National Railway Museum Shildon


Locomotion, previously known as Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon or Shildon Locomotion Museum is a railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, England. The museum is part of the Science Museum Group.

Overview

The museum was opened on 22 October 2004 by Prime Minister and local MP Tony Blair. 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.

Site

The museum is sited near Timothy Hackworth's Soho Works on the world's first public railway, the Stockton and Darlington Railway. The town was to become a major centre for British railway engineering thanks to the Shildon wagon works, which closed in 1984.
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 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 is on display here.
The second building is Timothy Hackworth's house. 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.
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. The light engine is an interactive pole that displays colours. You can change the name of the pole if you text in.
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 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 Welcome building. 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. 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. 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.
The NRM recommends checking with them in advance if going to see a particular exhibit.
ClassNumber
LiveryImageCurrent
Status		Additional Notes
Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST3850 JunoGreenStaticNew to Stewarts & Lloyds ironstone quarries, Buckminster
SR Battle of Britain Class34051 Winston ChurchillBR Lined GreenStaticHauled Winston Churchill's Funeral Train
LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-05000LMS Lined BlackStaticFirst Black Five in class
Locomotion replica1 LocomotionWood laggedOriginal built for Stockton and Darlington Railway
NER Class C165033BR BlackStatic
LNER Class V24771 Green ArrowLNER Apple GreenStatic
Sans Pareil replicaSans PareilGreen and Yellow painted woodStatic
Timothy Hackworth entry for Rainhill TrialsSans PareilExposed MetalStatic
LNWR Class G249395BR BlackStatic
Hetton colliery railway locomotiveLyonBlackStatic
NER Class M11621NER Apple GreenStatic
GNR Class C1 251GNR Apple GreenStatic
LSWR 0298 Class 30587BR Black
South African Class 7A 4-8-0390BlackStaticCape Gauge
LNWR Improved Precedent Class790 HardwickeLNWR Lined BlackStatic
Andrew Barclay fireless locomotiveImperial No. 1Imperial Paper Mills GreenStatic

ClassNumber
LiveryImageCurrent
Status		Additional Notes
LNER Class ES1 Electric Shunter1NER Lined GreenStatic
British Rail Class 03 ShunterD2090 BR GreenOperational
British Rail Class 08 Shunter08911 MateyBR Blue with NRM brandingOperational
English Electric DP1DP1 DELTICBlue with grey liningStaticPrototype Deltic
British Rail Class 41 41001Reverse BR Blue & GreyStatic Prototype HST power car
British Rail Class 7171001Undergoing repaint to BR BlueStatic
British Rail APT-EAPT-EReverse BR Blue & GreyStaticGas Turbine
Sentinel Diesel-hydraulic ShunterH001RMS Locotec BlueStaticNew to Bass Brewery; rebuilt for CEGB, Haverton Hill
Wickham Trolley960209BR BrownStatic
Southern Railway Waterloo & City line Shunter 75SL&SWR SalmonStatic

ClassNumber
LiveryImageAdditional Notes
British Railways Mark 1 Brake Corridor Composite Coach21274BR InterCity
BR ZZA Snow PloughADB 965232Network Rail Black
SR "Queen Mary" brake vanB56283BR BrownUsed at museum for carrying passengers
BR merry-go-round train HAA coal hopper wagon350000BR GreyFirst built HAA wagon
BR merry-go-round train HAA coal hopper wagon368459Last built of 10,702 HAA wagons
NER Snow PloughSnow Plough No. 12NER Brown
Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Night Ferry Sleeping Car3972CIWL Blue
High Speed Freight VehicleHSFV1GreyBasis for Class 142 chassis
Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach 59S&DR Brown
Stockton and Darlington Railway Composite Coach 31S&DR BrownFormerly displayed at Stockton station.