The Flying Scotsman was built in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway, and earned its name from the London to Edinburgh rail service of the day. It was designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, with the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 making it world famous. It is 70 feet long, and weighs 96 tonnes. It was the first train to officially hit 100mph in service, in 1934. HOWEVER, the City of Truro steam engine was claimed to have beat that speed earlier, hitting 102mph in 1904. It also set a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles (679 km) on August 8, 1989 while in Australia. The Flying Scotsman retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 2,076,000 miles (3,341,000 km) but has since gained considerable fame in preservation.

credit: cralst

The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the British Science Museum Group of National Museums and telling the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is said to be the largest railway museum in the world and is home to several famous locomotives. Collection includes over 1,000,000 objects from over 300 years of railway history.

Opening times:
10am – 6pm daily,

Admission:
Free entry

credit: Timitrius

The Bedfordshire Steam and Country Fayre is held at the end of September at the Old Warden Park near Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. Attracting over 20,000 visitors each year, the Bedford Steam Engine Preservation Society aims to give an insight into the country life at the turn of the 20th Century when steam was in its hey day. Many working demonstrations are taking place wherever you may care to roam on the 400 acre site.

credit: Adam Shazwan Tyler

AGV Italo is the first train in the AGV Series which entered into service in April 2012. It has a maximum operational speed of 360kmph. The train broke a record speed of 574.8kmph in April 2007. AGV Italo was built by Alstom. The AGV is offered in trainset configurations of 7, 8, 10, 11 and 14 cars. AGV 575 is currently the fastest operating train in Europe and third fastest train in the world. It will continue to hold the title as the fastest operating train in Europe until 2015, when it will be toppled by Frecciarossa 1000’s entry into service.

Manufacturer: Alstom
Car body construction: carbon with carbon composite
Train length: 132.100 m (433 ft 4 3?4 in) (7 car)
Car length: intermediate: 17.300 m (56 ft 9 1?8 in)
Width: 2,985 mm (9 ft 9 1?2 in)
Weight: 272 t
Power output: 6.080 MW
Maximum speed: 360 km/h (220 mph) at 25 kV 50 Hz AC

credit: Peter Glyn

There are just a few Japanese model train manufacuterers. All models are fully working. Kato, Tomix, Micro Ace and Green Max are considered as main-stream mass manufacturers. Model trains are not quite as popular a hobby as they used to be, but for Japanese, model trains are a huge pleasure.

credit: foolish adler

The Royal Border Bridge was the last link in completing a continuous railway line running between London and Edinburgh. Designed by Robert Stephenson. It was opened in the mid 19th century by Queen Victoria. It is located in Berwick Upon Tweed England`s northernmost town which has passed between English and Scottish control over a dozen times Signs of ancient conflict. The North East of England is known as the birthplace of the railways. The bridge is 2,152 feet in length and has 28 arches that span the Tweed with a graceful curve at a height up to 126 feet above the river bed. The Royal Border Bridge still carries the East Coast Main Line Railway from London to Edinburgh.

Total length: 659 m
Opened: 1850
Body of water: River Tweed
Architect: Robert Stephenson

credit: Jonathan Combe

credit: Karen Bryan

credit: Karen Bryan

credit: Karen Bryan

credit: Karen Bryan

credit: Phil Sangwell

credit: Andrew Bowden

Passenger rail line reduced the 1069 km journey between the largest cities in central and southern China Wuhan – Guangzhou to 3 hours, shortens the original route more than seven and a half hours by using CRH2 train. The CRH2 is one of the high speed trains in China. Trains reach top speeds of 350 km/h and average 310 km/h for the whole journey. The train is capable of a speed of 394.2 kilometers per hour, which is the fastest train in service in the world. You can book a seats online : First Seat: $83 Second Seat: $132

The station was built between 1867 and 1871 with Adolf W. Edelsvärd as the architect. Stockholm Central Station was opened July 18, 1871. In front of the central station stands a statue of Nils Ericson. Today, the station is the largest travel centre in Sweden with over 250,000 visitors daily.