THEN AND NOW: Photos that show what train travel used to be like

From basic beginnings, trains quickly became a relatively glamorous form of transport, with plenty of amenities if you could afford it.

To show the differences over the years, we rounded up photos from the early 19th century through today, to see how train travel has changed, and what lies in store for the future.

The first passenger train ever produced was the Locomotion No. 1, built in 1825 by the pioneering engineers, George and Robert Stephenson, in northeast England. On September 27 of that year, it transported 11 wagons of coal and 20 wagons of passengers on tracks in Darlington, England with a maximum speed of just 15 mph.

Locomotion No.1 was carefully preserved after being retired from service and has been housed in various transport museums in and around the northeast of England, currently residing at Locomotion (formerly The National Railway Museum Shildon). A full-scale replica can also be seen at the Beamish Museum in northeast England.

With the success of Locomotion No. 1, the door opened to viable steam rail networks, first in England, and in 1830, the Liverpool to Manchester rail line opened in the UK.

The same year in the United States, the first public steam-powered rail passenger service began operations in South Carolina, leading to a Transcontinental Railroad by 1869.

As rail travel developed into Europe and across the United States, a "Golden Age" of trains arrived, with railroad companies vying for business.

Engine speeds increased, and various flagship services offered increasingly alluring levels of luxury that would stretch well into the 20th century.

In the years after World War II, developments in diesel engines meant that steam trains were slowly replaced, and by the 1950s, diesel locomotives were the predominant engines in the United States, as the fuel delivered lower operating and infrastructure costs.

In the early days of locomotion, operating a train was a matter of mechanics. Drivers and engineers had to contend with all manner of levers and gauges as well as the manual stoking of the boilers, and more.

This involved process did deliver impressive results. For instance, the Mallard train broke the rail speed record in 1938 by reaching 126 mph.

Now, most trains can be driven by one person, with everything controlled electronically or by computer.

Modern-day trains are much sleeker than their 1950s counterparts. Though Amtrak's fleet still mainly uses diesel engines, some services are powered by electricity and a few are dual powered.

As rail travel became affordable, large train stations were built in major cities.

Most of the major London train stations that operate today were up and running by the end of the 19th century.

Large, elaborate train stations became a sign of prestige for cities, and many enjoyed grand architectural flourishes, some of which can still be appreciated today.

Almost all of the world's oldest operating train stations are from the 1830s in England, and many are still used, such as Liverpool Lime Street and London Bridge.

Vitebsky Railway Station in St Petersburg, Russia, is also from around this time, opening in 1837.

Original fixtures and fittings in older stations were built to last, and especially in Europe, travelers can often still see historic ticket booths, waiting rooms, and facades.

Iconic stations include the gothic architecture of London's St. Pancras International, the Art Deco and Spanish Colonial chic of Los Angeles Union Station, and the baroque grandeur of Metro Station Komsomolskaya, Moscow in Russia.

Terminals now usually include retail outlets and fast food units and are built as transport hubs, connecting to metro lines and bus stations, as seen above in China.

Terminals are still built to last given what huge investments they are, though it remains to be seen as to whether they will be considered as classic designs in 100 years' time.

Passengers arriving at any station have always needed easy access to service information. The split-flat display board (sometimes known as Solari departure boards after their inventor) arrived in the 1950s and its clacking sound became a major part of the travel experience.

These days, information can be instantly and remotely updated via electronic and digital means. Passengers can also usually sign up to railway company apps to have information sent straight to their smartphones.

Train services rely on remote control rooms, with operators making sure that lines are running safely and that collisions and delays are avoided.

For many years, physical levers and switches were needed to make the necessary changes to the tracks and the network.

Although we still need engineers to design and control the networks, their growing complexity is made manageable by the use of computers and digital applications.

For many people in the early 20th century, especially those living outside of big cities, train travel was an adventure, and they'd take photos to commemorate the journey, as evidenced by photos from the time, such as the one shown above.

Most people these days use trains for commuting to work or other day-to-day journeys.

You might still snap a selfie if it's a special vacation, but most train travel favors functional over adventurous.

If you wanted to buy a ticket from Seattle to Chicago in 1912, it would have cost you $75 one-way for a sleeper car.

This is the equivalent of around $2,000 of modern-day buying power, adjusted for inflation.

These days, Superliner Roomette tickets on the Amtrak Empire Builder for this same route start at around $900 for a private sleeper room (or around $450 per person, based on double occupancy.

The uniforms of railroad conductors have also changed over the years, as seen in this archive photo from Getty Images. A peaked cap and blazer with insignia were the norms from the very early days.

These days, the uniform is generally a little more relaxed, and probably much more comfortable to wear while working. There are still vestiges of the insignia with the branded epaulets.

As with air travel, different levels of luxury have been available on trains since the beginning, offering those with more money spacious carriages and elevated furnishings.

In the early days, there were first, second and third classes, with first class resembling an elite private clubhouse, as seen in the above rendering of an early first class Pullman carriage.

Although third class would have been cramped with basic wooden bench seating, second class travel still seemed relatively comfortable, based on the photo of the section above.

Passengers today can still pay for extra privacy and space on long-distance services.

For example, the contemporary Superliner roomette cabin on Amtrak has a range of amenities and pull-out seats that form flatbeds so that travelers can sleep in comfort. An upgraded bedroom is the current top-tier private cabin offered by Amtrak

Along scenic coastlines on seven routes in the United States, some Amtrak trains have observation cars with floor-to-ceiling windows and special sightseeing seats that are positioned to take full advantage of the passing panorama.

You can view the Rocky Mountains from the California Zephyr, for example, or the Cascade Mountains on the Coast Starlight route.

On longer journeys, fine dining facilities were intended to replicate a five-star restaurant experience.

Seven-course dinners with lobster and roasted meats were served, and vintage wine poured by silver-service waiters.

Passengers dining in the Great Western Railway dining car (above) can be seen here enjoying a three-course meal attended to by a uniformed server.

Today, the dining experience is not as fancy, but the menus are still well-loved and a welcome addition to the journey.

In Europe, you can still ride carriages that were originally designed by the Pullman Company.

Some of these companies still employ waiters to serve freshly-prepared food to first-class customers.

The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Service, for instance, serves high-end Russian delicacies such as Chicken Kiev and Olivier Salad in an opulent dining car.

There wasn't much in the way of portable entertainment available when train travel started, other than bringing a newspaper or a book onboard.

In the above photo, in 1930 on the London North Eastern Railway in the U.K., was a special 'gramophone carriage.'

Now, passengers may stream movies, TV shows, and music throughout the entire trip as Amtrak offers their own Wi-Fi network onboard.

One of the most famous modern train designs is that of the Bullet Trains (in Japanese, 'shinkansen').

These trains have been operating in Japan for over 50 years now, and are still among the fastest and most reliable services in the world. The fastest speeds on some routes are around 300 mph.

And in 2021, China debuted a 'maglev' (magnetic levitation) bullet train that can reach speeds of over 370 miles per hour.

We've come a long way since those 15 mph speeds of Locomotion No.1 almost 200 years ago, and time will tell how train travel will continue to evolve.