| Locomotion No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| Power type | Steam |
| Builder | Robert Stephenson and Company |
| Build date | 1825 |
| Configuration | 0-4-0 |
| Career | Stockton and Darlington |
| First run | 27 September 1825 |
| Retired | 1857 |
| Disposition | static display at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum |
Locomotion No. 1 (originally named Active) is an early British steam locomotive. Built by George and Robert Stephenson's company Robert Stephenson and Company in 1825, it hauled the first train on the Stockton and Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825.
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Locomotion used all the improvements that Stephenson had pioneered in the Killingworth locomotives. It used high-pressure steam from a centre-flue boiler, with a steam-blast in the chimney, to drive two vertical cylinders. A pair of yokes above them transmitted the power downwards, through pairs of connecting rods. It was one of the first locomotives to use coupling rods rather than chains or gears to link its 0-4-0 wheel arrangement together. Otherwise it shows little innovation as a locomotive, other than being one of the most original engines, predating so called more advanced locomotives. and is more historically interesting for the railway on which it ran.
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 along with Derwent 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 working replica of the locomotive at Beamish Museum.[1]
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