On 1 July 1925, the oldest railway in the world celebrated its 100th birthday. The Stockton to Darlington Railway was the first to use steam locomotives, and the centenary of its opening was marked by a 54-train procession featuring some of the locomotives that had run on the track over the previous 100 years.

Here, one of the railway’s most modern engines – the three-year-old City of Newcastle – passes a stand that had been specially erected for spectators. At the time this photograph was taken, the British railway system was close to its greatest extent and covered 20,000 miles (32,000km) – a far cry from the Stockton to Darlington Railway’s initial 15-mile (24km) track.

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