Locomotion No 1

*Locomotion* No. 1
Power type	Steam
Image courtesy of Darlington Railway Centre and Museum
Builder	Robert Stephenson and Company
Build date	1825
Configuration	0-4-0
Career	Stockton and Darlington
Retired	1857
Disposition	static display at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum

Locomotion No. 1 is an early British steam locomotive. Built by Robert Stephenson and Company in 1825, it hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway on September 27, 1825.

[edit] Overview

It was effectively a beam engine on wheels with vertical cylinders. It was one of the first locomotives to use coupling rods rather than chains to drive its 0-4-0 wheel arrangement.

In 1828 the boiler exploded, killing the driver. With advances in design such as those incorporated into Stephenson's Rocket, Locomotion became obsolete very quickly. It was rebuilt and remained in service until 1841 when it was turned into a stationary engine. In 1857 it was preserved. Locomotion No 1 was on display in Alfred Kitching's workshop near Hopetown Carriage Works from 1857 to the 1880s. From 1892 to 1975 it was on display on one of the platforms at Darlington's main station, Bank Top. The locomotive is now on display at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, located in the same building as Darlington's North Road railway station, on long-term loan from the National Railway Museum. It is now part of the National Collection.

There is a replica of the locomotive at Beamish Museum.

Pre-1830 steam locomotives v • d • e
Pen-y-darren (1804) • Catch Me Who Can (1808) • Puffing Billy (1812) • Wylam Dilly (1812) • The Salamanca (1812) • Blücher (1814) • Locomotion No. 1 (1825) • Stourbridge Lion (1828) • Novelty, Sans Pareil, Rocket, Perseverance (all 1829)
See also: Rainhill Trials • History of rail transport in Great Britain to 1830