Happy 199th anniversary to the Stockton & Darlington Railway! In this month’s Tales from the Rails we are in party mood! From the laying of the first rail through to the days of British Rail, significant events and dates for the Stockton & Darlington Railway have been celebrated locally and nationally with visitors joining in the fun from abroad. We look at how and why they partied and speculate about the celebratory events in 2025. In keeping with the party spirit, this is also a musical edition with examples of music played in 1825 thanks to Queen Victoria’s Consort and we are privileged to include the newly released Pioneers from the album Passengers & Pioneers by Sam Slatcher, due out in 2025 and the evocative Take Me Home, a sonically written poem by Lizzie Lovejoy. Our Star of the S&DR is chief party organiser for the S&DR, Thomas Meynell. Chris Lloyd of the Northern Echo joins us to recount the time when he was lost for words. Meynell, that is. Not Chris. Chris is never lost for words. Enjoy!