RALEIGH (WTVD) -- It's been 175 years since the first locomotive chugged through the Capital City. On Saturday, city officials celebrated transportation history in Raleigh.
Saturday morning, DOT officials and Raleigh City Councilor Mary Ann Baldwin marked the occasion.
They cut cake before the Piedmont train departed the Raleigh Amtrack station on Cabarrus Street.
The first train to pull into town was a wood-burning steam locomotive called the "Tornado."
Back then, the new rails connected Raleigh to places like Richmond, Virginia.
Before trains, it took two days by horse and buggy to reach Virginia's capital from Raleigh.