200 years of railways

Locomotion No. 1 - still working in 1925...

On 27 September 1825, a 26-mile journey behind the steam locomotive Locomotion No. 1 on the Stockton and Darlingtom Railway, transformed how the world traded, travelled, and communicated.  

This year, a 9-month international festival taking place across County Durham and Tees Valley will  celebrate the 200th anniversary of that epoch-defining first journey. The S&DR200 Festival will present a series of free large-scale outdoor spectacles, events, exhibitions and new art commissions from March to November. You can find more details here, and sign up for a newsletter with all the updates.

(If you can't wait, and need your fix of steam right now, pay a visit to Hopetown in Darlington, where you can visit the Stockton and Darlington Railway's 1833 Goods Shed, a railway station from 1842 and a carriage works from 1853. You'll discover lots of steamy ironmongery, over 30,000 railway heritage items, and your kids will enjoy the cafe and the railway-themed adventure play park.)

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