Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway received royal assent on the 19th of April 1821 as the Stockton and Darlington Railway Act. This legislation allowed for a railway usable by anyone with suitably built vehicles upon payment of a toll.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened in September 1825 running from Phoenix Pit, Old Etherley Colliery, to Cottage Row, Stockton. The first train departed between 7 am and 8 am on the 27th of September 1825 carrying passengers and coal wagons.
An unnamed blind American beggar fatally injured by a train marked the first recorded death due to a railway locomotive on the 5th of March 1827. A subsequent boiler explosion at Simpasture Junction on the 19th of March 1828 killed one fireman and severely scalded another.
The Stockton and Darlington Railway became part of the North Eastern Railway on the 13th of July 1863. This transfer included about one hundred miles of line and approximately one hundred sixty locomotives.
Most track used malleable iron rails while cast iron rails were used for junctions. Square sleepers supported each rail separately so horses could walk between them, with stone used west of Darlington and oak east of Darlington.