Hopetown: Darlington pays tribute to pioneering railway history with heritage museum

The town of Darlington is well-known as a pioneer of the modern railway. Credit: Hopetown / ITV Tyne Tees

A museum honouring a North East town's history as the home of the first public steam locomotive has opened to the public.

Hopetown, in Darlington, is a £35m heritage centre which shows off historic buildings involved in the railway's development and artefacts crucial to its operation.

The town is famed for being the place where the pioneering Stockton Darlington Railway began operating in the 1800s.

Hopetown aims to celebrate rail engineering's past, present and future, and is hoped to attract thousands of visitors this summer.

The original North Road station building which opened in 1842 will allow visitors to stand in the waiting area and view various displays of locomotives from the age.

The original North Road station building, which opened in 1842, houses the original waiting area. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Still operational as a station, it means visitors can also watch the modern railway in action.

The carriage works, built in 1853, have also been restored. This was the area where carriages were constructed and has now been transformed into a space for exhibitions.

Its first exhibition has been made entirely from LEGO bricks.

Wagon Woods offers a railway-themed outdoor adventure play park while The Stores gives people a chance to explore the archive and some of the 30,000 objects not on permanent display including costumes, art and furniture.

Additionally, the second-oldest goods shed in the country is also part of the 7.5-acre site, and now houses a cafe and digital experience.

Darlington's railway history

In the 19th century, Darlington was famously one of the homes of the Stockton Darlington Railway, which became the world's first public railway to use steam locomotives.

It connected collieries near Shildon with the two nearby towns across County Durham. Originally, coal had been transported by horses and among varying solutions to the long and labour-intensive method was the steam locomotive.

Northumberland-born George Stephenson was consulted on plans to better connect the collieries, and he advocated for the use of the steam train along the route.

The museum honours George Stephenson, from the North East, who is renowned as the 'Father of the Railways'. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

In 1825, Locomotion No. 1 became the first steam locomotive to haul a passenger-carrying train on a public railway.

It changed the world and the future of the railways.

Less than a decade later, the railway helped build the East Coast Main Line between York and Darlington.

Much of its original route is now served by the Tees Valley Line, which is operated by Northern.

The Stockton Darlington railway revolutionised the way coal was transported between collieries. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Darlington Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Local Services, Councillor Libby McCollom, said: "The level of investment in this huge site is apparent everywhere you look.

"There’s going to be so much to see and do at Hopetown Darlington, for families, for heritage lovers, for rail heritage enthusiasts, for everyone.

"People are going to come from near and far to experience this new visitor attraction of national – even international – significance and I can’t wait to see it happen."

Funding for Hopetown Darlington has come from Darlington Borough Council, the Tees Valley Combined Authority, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, Historic England, and the Railway Heritage Trust and Arts Fund.

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