This stands outside Cyfarthfa Castle as a reminder to all that it was here in Merthyr that the first train in the world to run on rails made its journey from Penydarren to the head of the canal at Abercynon on the 21st February 1804. A triumph for the area and for Richard Trevithick. For those of you who believe that it was George Stephenson's engine 'Blucher' that made the first journey I only point out that Stephenson's achievement at Cillingwood was on the 25th July 1814, some 10 years later. The misconception appears to be due to the fact that Trevithick flitted from job to job and indeed disappeared to South America for 11 years dying in poverty on the 22nd April 1833. Stephenson, on the other hand, was a very powerful man.