November 2026, LRRSA Members Zoom meeting - Michael Bailey - 'The Archaeology and History of LOCOMOTION No. 1

Michael Bailey will present on the following subject:

'The Archaeology and History of LOCOMOTION No. 1

Please note that the start time is 8pm AEDT (UTC+_11.00)

In 2023, the British National Railway Museum in York approached me and my colleague, Peter Davidson, to undertake a comprehensive archaeological survey of the locomotive, so that knowledge of its history could be better understood in good time before the bi-centenary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway last year.  We carried out, over 18 months, a full physical survey of the machine and a detailed review of all archival material that had any reference to the locomotive.  Threading the two studies together allowed us to understand much more about its history than had been previously known.

Its history was fascinating and we concluded that nothing of the 1825 locomotive survives!  It was rebuilt several times, and the reasons for those rebuildings were ascertained in detail.  Full knowledge was gained as to its operating history, its subsequent storage, its rebuilding to its present form in 1857 when it was placed on permanent display (the first loco. in the world to be displayed), and its final career on exhibition in different parts of Britain, and even its journey to Chicago in 1883.  Our report to the NRM has now been published by the History Press of Cheltenham, in association with the National Railway Museum