Shildon Railway Institute has played its part in every milestone celebration of the Stockton & Darlington Railway since its founding in 1833, and this year will be no exception.
The event, part of the S&DR200 Fringe Festival, celebrates the pivotal role of Shildon and its people in the Stockton & Darlington Railway story.
Shildon didn’t have the money or influence to feature in the railway company’s name, yet the town was in exactly the right place to become its first industrial operating powerhouse.
For almost 160 years the people of Shildon provided blood, muscle and bone; operating the railway, building many of its early locomotives and building and repairing its wagons as successive railway companies came and went.
An event spokesperson told us: “Shildon: Blood, Muscle and Bone will be Shildon Railway Institute’s biggest ever rail heritage exhibition, building upon the success of its past exhibitions, most recently the popular and well-received Shildon Works 40 exhibition in the summer of 2024.
“Where that exhibition focused on the closure of the Shildon Works in 1984, this time we’re releasing the brake and going full steam to show-off this community’s contribution to the world’s railway story in all its brilliant glory.”
With contributions from Alan Ellwood, Brusselton Incline Group, Locomotion, Paul Tweddle and Shildon Heritage Alliance CIC, the event is open to all, from 12 noon to 10pm over the 3 days.
If you have items that you feel would be important to show at this once-in-a-lifetime event marking the 200th Anniversary of the opening of the world’s first steam-hauled public passenger railway, there’s still time to get in touch with the organisers by emailing Chair, Dave
Reynolds at exhibitions[@]shildonrailway[.]institute.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
