Head of Steam, formerly known as the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum, is a railway museum located on the 1825 route of the

Stockton and Darlington Railway The Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863. The world's first public railway to use steam locomotives, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with Darl ...

, which was the world's first steam-powered passenger railway. It is based inside the station building at the

North Road railway station North Road is a railway station on the Tees Valley Line, which runs between and via . The station, situated north-west of Darlington, serves the market town of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is owned by Network Rail and managed b ...

. Its exhibits are devoted to the area formerly served by the North Eastern Railway with a particular focus on the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the railway industry of Darlington.In 2022 plans were submitted to expand the museum as part of the Railway Heritage Quarter.

Locomotives

The museum currently has five locomotives on display. Two are owned by the museum, while three are on long-term loan from the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

Model railway

The museum holds a large model of the Stockton & Darlington Railway which can be seen in the images below. File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_1_2014.jpg File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_2_2014.jpg File:Head of steam railway museum model 3 2014.jpg File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_4_2014.jpg File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_5_2014.jpg File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_6_2014.jpg File:Head_of_steam_railway_museum_model_7_2014.jpg

References

External links

Head of Steam Museum website
Stockton and Darlington Railway Museums in County Durham Railway museums in England Heritage railways in County Durham Rail transport in Darlington Buildings and structures in Darlington {{UK-museum-stub