1-632-838 - Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images

Building the retaining wall near Park Street, Camden Town, London, 17th September 1836 (1838). Scene during the construction of the London & Birmingham Railway. Under the guidance of chief engineer Robert Stephenson, the 112 mile line running from Curzon Street station in Birmingham to Euston station in London, took 20,000 men almost five years to complete. The railway was finally completed on 17 September 1838, becoming the first railway into London.