Not only is this year the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Settle-Carlisle Line, it's also the 200th anniversary of the first railway journey in 1825, on the Stockton and Darlington Railway. FoSCL volunteer Stuart Ford attended the celebrations.
Photo and text courtesy of Stuart.
On 27 September 1825 the world's first fare paying passenger train ran from Shildon to Stockton on-Tees. It was hauled by the engine Locomotion No. 1.
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the journey that changed rail transport forever world-wide, the original journey was re-enacted over the weekend 26th to 28th September 2025
The first stage was from Shildon to Darlington, and a replica Locomotion was used - it had been built for use in the 150 years celebrations in 1975.
Having been born in Darlington, the Saturday part of the celebrations was a must, with a re-enactment of the train going over the River Skerne bridge, commonly known as the £5 note bridge.
We joined the crowds at Darlington Bank Top station to make the short journey to North Road station and a quick walk down to the Hopetown car park by the bridge. There was a 2 hour wait before the scheduled bridge crossing time of 12 noon and the crowd of 5,000 was expectant.
Just to show that things haven't changed a lot in 200 years, the loco was running 15 minutes late !!
Eventually it arrived on top of the bridge and stopped for the many photographers in the crowd. A very important moment in the 200 year celebrations, and one, being Darlington born, gave me great pride.
That evening, Locomotion joined up with an LNER Azuma train for a select gathering at Darlington Bank Top station to show off the old with the new.
The celebrations finished the next day with the last leg of the journey to Stockton, where the celebrations continued.
Stuart Ford
FoSCL Volunteer
