Railways and Iconic Transport: A once in a generation chance to own an historic set of four Engine plates from Locomotion No. 1, the world's first steam locomotive to have a passenger train. On 27 September 1825 Locomotion No.1 ran the first passenger service on the brand-new Stockton & Darlington Railway—a significant milestone in railway history considered by many to be the Genesis of modern railway as we know it today. The locomotive was built by Robert Stephenson & Co. which was formed in June 1823 as a manufacturing company to meet the anticipated requirements of the growing railway industry, especially the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR).
On its maiden trip the train took two hours to reach Darlington, having been delayed three times by problems. Firstly, the wagon containing the surveyors and engineers twice had a problem with an axle. The train proceeded towards Stockton at an average speed of about four miles per hour, stopping only at Goosepool, to take on more water. The final downhill gradient towards the Tees at Stockton was taken at a speed of 15 or 16 miles per hour. Arrival in Stockton was 3 hours 7 minutes after departing Darlington, the whole spectacle having been watched by an estimated 50,000 people along the trackside.
From 1836, it had become the practice for railway's to sell redundant locomotives to other railway or industrial concerns for the maximum price it could negotiate. However, at that time LOCOMOTION was not placed on sale, indicating that either it was considered unsuitable for sale as a working locomotive, or that the railway directors had formed a sentimental attachment to it, but had yet to make up their minds regarding its preservation. With no consideration of it being sold for scrap, the latter option apparently prevailed, thus possibly representing the first occasion where a railway asset was retained out of historic appreciation, less than 20 years after it had been brought into service. On 24 October 1839 LOCOMOTION was derailed at Middlesbrough and John Graham reported that it had “turned on to her side ... and is much broke.” There is no surviving report as to the damage caused to it with this accident, but it was repaired and returned to traffic. How long No. 1 remained in use on merchandise traffic is not known, but it seems it was once more returned to storage in the yard at Shildon Works.
Later in 1856 it was noted that No.1 was “Preparing for the Museum by order of Directors”, but no further reference to a museum project has been traced. On 20 May 1857, Thomas MacNay, the S&DRs Company Secretary, wrote to several employees and agents to say: “The Directors have it in contemplation to erect a suitable Pedestal at Darlington upon which to place the Old Locomotive Engine No.1, as a memento of the past, and they think the laying of the Foundation Stone a fitting time to give an entertainment to the Company’s Agents in the several departments, as far as they can be dispensed with from their duties.”In 1889 LOCOMOTION was called upon to be an exhibit in Paris at the Exposition Retrospective du Travail, which was put on to coincide with the capital major Exposition Universelle held in the city between Sunday, 5 May and Thursday, 31October, 1889, an event which was dominated by the newly built Eiffel Tower. LOCOMOTION was a leading exhibit and was accompanied by other early British artefacts, including the Hazledine stationary engine boiler, and the new replica of ROCKET, both loaned by the London & North Western Railway at Crewe, together with models, maps and plans, including early locomotive arrangement drawings made available by Robert Stephenson & Co. No.1, now fitted with these new nameplates on its left side incorporating No. ‘1’ and ‘1825’, departed Darlington on Sunday 14 April 1889 for its journey to Paris, accompanied by its tender and a chaldron wagon. The plates in question are those that are being auctioned.
In 1890, LOCOMOTION was exhibited at the International Exhibition of Electricity, Engineering, in the Meggetland district of Edinburgh. It was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh on Thursday, 1 May and closed on Saturday 1 November, during which time some 2.4 million visitors attended. No.1 was joined at the exhibition by the North Eastern Railway’s 4-2-2 compound locomotive No. 1329, to emphasise the progress made in locomotive design in the intermediate 65 years. On its return from Edinburgh, the North Eastern Railway accepted that LOCOMOTIONs condition had deteriorated. The locomotive and its tender were restored and re-painted in the North Road Locomotive Workshops in Darlington during 1891/2. The colour scheme was altered from olive green and black, to blue, red, yellow, white and black, with brass bell and nameplate remaining unpainted. In April 1892 she was placed on permanent and prominent display on a new plinth under the platform roof at the southern end of Darlington’s Bank Top station. For this purpose, an additional name/number/date plate, similar to that carried on its left side, was added to the locomotive’s right side. The chaldron wagon that had formerly been displayed with it on the pedestal at North Road no longer accompanied it. It remained on the pedestal until WW2 but for security reasons was moved in June 1941 to the locomotive shed at Stanhope in upper Weardale. It remained there, greased and under a tarpaulin, until 1946 before being returned to Darlington and replaced on its plinth on Bank Top station, again with its right side facing south. In 1961 the condition of both locomotive and tender had deteriorated, and arrangements were made to move it into the North Road Locomotive Works on 19 March for a restoration and repaint. The restoration programme was completed in June 1961, and the locomotive and tender returned to the plinth on Bank Top station. The complete identification plaques were not, however, re-installed on the boiler sides. Only the brass LOCOMOTION nameplates were screwed to the boiler cladding. The earlier backing plates and the numbers ‘1’ and the dates ‘1825’ were retained in North Road Works. This had been arranged with the knowledge of the Works Manager, Peter Gray MBE, who kept them safe. On his transfer to another appointment in 1965, the staff at the works mounted the four brass sections onto a commemorative plaque and presented them to him.
Samples of these plates were taken for analysis by consultant metallurgical historian, Dr. Peter Northover. These show that they were cast from an alloy with lead and a small amount of tin. Their composition was the same as the LOCOMOTION nameplate, indicating that the latter was probably cast at the same time (i.e. for the Paris exhibition).
The lot toured the UK in 2025 to celebrate Railway 200, a major UK celebration marking 200 years of the modern railway, it featured over 10,000 activities, including a touring "Inspiration" exhibition train, heritage galas, and community events to honour Locomotion No 1 and the 1825 Stockton & Darlington Railway anniversary. In addition a copy of Michael R Bailey and Peter H. Davidson’s report into the Locomotion No 1 for the National Railway Museum will accompany the lot.
The original Locomotion No. 1 is part of the national collection managed by the Science Museum Group and is exhibited at Locomotion in Shildon, County Durham, the plates themselves formed part of the exhibition for a short period and are now being sold by Peter Gray’s Grandson. A truly unique relic from one of the most important trains ever built. The plates themselves are backed onto a board which was made by Peter Gray MBE and measure 22cms x 10cms and 20cms x 23cms respectively.