Railway 200

In September/October of 2025 I went over to Britain to celebrate Railway 200. The 200th anniversary of the modern railway (1825 - 2025) This was my first proper I went to England when I was like 3 months old to see family time going overseas to somewhere that's not Oceania. Going to England has been something I've wanted to do for pretty much my whole life, and I could not have gone at a better time.

About 90% of my trip was in England, but I also had a few days in Wales. In my original plan I was also going to go to Scotland, but I ran out of time in the end (next time trust) One day it would be cool to explore the British Isles.

I brought my DSLR Fancy camera everywhere I went on my trip, but most of the time I preferred to just enjoy the moment irl and forgot to take photographs. Here are a few of the half decent ones that I did take (unedited)

Railways I visited

I was only in Britain for 23 days, so I only got to see the tiniest fraction of things. There is so much to do there it's actually insane. I could probably spend six months in London alone. Here is a list (in order) of all heritage railways I visited. Many of them were visited on gala weekends.

• Swanage Railway
• Nene Valley Railway
• Buckinghamshire Railway Centre
• Talyllyn Railway
• Ffestiniog & Welsh highland railway
• Severn Valley Railway
• Epping Ongar Railway
• Isle Of Wight Steam Railway
• Beamish (trams but close enough)
• Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
• North Yorkshire Moors Railway
• Locomotion (like 3 metres of track (still counts))
• Tanfield Railway
• Bluebell Railway
• West Somerset Railway

I cannot pick a favourite because all were so good for different reasons, but I remembered the most from the KWVR so I think that shall be my favourite. My original list had over one hundred railways/activities, but I am quite happy with the ones that I chose.

Celebrating Railway 200

On the day of Railway 200, 27 September, I went to Locomotion. My original plan was to go to Hopetown Darlington for the anniversary (obviously) Hopetown Darlington is a museum on the grounds of the first 'modern' railway, the Stockton & Darlington railway. Railway 200 marks the S&DR's 200th birthday. but I was too late when booking tickets. At Locomotion I was able to ride a replica of Stephenson's Rocket, The first actually good steam locomotive and I also went on Inspiration Inspiration is a travelling museum (a train) that toured Great Britain during Railway 200 The day after, 28, I went to Hopetown Darlington. Prince Edward was there for some reason. Hopetown Darlington was honestly a little bit of a let-down, I was expecting more for how much it was hyped up. I did see the Locomotion replica, The first locomotive to run on the S&DR and I got to go on the Footplate of both Tornado A very famous new-build locomotive completed in 2008 and Sir Nigel Gresley. A very famous locomotive named after it's designer, Sir Nigel Gresley I am rather glad that I was at Locomotion during the celebration, because it was a much cooler place.

Getting around

In England I used the railway for everything (except for the bus like one or two times) Obviously the tube was used extensively too. For the first few days that I arrived there was a tube strike. Luckily, I was staying in Whitechapel which has an Elizabeth line station. When I went to the isle of wight I went on a hovercraft which was really cool. In Wales I used a car to save time (railway strat was a mega detour (cannot afford to lose any time)) I used the channel tunnel and Paris metro too. I flew into Heathrow, and I flew out from Charles de Gaulle. Both flights needed me to stop in singapore to switch aeroplanes.

Regardless for my love of trains, using the train is by far the best, and cheapest, way to travel around Great Britain. I brought a BritRail pass, which gave me unlimited travel on all trains (except TFL stuff) in England. I got the first-class pass, so all travelling was in first-class. Massive respect to that one lady from LNER who made me a hot chocolate who had the worlds loveliest accent ever (first class gives you free food/drink) For when in London, I got a visitor Oyster Card which gave me a decent discount.

The goat pub

For some reason it's like impossible to find a pub that does a steak in England/Wales (or anywhere that sells a steak ngl) When I was in Wales I went to the worlds coolest pub. It was next to this beautiful lake and had awesome mountains all around it, but the coolest thing about it was a railway used to go straight through it, as it was a station, and they kept the semaphores. mechanical traffic lights for trains The post had a starter signal, Home/Starter signals tell a train to stop/go and a distance signal. Distance signals warn the driver of the state of the next signal. This gives them time to slow down if needed (it takes a long time for trains to stop) There is also the original signal box, but it is in a bit of a state. I am pretty sure it is going to be restored and turned into a hotel. It felt good to have a proper meal too (10 days no steak challenge (impossible)) The actual building was also so lovely and warm.

It is called the George III Hotel, and its address is A493, Penmaenpool, Dolgellau LL40 1YD (Wales btw (Great Britain))

Awesome urinal I saw

At Hopetown Darlington there is a preserved Victorian toilet. I do not remember much about it sorry. I do remember it said something about being very rare at the time (1800s) There were about 15 of them in the room. Inside each urinal there was a little bit of cardboard telling you not to use them (not fair)

The toilets at Hopetown Darlington only had men's versions, and there were no 'single' versions of the urinals (either three, or six if it was in the centre of the room) I also saw another interesting urinal at the severn valley railway. This one I did actually get to use. It was very cramped inside, but so cool to piss in something that historic.