Locomotion Museum
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| Former names | Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum (until 2004) Locomotion the National Railway Museum at Shildon (2004–2017) |
|---|---|
| Established | 22 October 2004 |
| Location | Shildon, County Durham, England |
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| Type | Railway museum |
| Visitors | 218,907 (2026)[1] |
| DirectorTemplate:Pluralize from text | Judith McNicol |
Public transit access | Shildon railway station |
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| Science Museum Group | |
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Locomotion, previously known as Locomotion the National Railway Museum at Shildon, is a railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, England. The museum was renamed in 2017 when it became part of the Science Museum Group.[2]
Overview
The museum was opened on 22 October 2004 by then Prime Minister and local MP Tony Blair.[3] Built at a cost of £11.3 million, it is based on the former "Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum". The museum is operated in partnership with Durham County Council and was expected to bring 60,000 visitors a year to the small town. It exceeded expectations, and during its first six months, the museum attracted 94,000 visits. Locomotion was shortlisted as one of the final five contenders in the Gulbenkian Prize, which is the largest arts prize in the United Kingdom.
On 24 May 2024, a second building, called 'New Hall', was unveiled to house national collection vehicles built in the old Shildon Works and the surrounding area.[4][5][6] In addition, parts of the original museum including the coal drops have been restored, having fallen out of use.
Site
The museum is sited near Timothy Hackworth's Soho Works on the world's first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway (opened on 27 September 1825 with a train hauled by Locomotion No 1 which took two hours to complete the 12-mile (19 km) journey from Shildon to Darlington). The town was to become a major centre for British railway engineering thanks to the Shildon wagon works, which closed in 1984.[7]
Shildon station, on the Tees Valley Line was rebuilt and modernised as part of the museum's construction and is actually situated adjacent to the trail and demonstration rail line through the museum site. It is served by all services on the line, operated by Northern.
Museum landmarks
The museum is arranged as stops along the 1 km (0.6 miles) demonstration line with station direction board signs and information points on the trail between the car parks and the main collection building. The museum has a six-spur apron in front of the main shed and another short length of track for showing off resident locomotives and visiting trains.
The trail starts at the 19th-century welcome building. The original Sans Pareil was previously on display here (It has since been moved to the Collection Building). The second building is Timothy Hackworth's house.[8] It contains several activities about the history of Shildon. Soho is a stone building that was a railway workshop, having originally been an iron merchant's store. The fourth stop is the former goods shed for the town, with most incoming and outgoing goods being delivered to the railway by horse and cart. The building is built partially from recycled stone sleeper blocks, the old fixing slots being visible in the wall.[9]
The railway station's parcel office is the next part of the trail and at the junction, visible across the tracks are the former stables for the early horse-drawn wagonways that linked to the line. The coal drops were a refuelling point for steam locomotives. Wagons were hauled up an incline and the coal 'dropped' down wooden chutes into the tender below.[10][11]
The trail passes under the roadway. There is a children's playground and a picnic area outside the Collection Building, the largest building in the museum, where the trail ends. It contains the exhibition hall and a conservation workshop with viewing gallery to see the work carried out by volunteers restoring some of the exhibits. Other facilities in the building include interactive games, a cafe and shop.
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Exhibits
The museum is home to several locomotives from the National Collection, including a replica of Timothy Hackworth's Sans Pareil. The original engine, built to compete in the Rainhill Trials, is also at Shildon. The trials were to decide which engine should operate the passenger railway between Liverpool and Manchester. After a 175 years absence from the town, the locomotive was returned and is displayed in the Collection building.[12] LNER Class A4 4468 Mallard which is usually displayed in the NRM's York museum was temporarily displayed in the museum from June 2010 to July 2011.[13] In 2014, ahead of the 75th-anniversary celebrations for Mallard's setting the world steam speed record, 8,000 visitors turned up to welcome five sister A4 locomotives including 60008 "Dwight D Eisenhower" and 60010 "Dominion of Canada" that were repatriated from North America, the latter was given a cosmetic overhaul in Shildon's workshop.
The main exhibition building houses most of the collection and includes the sole examples of the prototype APT-E and Deltic units.[14] The museum has a wind turbine which provides power to the National Grid and an on-site biodiesel bus for transporting visitors around the site.
| Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Current
Status |
Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Rail Class 306 | 306017 | BR Green with yellow warning panel | File:Class 306 Green.jpg | Static (awaiting restoration) | Two cars on apron, remaining car behind workshop covered by white tarpaulin. |
| British Rail Class 142 | 142001 | Unbranded Northern | File:142001 at Blackburn station.jpg | Operational | |
| British Rail Class 414 | 4308 | Network SouthEast on one side, BR Blue and Grey the other | File:414308 undergoing restoration at the NRM Shildon.jpg | Static | |
| British Rail Class 401 | 2090 | BR Green | File:BR Class 401 2-BIL EMU no. 2090, London Waterloo, 24 October 1987.jpg | Static |
| Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Additional Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Railways Mark 1 Brake Corridor Composite Coach | 21274 | BR InterCity | File:... at Locomotion Shildon ... (3068061586).jpg | |
| BR ZZA Snow Plough | ADB 965232 | Network Rail Black | File:Triumph (14033991075).jpg | |
| SR "Queen Mary" brake van | B56283 | BR Brown | File:Guard carriage. - panoramio.jpg | Used at museum for carrying passengers |
| BR merry-go-round train HAA coal hopper wagon | 350000 | BR Grey | File:HAA hopper 350000 at the NRM Shildon.jpg | First built HAA wagon (prototype built at Darlington) |
| BR merry-go-round train HAA coal hopper wagon | 368459 | Last built of 10,702 HAA wagons (built at Shildon) | ||
| NER Snow Plough | Snow Plough No. 12 | NER Brown | File:1891 NER snow plow NRM Object Number 1978-7123.jpg | |
| Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Night Ferry Sleeping Car | 3972 | CIWL Blue | File:Sleeper Night Ferry 1.JPG | |
| High Speed Freight Vehicle | HSFV1 | Grey | File:British Rail HSFVI RDB 511023.jpg | Basis for Class 142 chassis |
| Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach (1847) | 59 | S&DR Brown | File:Stockton and Darlington Railway carriage.jpg | |
| Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach (1846) | 31 | S&DR Brown | File:Stockton and Darlington Railway carriage (14035032105).jpg | Formerly displayed at Stockton station. |
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See also
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- List of British railway museums
- List of transport museums
- B&O Railroad Museum (US)
- Exporail (Canada)
- Nuremberg Transport Museum (Germany)
- Workshops Rail Museum (Australia)
References
Citations
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2026.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Locomotion Reaches 2.5M Visitor Milestone". Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Prime Minister opens Shildon Locomotion museum". The Railway Magazine. No. 1244. December 2004. p. 5.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Our Future: Vision 2025". Locomotion. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Plans for new £5.9m collection building go on display at Locomotion in Shildon | Locomotion". Locomotion. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Locomotion's New Hall opens to the public | Locomotion". Locomotion. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 2 November 2025.
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 3
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 27
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 38
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 5
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 23
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 5
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 18
- ^ Coulls 2012, p. 52
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."WATCH: Locomotion No 1 arrives in Shildon". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Steam locomotive 4771 Green Arrow moves to Doncaster for new rail museum". RailAdvent. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Historic loco takes up residence in Doncaster as first ever heritage engine in town's museums". www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Longhorn, Danny (22 July 2022). "New arrival at the National Railway Museum". RailBusinessDaily. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Longhorn, Danny (22 July 2022). "New arrival at the National Railway Museum". RailBusinessDaily. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
Sources
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- Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Coulls, Anthony (1 February 2012). Spirit of Locomotion: The National Railway Museum at Shildon. Spirit of Britain. Halsgrove. ISBN 9780857100641.
External links
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- No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.
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