Council backs project tobuild Stockton& Darlington replica
PLANS to buildaworking replica of TimothyHackworth’s pioneering Stockton& Darlington Railway
0- 6- 0 RoyalGeorge, in time for the world’s first public steam- operated line’s 2025 bicentenary, have been boosted bya£ 4700 grant for a feasibilitystudy.
The replica will be built under the auspices of the Friends of the Stockton& Darlington Railway and could cost up to £ 500,000.
Funding for the study has come from Darlington Borough Council and it will be carried out by RobShorland- Ball, who was deputyheadof the National Railway Museum and development project director from 1987- 94. Amuseums and heritage consultant, he has family connections to the area through which the line ran.
Background
TimothyHackworth’s RoyalGeorge wasconstructed in1827, using the boiler froma far less successful four- cylinder Chittaprat, built for the line by RobertWilson& Cothe previous year. Royal Georgewas the most powerful locomotiveof its day. It hadadirectdrive fromthe cylinders to thewheels, and itwas the first locomotivewith three axles coupled by outside coupling rods. The first conventionally six- wheel coupled locomotive, it is historically important as the forerunnerof the British 0- 6- 0 freightengines. It remained in serviceonthe line until 1840.
Caroline Hardie, editor of the Friends’magazineThe Globe, said that it is likely that the replica will be built by an engineering firm with additional specialist support.“However, we have asked that the feasibility study look at an educational legacybygiving young potential engineers an opportunity to learn engineering skills via this project,” she said. “This doesn’t preclude the use of volunteers.
Fundraising
“Wewill alsobeputtinggargantuan efforts into fundraising and highlighting the project, along with other plans for2025.”
Passenger coaches to run behind Royal George might cost a further £ 100,000.
An A4 sized print of the painting Royal George Delivers by railway artist Stephen Bainbridge has been produced for the Friends.
It is also available as a set of six greetings cards. Proceeds from the sale of this print, available at www. therailwaystation. shop will go towards the replica.
More details about the Friends can be found atwww. sdr1825. co. uk