Train from Carnforth to recreate historic first steam journey on 200th birthday of our railways

Friday, 10 January 2025 11:09

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

The Railway 200 Special. Image credit: The Railway Touring Company Ltd

A special train journey to mark 200 years since the birth of the railway will begin and end in Carnforth.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the modern railway and events are being planned across the UK to mark the occasion.

On September 27 1825, George Stephenson's steam-powered Locomotion No 1 travelled 26 miles between Shildon, Darlington and Stockton in the north east, carrying hundreds of passengers. This was the world's first steam locomotive to carry passengers on a public line.

As part of the Railway 200 celebrations in 2025, a special train will travel over part of the original route from Shildon, and Stockton to Darlington, on Saturday September 27 2025.

The journey, organised by The Railway Touring Company, will begin at Carnforth then travel via Hellifield to pick up points at Skipton, Keighley and Leeds before arriving in York.

There, the steam locomotive will be attached to the onward northbound journey along the East Coast Main Line (ECML) to Darlington.

From Darlington, the train will branch off the ECML and run along the historic Bishop Auckland ‘Tees Valley’ line, calling at Shildon, the world’s first railway town.

Passengers will have the opportunity to visit Locomotion, the sister museum of the National Railway Museum. It houses the largest undercover collection of historic railway vehicles in Europe, including Robert Stephenson's Locomotion No. 1 and Timothy Hackworth's Sans Pareil.

The journey will continue along the branch line to Bishop Auckland to the present limit of the national network, then take the special link line to join the 18 mile long Weardale Railway at Bishops Auckland West station for a run as far as Stanhope, for a short break to service the locomotive and an opportunity to visit the station.

The return journey along the Weardale line will be diesel hauled back to Bishops Auckland and onwards to Darlington, calling at Shildon to pick up passengers who chose to alight there earlier. At Darlington, the train will reverse direction of travel and run steam hauled once again northwards along the ECML through Durham to Newcastle.

At Newcastle, the train will turn via the Tyne bridges loop and head southwards once again, passing through Durham before it reaches Ferryhill Junction. There, the train will leave the ECML and head along the freight line towards Stockton, rejoining the route of the historic Stockton & Darlington line as far as Eaglescliffe, where it will continue southwards via Yarm to Northallerton. It is then a swift run southwards along the ECML back to York, where the steam locomotive will leave the train.

The return journey to Leeds and stations to Carnforth will be diesel hauled.

Carnforth is well known for its railway station, which was the location for the iconic 1945 romantic film 'Brief Encounter' and the Steamtown railway museum.

You can book tickets here.