India, June 6 -- Apu and Durga hear a strange sound, of a kind they have never heard before.

They run run run through tall grass to find out what is making the noise.

They emerge from the grass to a sight that takes their breath away. Unfortunately, Durga stumbles and misses the spectacle. Her brother Apu stares, riveted: a steam engine, huffing and puffing, is pulling a passenger train.

This is widely considered the most memorable scene in Satyajit Ray's classic, Pather Panchali (1955).

Railways spelt magic. For young Apu and Durga. For most of us.

It has been 200 years since the spell was first cast.

The world's first steam-powered passenger train made its first run, from Stockton to Darlington in England, a distance of just under...