LOCOMOTION AT Shildon is now home to the largest under-cover collection of rail vehicles in Europe, following the opening of its New Hall exhibition space on May 23.
The £8m, 2,000m sq. building houses 47 rail vehicles, with NER ‘Q7’ 0-8-0 No. 901, Fletcher-designed ‘901’ class 2-4-0 No. 910, and Worsdell ‘X1’ 2-2-4T No. 66 Aerolite moving from their respective previous homes at Darlington Head of Steam Museum, Kirkby Stephen East, and the National Railway Museum at York to form part of the new collection. Other steam locomotives displayed in New Hall include the 1849-built Hetton Lyon, LNWR ‘Super D’ No. 49395, and Hunslet ‘Austerity’ 0-6-0ST Works No. 3850 Juno. In addition to the locomotives, the collection includes a variety of internal combustion locomotives, wagons, snowploughs, and even a tamping…