Delayed by an aurora? A steam train running along the coastal railway line between Exeter and Newton Abbot, UK, near where the 10.05 p.m. express on 18 October 1841 supposedly encountered delays due to signalling problems caused by space weather. (Courtesy: iStock/Tom McAtee)"> Delayed by an aurora? A steam train running along the coastal railway line between Exeter and Newton Abbot, UK, near where the 10.05 p.m. express on 18 October 1841 supposedly encountered delays due to signalling problems caused by space weather. (Courtesy: iStock/Tom McAtee)

Back when I used to commute to Physics World ’s Bristol, UK offices every day, I heard a lot of excuses explanations for why my train was delayed. Missing crew members. Road vehicles colliding with bridges. Even, on one memorable occasion, a herd of cows blocking the tracks.

One explanation I never heard, though, was the one proposed for a train that supposedly left the south-west English city of Exeter at 10.05 p.m. on 18 October 1841.…