19th-century train chugs down London's Tube, marks 150th anniversary of world's oldest subway

Metropolitan 1, a restored steam train built in 1898, travels from Kensington Olympia Tube station to Moorgate station in the City of London, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013 as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the London Underground. The train traveled non-stop but moved at slow speed and was visible passing through a number of stations en route. (AP Photo/PA Gareth Fuller)UNITED KINGDOM OUT (The Associated Press)

Metropolitan 1, a restored steam train built in 1898, arrives at Moorgate underground station in the City of London, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the London underground railway system, where it stopped after a journey from Olympia in west London, Sunday Jan. 13, 2013. (AP Photo/PA, John Stillwell) UNITED KINGDOM OUT (The Associated Press)

Metropolitan 1, a restored steam train built in 1898, passes through Farringdon Tube station on it's journey between Olympia Tube station in the west to Moorgate station in the City of London, Sunday, Jan. 13, 2013, as part of the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the London Underground Tube system. The first stretch of the world-famous network opened to the public on Jan. 10, 1863. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant) (The Associated Press)

Tourists waiting for their morning subway train to Madame Tussauds were treated to an unusual sight Sunday: a 19th- century steam engine chugging down the tracks.

Transit officials sent the Met Locomotive 1, built in 1898, down London's Metropolitan Line to mark the 150th anniversary of the capital's Tube network, the world's oldest.

Hundreds of train fans, costume-wearing enthusiasts, and curious onlookers gathered at platforms and bridges across the city to watch as the locomotive traveled non-stop from Kensington Olympia station in the west to Moorgate station in central London.

London Mayor Boris Johnson was among the invited passengers aboard the historic black-and-red locomotive. He said the trip was "romantic," describing "thick clouds of white steam going past and then bits of soot coming through from the engine."