Tug of war breaks out over world's first-ever passenger steam engine
Tug of war breaks out over world’s first-ever passenger steam engine as National Railway Museum battles to wrest 160-year-old model away from rival
- National Railway Museum wants to move Locomotion No 1 from its current home
- They plan to show it at its £4.5m revamped museum in Shildon, County Durham
- It has spared fury in Darlington, where it has been kept for the last 160 years
- Critics say NRM is committing ‘cultural vandalism’and inflicting a ‘cruel blow’
A tug of war has broken out over the world’s first ever passenger steam engine after the National Railway Museum announced it would be removing it from its home of 160 years.
The organisation has said it wants to make the iconic Locomotion No 1 the centrepiece of its £4.5m revamped museum in Shildon, County Durham.
But the Head of Steam Darlington Railway Museum, the current home of the historic engine, has reacted with fury.
And critics have accused the NRM of ‘cultural vandalism’ and inflicting a ‘cruel blow’ which ‘rips the heart out of the town’s railway heritage’.
The NRM which owns the engine, wants to double the size of its Locomotion museum at Shildon to tell the story of the early railways.
A row has broken out between two railway museums over the world’s first passenger steam engine, the Locomotion No 1 , picture here at the Head of Steam Darlington Railway Museum
The Head of Steam Darlington Railway Museum, the current home of the historic engine (pictured on display) has reacted with fury over plans to move it to Shildon in County Durham
As Locomotion No 1 started its first ever journey a few hundred yards from the site of the Shildon museum in 1825, NRM believes it is best placed to display the engine as world’s first railway town.
Peter Gibson, Darlington’s new Conservative MP, said: ‘I am outraged at the prospect of our most treasured and most important artefact being removed from Darlington, its physical, spiritual and cultural home.
‘I am sure that the entire population of Darlington will be outraged and will back the campaign for Locomotion No 1 to stay in the town.’
Locomotion No 1 pulled the first train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway on September 27, 1825.
The National Railway Museum in Shildon, County Durham, the future home of Locomotion Number 1
The Head of Steam Darlington Railway Museum in Darlington. Locomotion Number 1 has been on display here for 160 years
It has been owned by the Science Museums Group – of which the NRM is a part – since 1968 and is on loan to Darlington’s Head of Steam Museum until March 2021.
Dr Sarah Price, head of the Shildon museum, said: ‘We want it to be the first vehicle visitors see when they come in and we will use it to launch the railway story, which started off and which changed the world.’
But Darlington council leader, Heather Scott, said: ‘Locomotion No 1 is the jewel in our railway heritage crown. It was built with Darlington money as the world’s first passenger engine in 1825, and it has been cared for by Darlington since 1856.
‘For 163 years, Darlington has treasured Locomotion No 1 as a vital link to our railway pioneers.
It quite literally put the engine on a plinth, at Bank Top station, and in 1867, it made it the centrepiece of its coat of arms – it is one of the great icons of the town.
A working replica of Locomotion Number 1. The machine was the first locomotive to haul passengers on a public railway
A fully working replica of Locomotion 1 on the world’s oldest railway line, Tanfield Railway in County Durham, in 2014
‘Locomotion No 1 is ours, it belongs to Darlington, and I am determined that it should stay in Darlington.’
Joseph Pease, whose statue stands on High Row in the town, paid £50 to restore the engine when it reached the end of its working life and on May 20, 1857.
Locomotion Number 1: The first steam locomotive to haul passengers on a public railway
Locomotion Number 1, originally named ‘Active’ was built by George and his son Robert Stephenson in works beginning in June 1823.
In September 1825, the locomotive reaches 15mph on the opening day of the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
It was the first steam locomotive to haul passengers on a public rail line.
After the development of the more advanced Rocket in 1829, Locomotion Number 1 quickly became obsolete.
It was rebuilt and remained in service until 1841 when it was converted into a stationary engine.
In 1857 it was preserved, going on display in Alfred Kitching’s workshop near Hopetown Carriage Works and later at Darlington’s main station, Bank Top.
Today, as part of the National Collection, the locomotion can be seen at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum.
It was mounted on a plinth outside North Road station and could be the world’s first preserved heritage railway engine.
Matthew Pease, Joseph’s great-great-great-grandson, said it was always his intention that it should be on display in Darlington.
He said: ‘The news that his wish is now to be set aside is a great sadness for his descendants and, I am certain, for the town, whose unique Head of Steam museum will inevitably be significantly diminished as a result.
‘I would ask those making the decision to reconsider the historic implications of such a change, to honour the clear wishes of the man who first donated it, and to allow No 1 to remain within the town to which it is inextricably linked.’
Mr Gibson said he was hoping to meet culture minister Nicky Morgan in the near future to press Darlington’s case.
‘People will not be able to believe that such cultural vandalism is being visited on Darlington’s railway heritage.
The Locomotion museum opened in Shildon in 2004 as a warehouse to store items in the NRM’s collection, but it has proved popular, attracting 200,000 visitors a year, and the new masterplan, including a second building, will house 40 more vehicles taking the total to 100.
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