Rival railway museums in row over steam locomotive ownership
A row has broken out between rival railway museums over the ownership of the world’s first passenger steam locomotive.
Darlington council wants Locomotion No 1 to stay in the town’s Head of Steam Museum but the National Railway Museum (NRM), which owns the locomotive, wants to move it 10 miles away to Locomotion, its museum in Shildon.
The engine is a unique souvenir of Britain’s pioneering role in the development of rail transport in the early 19th century and has been on display in Darlington for 163 years.
In 1968, responsibility for all British Rail’s historic items was awarded to the NRM, now part of the Science Museum Group (SMG). Since 1975, Locomotion No 1 has been subject to a loan agreement that allows the engine to be exhibited at Head of Steam in Darlington, while the NRM retains ownership rights.
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Peter Gibson, the MP for Darlington, said: “This is not a dispute over the legal ownership.” Rather, he said, it is about “the location and presentation” of the engine. “Locomotion No 1 is central to Darlington’s cultural identity. It features on the town’s coat of arms and on the badges of our football and rugby clubs, and moving it to a shed in Shildon would certainly damage our standing within the story of British locomotion.”
Gibson does not agree that Darlington council has a responsibility to return the locomotive to NRM as they are the rightful owners. “It’s an insult in and of itself because ‘return’ implies previous possession. The National Railway Museum owns the locomotive due to an accident of history.
“Much of the original finance came from Edward Pease, a Darlington man, and it has been on display in Darlington for 163 years … You wouldn’t remove the crown jewels from the Tower of London.”
The current loan agreement runs until 31 March 2021, but with the forthcoming 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington railway in 2025, who gets to display the locomotive during the bicentennial celebrations is at the heart of the dispute.
A memorandum of understanding which would have allowed both parties to display Locomotion No 1 in 2025 was almost agreed last week but talks have since broken down.
Andrew McLean, the head curator for the NRM, expressed frustration that over a year of negotiations had not produced an agreement. He likened Darlington council’s refusal to return the engine to “borrowing a car from a car rental place and refusing to give your car back”, adding: “It sets a potentially dangerous precedent that borrowers start to question the return of legitimate loans to their legitimate owners.”
In response, Heather Scott, the leader of Darlington council, said: “That’s absolutely appalling; we’ve had a contract that’s been renewed every five years. Why are they deciding to have a problem with our agreement now with 2025 looming? It’s been in the town for 163 years and we’ve looked after it this whole time without the need for Science Museum funding.”
Dr Sarah Price, the head of Locomotion in Shildon, said: “As we head towards the once-in-a-lifetime railway anniversaries of 2025, we want the whole of the UK – and the world – to turn its attention towards the north-east, where the world’s railway history was forged. To do that, we all need to work together.
“We absolutely understand the significance of Locomotion No 1 – emotionally and historically – to Darlington. It is important to stress to Darlington residents that the engine will only be travelling a very short distance to Shildon where it was based for almost all of its working life, and where it will be seen and enjoyed for free at Locomotion by more than 200,000 visitors every year.”
