Our March talk will be presented by former Café Sci organiser Jan Gillet at St Patrick’s Irish club at 7:30. Please note that, due to St Patrick’s Day, it will be on Tuesday rather than Monday.

In 1825 a famous primitive steam locomotive drew a train of passengers and goods on the Stockton and Darlington railway: just about, for it had many shortcomings. Within ten years multiple improvements on many lines led to the format of steam locomotives that would endure for a hundred years.

This development story has been largely dismissed as trial and error metal bashing. Recent research has however demonstrated that a good deal of systematic, scientific processes were applied, and the bicentenary is an opportunity to make it more widely known.

Many of the lessons they learned back then are relevant to the modern railway and we can use them to understand why there have been so many expensive problems in recent decades.

There are an amazing number of preserved artefacts and replicas from this time, and many opportunities in the bicentennial year to appreciate them. Jan will explain where things are happening and when; drawing on his experience growing up near the Stockton and Darlington railway, and with distant relatives who were instrumental in its development.