'Locomotion' displayed on a plinth at North Road Station, Darlington, 1870.

Stockton & Darlington Railway 0-4-0 steam locomotive No 1 Locomotion on display with its tender at North Road Station in Darlington. Locomotion was built under the direction of Robert Stephenson at the Forth Street Engine Works in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1825. After more than thirty years service it was preserved in 1857, in recognition of its pioneering role in the development of railways. The Stockton & Darlington was the first public railway to use steam locomotives to haul pasengers and goods. Its lines in the north-east of England covered les than thirty miles and were mainly used to transport heavy minerals, particulary coal. The company was taken over by the North Eastern Railway in 1863.