Locomotion Museum
Railway museum | |
Visitors | 180,697 (2019)[1] |
---|---|
Director | Judith McNicol |
Public transit access | Shildon railway station |
Website | Museum Website |
Science Museum Group | |
|
Locomotion, previously known as Locomotion the National Railway Museum at Shildon, is a
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. However, 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.
As part of the 2025 plans for the National Railway Museum, a second building will be built to house more of the wider collection.[4] In addition, parts of the original museum including the coal drops will be restored having fallen out of use.
Site
The museum is sited near Timothy Hackworth's
Museum landmarks
The museum is arranged as stops along the 1-kilometre (0.6 mi) 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.[6] 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.[7]
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
The trail passes under the roadway. There is a children's playground and a picnic area outside the Collection building. The trail ends at the largest building in the museum. 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.
Exhibits
The museum is home to several
The main exhibition building houses most of the collection and includes the sole examples of the prototype
The NRM recommends checking with them in advance if going to see a particular exhibit.[13]
Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Current
Status |
Additional Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST | 3850 Juno | Green | Static | New to Stewarts & Lloyds ironstone quarries, Buckminster | |
SR Battle of Britain Class | 34051 Winston Churchill | BR Lined Green | Static | Hauled Winston Churchill's Funeral Train | |
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 | 5000 | LMS Lined Black | Static | First Black Five in class | |
Locomotion | 1 Locomotion | Wood lagged | Static | Original built for Stockton and Darlington Railway | |
Locomotion replica | 1 Locomotion | Wood lagged | Moved here from Head of Steam – Darlington Railway Museum in March 2021.[14]
| ||
NER Class C1 | 65033 | BR Black | Static (awaiting restoration) | ||
LNER Class V2 | 4771 Green Arrow | LNER Apple Green | Static (potential restoration opportunity) | ||
Sans Pareil replica | Sans Pareil | Green and Yellow painted wood | Static | ||
Rainhill Trials
|
Sans Pareil | Exposed Metal | Static | ||
LNWR Class G2 | 49395 | BR Black | Static | ||
Hetton colliery railway locomotive | Lyon | Black | Static | ||
NER Class M1 | 1621 | NER Apple Green | Static | ||
GNR Class C1 (large boiler) | 251 | GNR Apple Green | Static | Now moved to a museum in Doncaster[15] | |
well tank )
|
30587 | BR Black | |||
South African Class 7A 4-8-0 | 390 | Black | Static | Cape Gauge | |
LNWR Improved Precedent Class | 790 Hardwicke | LNWR Lined Black | Static | ||
Andrew Barclay fireless locomotive | Imperial No. 1 | Imperial Paper Mills Green | Static |
Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Current
Status |
Additional Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LNER Class ES1 Electric Shunter | 1 | NER Lined Green | Static | ||
British Rail Class 03 Shunter | D2090 (03090) | BR Green | Operational | ||
British Rail Class 08 Shunter | 08911 Matey | BR Blue with NRM branding | Operational | ||
English Electric DP1
|
DP1 DELTIC | Blue with grey lining | Static | Prototype Deltic | |
British Rail Class 41 (HST) | 41001 | Reverse BR Blue & Grey | Static (awaiting inspection) | Prototype HST power car
| |
British Rail Class 43 (HST) | 43102 | InterCity Swallow | Static | Named "The Journey Shrinker". Holds world speed record for diesel traction, arrived from East Midlands Railway | |
British Rail Class 71 | 71001 | BR Blue | Static (under restoration) | ||
British Rail APT-E | APT-E | Reverse BR Blue & Grey | Static | Gas Turbine | |
Diesel-hydraulic Shunter
|
H001 | RMS Locotec Blue | Static | New to CEGB, Haverton Hill
| |
Wickham Trolley | 960209 | BR Brown | Static | ||
Southern Railway Waterloo & City line Shunter (1898) | 75S | L&SWR Salmon | Static |
Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Current
Status |
Additional Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
British Rail Class 306 | 306017 | BR Green with yellow warning panel | Static (awaiting restoration) | Two cars on apron, remaining car behind workshop covered by white tarpaulin. | |
British Rail Class 142 | 142001 | Unbranded Northern | Operational | ||
British Rail Class 414 | 4308 | Network SouthEast on one side, BR Blue and Grey the other | Static | ||
British Rail Class 401 | 2090 | BR Green | Static |
Class | Number
(and name if applicable) |
Livery | Image | Additional Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
British Railways Mark 1 Brake Corridor Composite Coach
|
21274 | BR InterCity | ||
BR ZZA Snow Plough | ADB 965232 | Network Rail Black | ||
SR "Queen Mary" brake van | B56283 | BR Brown | Used at museum for carrying passengers | |
BR merry-go-round train HAA coal hopper wagon | 350000 | BR Grey | 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 | ||
Sleeping Car
|
3972 | CIWL Blue | ||
High Speed Freight Vehicle | HSFV1 | Grey | Basis for Class 142 chassis | |
Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach (1847) | 59 | S&DR Brown | ||
Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach (1846) | 31 | S&DR Brown | Formerly displayed at Stockton station. |
See also
- List of British railway museums
- List of transport museums
- US)
- Exporail (Canada)
- Nuremberg Transport Museum (Germany)
- Workshops Rail Museum (Australia)
Notes
- ^ "ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions". www.alva.org.uk. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
- ^ "Locomotion Reaches 2.5M Visitor Milestone". Retrieved 22 July 2022.
- ^ "Prime Minister opens Shildon Locomotion museum" The Railway Magazine issue 1244 December 2004 page 5
- ^ "Our Future: Vision 2025". Locomotion. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
- ^ 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
- ^ "Objects and stories". Locomotion. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
- ^ "WATCH: Locomotion No 1 arrives in Shildon". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Historic loco takes up residence in Doncaster as first ever heritage engine in town's museums". www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
References
- ISBN 9780857100641.
External links
- Museum website
- The official National Railway Museum print website containing many vintage posters and prints from the museum's collections