'Puffing Billy', 1813

This locomotive, with its sister locomotive 'Wylam Dilly', is the oldest surviving locomotive in the world. 'Puffing Billy' was designed and built by William Hedley (1779-1843) for use at Wylam Colliery, in the north-east of England. It ran over a five-mile stretch of track between Wylam and the staithes at Lemington-on-Tyne between 1813 and 1861. It is shown here in the former Land Transport Gallery of the Science Museum in London (1966-1996). The Science Museum acquired Puffing Billy in 1862, after nearly fifty years of continuous service and several rebuildings.