The 1825 to 1863

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 ...

(S&DR) was world's first public railway to use

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s, its first line connected collieries near Shildon with

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833. The company was taken over by the North Eastern Railway in 1863, transferring of line and about 160 locomotives, but continued to operate independently as the Darlington Section until 1876. The opening of the S&DR was seen as proof of the effectiveness of steam railways and its anniversary was celebrated in 1875, 1925 and 1975. Much of the original route is now served by the Tees Valley Line, operated by

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

. Locomotives were sometimes renumbered, and the old numbers re-used for new locomotives. The following list does not include all renumberings.

Disposal

When the North Eastern Railway (NER) took over the

(SDR) in 1863, the SDR stock included 157 locomotives. The SDR locomotives were administered by a separate committee until 1873. The SDR locomotives were renumbered in 1873, mostly by the addition of 1000. In September 1875 there were still 55 SDR locomotives in existence.

References

* * * * * * * *{{cite book , last=Smith , first=George Turner , title=Thomas Hackworth: Locomotive Engineer , publisher=Fonthill , year=2015 , isbn=978-1-78155-464-7 Stockton and Darlington British railway-related lists Stockton and Darlington Railway

Disposal

See also

References