Pioneering loco to take starring role at major rail festival

The world’s first steam locomotive to run on a public railway is set to appear at a major three-day festival hosted by Alstom to mark 200 years of rail.

Locomotion No. 1, which was built in 1825 by a legacy Alstom company, will join others from the UK National Collection at The Greatest Gathering, which will take place at Alstom’s historic Litchurch Lane Works, in Derby, from 1 to 3 August.

The event, which is a sell-out, is part of year-long celebrations held under the banner of Railway 200, which marks the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825 – and a journey that gave birth to the modern railway.

Locomotion No. 1 is being loaned by the National Railway Museum – which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Rob Whyte, managing director at Alstom UK and Ireland, said: “We are very excited that Locomotion No. 1 will be joining an already unprecedented roster of historic and modern rolling stock at The Greatest Gathering.

“There is something poetic that one of Britain’s oldest steam locomotives will take pride of place within the factory where the UK’s newest trains are designed, engineered, manufactured and tested.

“I want to thank the National Railway Museum – and indeed countless other partners across the UK rail industry – for supporting our mammoth event for Railway 200. We look forward to welcoming ticketholders to Britain’s biggest rail celebration later this year.”

Locomotion No. 1 was the first locomotive to run on the S&DR and built by the Newcastle-based Robert Stephenson and Company.

It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines and later manufactured several of the first locomotives for other countries around the world.

Through successive mergers, Robert Stephenson and Company became part of Alstom in 1989, giving the company a direct link to the dawn of the railways and making it the custodian of a unique legacy.

The Greatest Gathering will feature more than 50 rolling stock exhibits from the past, present and future of the railways, with the Litchurch Lane site itself opening to the public for the first time in almost 50 years.

Craig Bentley, director of the National Railway Museum, said: “The Greatest Gathering promises to be a landmark event in this historic year for the railways.

“We are delighted to be able to showcase these historically significant vehicles from three distinct eras of locomotive design, from the early days of passenger travel to the golden age of steam, through to the switchover from steam to diesel.”

A full list of exhibits planned for The Greatest Gathering can be found at http://www.alstom.com/greatest-gathering.