Locomotion No 1 row will leave rail museum in 'a world of pain'

The proposed relocation of Locomotion No 1 has been described as an "ill-judged plan"

A town's mayor has vowed to leave a national tourist attraction "in a world of pain" amid a row over the relocation of a famous locomotive.

The National Railway Museum (NRM) wants to move Robert Stephenson's Locomotion No 1 from Darlington, where it has been for 160 years, to Shildon.

The mayor of Darlington, Nick Wallis, called the idea an attack on "our culture and our identity".

The NRM said there was a strong historical case to base it at Shildon.

The country's first passenger-carrying railway steam locomotive is currently housed at Darlington's Head of Steam museum, but the York-based NRM wants to move it to the Locomotion museum in Shildon ahead of the 200th anniversary of the Stockton to Darlington Railway in 2025.

Mr Wallis told a council meeting he would fight "tooth and nail" to keep it, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Kick in the teeth'

"It appears on the town coat of arms, the borough council's badge and on the mayor's chains. Locomotion No 1 has a totemic status in Darlington.

"It is unbelievable that having tried to work with the National Railway Museum in preparations for 2025, with a great deal of harmony with Durham and Stockton, that this could be pulled out of the hat now really feels like a kick in the teeth.

"What the National Railway Museum need to know is that they are going to be in a world of pain if they continue to pursue this ill-judged plan."

Sarah Price, head of Locomotion, said the council's loan agreement - signed in 1975 - to borrow Locomotion No 1 from the National Railway Museum collection expires in March next year.

She added Shildon was "the point where history was made and Locomotion No 1 set off on its famous journey".

However, Councillor Heather Scott disputed that claim at the meeting, stating Locomotion No 1 started its first journey at Heighington Station, five miles outside Darlington.