The Victorian Steam Trains Beneath London

London’s original underground trains were not electric but steam-powered locomotives. Passengers in 1863 traveled through dark tunnels in wooden carriages lit by gas lamps while breathing in thick coal smoke.

Imagine riding a train deep underground where steam engines chugged and filled the air with soot. The Metropolitan Railway launched this bold experiment to clear London's congested streets. It was an engineering marvel that quickly expanded into a sprawling network reaching over 50 miles away from the city center. Eventually, technology caught up and electric trains replaced the smoky steam engines at the turn of the century.