Some key events and participants
- Stockton and Darlington - the world's first railway company to use steam locomotives. The first name that comes up when discussing the railway boom in England. The first line was opened in 1825. Would eventually get absorbed by another company in 1863 - after over-extending itself in new, and less productive, lines.
- Overend, Gurney and company - A large bill discounting bank. Effective a banker to the bankers. Got sucked into railway investments instead of sticking to short term assets - essential to maintaining liquidity for its business. By 1866, stocks and bonds collapsed (particularly the railway stocks) while credit tightened. The company was forced into bankruptcy, and triggered a banking panic. 200 companies are said to have collapsed in its wake.