Railway museum Locomotion opens new building

The Science Museum Group (SMG) has opened an £8m building to house its collections at Locomotion in Shildon, County Durham.

The New Hall development is part of a wider £95m masterplan project across Locomotion and the National Railway Museum in York, which is also run by SMG. Both venues are benefiting from new spaces and conservation work on their collections.

The new building at Shildon is the museum’s most significant regeneration project since it opened 20 years ago, making it the largest undercover collection of historic rail vehicles anywhere in Europe.  

More than 100 vehicles are now on display, celebrating the role of Shildon as the world’s first railway town.

Locomotion is a partnership between the SMG and Durham County Council, with the latter providing significant funding towards New Hall.   

Highlights of New Hall’s collection include a range of historically significant vehicles built at the Shildon works. The museum’s existing Main Hall has also been refreshed and redisplayed.   

Other improvements at Locomotion include newly planted landscaped gardens designed to increase biodiversity across the site, renovations to historic railway buildings, enhancements to parking facilities and the restoration of the site’s historic coal drops. 

A Changing Places facility has also been installed at the museum. 

Locomotion employs about 48 people as well as volunteers, many of whom have long-standing connections with railways in the region.  

Volunteer Peter Robinson, who was employed at the Shildon railway works from 1956 to 1984, said: “I entered the works in 1956 and I was there until 1984. The closure was a devastating blow to the community. My whole life has been built around railways - the museum provides me with a place to share that passion with other people. It’s a hugely positive asset for Shildon.”  

New Hall was designed by AOC Architecture and J+L Gibbons Landscape Architects. 

The building draws on the aesthetic of an engine shed, with vehicles displayed on reused tracks across six themed roads. Sustainability has been built in through passive design, high insulation, airtightness and cost-effective construction. Low carbon air source heat pumps deliver heat to the building, reducing energy use. 

Building contractor Nationwide Engineering constructed the building over 14 months, breaking ground in January 2023 and completing work in March this year.  

As well as Durham County Council, funders for Locomotion’s New Hall include the Foyle Foundation, Friends of the National Railway Museum and the Wolfson Foundation.