Virtual Railfan Tour UK - Head of Steam - Darlington Darlington Railway Centre and Museum

 

The main line railway station at Darlington is the junction for a short branch line to Bishop Auckland.  There is a great deal of railfan interest on this line. The Hitachi trains are assembled at Newton Aycliffe but we will visit first Darlington North Road station where is to be found the head of Steam Museum formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum.  This is on the route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first steam operated passenger railway opened in 1825.The station here forms the museum.  It  was opened in 1842 and it replaced the original station opened on the other side of the line in 1833.
Head of Steam Museum

We visited the museum on a school day.  This bunch of kids was very well behaved but their coats covered up a Vincent Raven 0-8-0 no 901, a heavy freight locomotive built in 1919.

Of course the star exhibit here is Locomotion - a Stockton and Darlington locomotive built by George Stephenson for the world's first public railway. It was responsible for hauling the first train on the line on 27 September 1825. It spent many years on display at Darlington Bank Top (main line) railway station before finally being put on display in the museum.



1463 is a 2-4-0 built for the North Eastern Railway in 1885 for express trains. It is painted in NER apple green.

This is No. 25 Derwent, designed by Timothy Hackworth for the Stockton and Darlington Railway. It spent many years on display alongside Locomotion No. 1 at Darlington Bank Top station

This Stockton and Darlington waybill, dated 1859 was in my collection at one time

Paul and I have already made a note in our calendars for 27 September 2025, the 200th anniversary of the opening of the first steam railway in the world.  It promises to be a fantastic celebration. In the meantime, however, we will now take the train on to Shildon to see the wonderful collection at this National Railway Museum outpost.

Locomotion No. 1.

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