The 27th September is an important day in the calendar for railway history, being 200 years, to the day, since the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825.  With events across the country, we thought that we’d mark the occasion as well, and offer a mini-gala for the day, with exhibits from the museum’s collections available for visitors to see in operation, and members of the team who look after them available to talk about them and the work that it takes to keep them operating.

• Rowley Station operating with Keighley Gas Works No.2 (passenger rides)
• Waggonway operating with Puffing Billy (passenger rides)
• Colliery Railway operating with Coffee Pot No.1
• Tramway in operation
• Buses in operation on three routes (Circular, Colliery and Assistance)
• Display of museum vehicles in the Colliery yard and out on the museum’s road network, including (subject to availability):
  • Leyland Cub FK7 Fire Engine
  • SHEW Car
  • Leyland Cub KP2 Tipper Lorry
  • Armstrong Whitworth Limousine
  • Ford Model T Crewe Tractor
  • Ford Model T Tourer
  • AJS Motorcycle
  • Matchless Motorcycle
  • Sunderland Corporation Bus No.2
  • Northern General SOS bus

Hopefully the weather will be kind, and visitors will be able to enjoy seeing the exhibits and talking to the operators – the road vehicles will be out from 11am until about 3pm.  This forms our last transport event of the year, though the operation at Rowley continues one more weekend, and the Waggonway operation will carry on until the end of the high season (Sunday 2nd November).