7 March 2025, ‘LOCOMOTION and Stockton & Darlington Railway 200’ by SLS President Dr Michael Bailey MBE.

On the 27th of September 1825 the first steam hauled railway opened. The purpose of the line was to transport coal from the West Durham coal mines to be shipped out by boat from Stockton.
A group of Quakers led by Edward Pease considered building either a canal or tramway, however, George Stephenson advised Edward Pease to build a railway like he had at Killingworth.
Regarding ‘Locomotion No 1’ in 2022 the NRM carried out a survey with some answers coming from the archives.
George Stephenson was asked to provide locomotives for the, S&D, however, as George was very busy surveying routes for other railways, he couldn’t fulfil the order. So, James Kennedy from Robert Stephenson’s works in Newcastle was given task to build the first locomotive. When the first one was delivered it was different from the present-day version.
On the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the railway, an exhibition was held at Darlington with a modified ‘Locomotion’ (in the form it is in today) as the main exhibit. It was then exhibited in various British cities as well as Chicago in the USA.
In 1960 ‘Locomotion’ was taken into Darlington works for a general overhaul before being exhibited inside Darlington Station,
In 2022 ‘Locomotion’ was moved to Shildon so that Michael could continue his investigation.
The presentation was not only informative but also very entertaining.