The 150th anniversary of railways took place between Shildon and Darlington at the end of August 1975. The event celebrated the Stockton & Darlington Railway, which opened on September 27, 1825, when it became the world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives – placing Britain at the head of the global transport revolution that followed in its wake. On that watershed moment in human history, 0-4-0 Locomotion No.1, which hauled an 80-ton train nine miles between Shildon and Darlington at the opening ceremony, was designed and driven by the ‘father of the Railways’, George Stephenson, with a passenger carriage attached for dignitaries. The announcement on February 7 by the National Heritage Lottery Fund that £3,211,630 had been awarded in grant aid towards projects linked to the 2025 bicentenary, as reported in Headline News last issue, brought memories of the Rail 150 cavalcade flooding back, prompting me to look back at my photographs of the event. Going through my diary of the time reminded me of the spectacle and the fun we had. Rail 150 was an amazing event to attend, especially for a young man with an interest in railways, predominantly steam. It was the perfect opportunity to see locomotives I had never seen before, and mainly ones that ran in the north of England. Who would have thought nearly 50 years ago that we would still be here and close to celebrating 200 years of railways at its birthplace?
Early days
The event itself was huge – beyond most people’s comprehension. In these earlier days of operational railway preservation, main line
