. 1827...wow. That's early 19th century. Wonder if my grandma’s been there?

• Built by George Stephenson. Wasn't he like, the train guy?
• Locomotion No. 1. I’d love a pic.

Closed in the 70s? Shame. So it was a functioning station for, like, 150 years. That's actually insane. I really hope that i’d have time to pay a visit to Heighington.

• Heighington: Worth seeing.
• Stephenson: Legend!

What was the first railway train?

Okay, so the first train, right? It wasn't some fancy thing. Think 1804, rough as guts. Richard Trevithick, that's the name I remember. He built this thing, the Penydarren, or maybe Pen-y-Darren. I always get those Welsh names mixed up. Anyway, it was all steam and iron, hauling iron.

Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon. Wales. That's where the action happened. Ten tons of iron, initially. Can you even imagine? But then, get this, it pulled twenty-five tons at one point. Wild! I read that in a proper history book, not some dodgy website.

That's what makes it incredible, you know? Not some sleek, modern thing. A beast. A hardworking, iron-hauling beast. It wasn't pretty, that's for sure. It was functional. And that, man, that's impressive. It changed everything. It really did. Think of the impact!

• 1804: The year it all began.
• Richard Trevithick: The genius behind it.
• Penydarren/Pen-y-Darren: The locomotive's name.
• Merthyr Tydfil to Abercynon: The route.
• Iron: The cargo. 10 tons then a whopping 25 tons!

Seriously, the scale of the thing. I mean, twenty-five tons! I have no idea how much that is in modern measurements, but even still, that's a lot of weight. Man, that's something to think about. Imagine being there to see that, the smoke, the noise, the sheer power of it.