Locomotion — Attraction in Heighington

visited this place the other day and really enjoyed a couple of hours walking around all of the engine from the past, finished off with a coffee. Free to enter and dogs allowed. Open Wednesday to Sunday 10 till 4 winter... 10 till 5 summer. Take a walk on the wild side or at least part of the old track line itsself. Coming up for a 200year celibration in 2025, Shildon (the first railway town) has a lot to offer not only in the Locomotion museum but why it became a rail town in the first place. You can follow the old track now a footpath of about one and a quarter mile from the museum, passing the old Soho work shops to where the old crossing used to be next to the Masons Arms public house now called Cape to Cairo, across the main road from there you will find three sets of the old track line as well as a signal post. Moving on up to the metal recycling centre the footpath keeps to the right and up a short incline to a major road under which you go passing under the bridge then up to and beyond the Brusselton incline where the engine power station stood, pulling trucks of coal up out of the Wear valley around West Auckland, better known as the Gaunless valley due to the river there. Beyond the Engine house you can find about 340 stone sleepers that housed the old line as well as a beautifull veiw of the valley itself. Its a nice easy walk both ways and more to see and you still have the museum waiting with coffee teas and nibbles when you get back. Check out the photos for a guide.

Update on old railline to Brusselton... The footpath has now been extencivly repaired with tarmac and gravel bedding, this will allow a better walkway all the way up to and beyond Brusselton engine house that pulled the coal trucks up from West Auckland. Take a walk, cycle, jog and even a mobility scooter on the one and a half mile trek from the museum... there is a point where there are a number of bollards across the path the distance between the 2 widest is 27" /66cm so check before you go. Alteratively, have someone drop you off at the western most point where you can meander back to the museum in time from refreshments... opening time is 10 am, its free to enter but you could leave a...

I last visited Locomotion about fourteen years ago (so I believe), as a child. I took the train there (fitting) and found that the most efficient route from Shildon station to Locomotion had sections of just walking on road. Construction abound, I gather they're expanding their space.

I find the entrance and it's familiar. The staffer at the desk I speak to is friendly, asking me about whether I had been there before, to tell me briefly about the train one can step onto and of the Cafe and gift shop. I enjoy just wandering, so that I did, seeing fun sights and enjoying doing so. Toddlers and bigger kids did also, with parents struggling at times to contain excitement, as I remembered!

I went to the Cafe and saw that they were unable to serve their Costa Coffee due to machine issues. These things do happen, I can't fault them. I bought a carbonated juice drink and a mass-produced sandwich and the price was... Well, it was high, over £7. They were perfectly good, and the prices make sense for having a monopoly on the location, and the place needs to earn money from sales of food, but ouch.

I proceeded to venture more to the side by the tracks and realized that Stephenson's Rocket was there. I had known this a long time ago. It was great to see it and read of its importance at the time and historical significance, along with other early trains. I moved along eventually to the gift shop and I was astonished by the quantity of Flying Scotsman themed tat and apparel. There were about sixty different items. Some were enormously expensive, some cheap. My partner had an interest in the rubber ducks, but the paint quality was dismal. So, socks it was. The staffer at the till was, again, lovely.

And then again a walk along the road with construction works a few metres away back into Shildon.

Overall, nostalgia and the fun of seeing train history in person in a very appropriate location makes up for the shortfalls, especially with how lovely...

Locomotion If your in to trains this is the right place for you. few hundred meters away from Shildon train station makes it an extremely accessible location along with 2 large carparks and a large disabled parking area right out front! From what I believe this is mostly volunteer run, all the "volunteers" I met today greeted me with kindness and were lovely to talk to! lovely café ordered 2x ham and cheese paninis that came with salad and nachos, 1x bowl of chips and 2x cans (not all for me) all in the region of £15 and in my opinion was good value and good quality, however I don't think you will be lynched for bringing a packed lunch with you. I came today with the intention of taking some photographs of the exhibits, of which there are some fantastic ones! for the purposes of photography everything is very close together and is difficult to get some good angles also the building lets in lots of natural light that reflects off of the very clean and shiny exhibits, not a bad thing just a point to note for photography! The whole site is very clean and everywhere is wheelchair accessible. seems to be a few areas dotted around to entertain children as well as a play park outside. it really is a fantastic place but it feels like its missing something. from some investigation I believe there may be works going on in order to have an actual steam train offer rides up and down the track in the future, so that will be something to hopefully look forwards to! Overall for a volunteer led museum its very good, wont fill a whole day but if your in the northeast and traveling by train it would be rude not to experience this place for free! also options to pay a £5 donation by contactless on your way out, how easy is that for those of us who don't carry...