The Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway

Commissioned by Henry Pease (1807-81), the last surviving son of Edward Pease, the Father of the Railways, for the 50th Anniversary of the opening. It was first exhibited at a Conversazione held in Central Hall in 1875 by Henry Fell Pease (1838-96), the son of Henry Pease and Mayor of Darlington that year.
There are three known versions of this celebrated scene. First, the finished painting painted in 1871, second, a rather naive sketch now in the Science Museum collection, and third, a sepia version also dated 1871 in the National Railway Museum.
The railway was opened on 27th September 1825, and was the first railway in the world to use steam locomotives.