Stockton & Darlington 200 Celebrations

4 Oct 2025 Saturday

Stockton & Darlington 200 Celebrations

The 27^th September 2025 marked 200 years to the date that Locomotion No.1 hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public passenger railway. To mark the occasion Tornado was in Darlington, returning home by rail for the first time.

She was on hand to join with the replica of Locomotion and its train which retraced the historic journey from the 26^th to the 28^th September. On board for part of the journey was Guy Martin as he has been filming a documentary about the train.

We were pleased to welcome a number of VIP visitors to the works, particularly on the 26^thSeptember.

It was an honour to welcome HRH The Duke of Edinburgh to Darlington Locomotive Works (DLW) where he took lunch before visiting our locomotives. Chairman Steve Davies MBE hosted the Duke and explained the history of the Trust before Graeme Bunker-James briefed him on P2 No. 2007 Prince of Wales and the latest developments in the digital rail space. Rob Morland was then on hand to give a short presentation and demonstrate the ETCS installation on Tornado which was powered up specifically for the event.

Another visitor to DLW for the first time since we moved was Lord Peter Hendy, Minister of State at the Department for Transport. Steve, Graeme and Rob were able to show him the scale of the achievements on site but he was particularly keen to see the ETCS installation on Tornado, a project he has personally supported when Chairman of Network Rail. To see the successful installation in the flesh was received positively and he thanked the team for taking him through the detail of the works.

Finally, on what was a busy, busy day, it was an honour for our Chairman to host His Excellency Hiroshi Suzuki, Japanese Ambassador to the UK. He enjoyed his visit, including a chance to sit in the driver’s seat of Tornado. He then, to our surprise, produced his own Paddington Bear for a photo call – a perfect opportunity on board the star of the second Paddington movie!