Located within the grounds of Head of Steam are Darlington Railway Preservation Society, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust and the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group.
The Friends of Darlington Railway Museum
The Friends of Darlington Railway Museum were established in 1975 to support, promote and encourage interest in the Railway Centre and Museum, and to raise funds by membership subscriptions and other means, to further the aim of helping the Museum.
The Friends help the Museum with technical advice, provides guides when needed and hold stalls at special events to raise funds. The Friends have set up an Information Point in the Main Hall to provide a focus for visitors who have questions about the Museum and its exhibits or about railway subjects in general.
A Friends Newsletter is produced four times a year to report on activities of the Friends and other articles of railway interest. There are reduced rates of entry to the Museum for the Friends. We also hold monthly meetings on the first Thursday of each month (except August) and occasional special meetings. All meetings take place in the seminar room at the right hand side of the Museum and start at 7.15 pm. Entry is free for Friends and a small fee is charged to visitors. Tea and biscuits are available during the interval.
For more information on joining the Friends please contact The Membership Secretary, 89 Hutton Avenue, Hartlepool, TS26 9PR, or telephone: 01429 269379.
Darlington Railway Preservation Society
The society was formed in 1980 to preserve local relics of the Railway Heritage of Darlington. Inside the workshops are several locomotives that were either built or spent their working lives in and around the Darlington Area. These include a diesel shunter, which worked at Cleveland Bridge when they were based in Smithfield Road, an electric locomotive from the Darlington Chemical Works on West Auckland Road, and No.39, a large 0-6-0 Tank Engine, built at Robert Stephenson's works in Thompson Street.
The Society's biggest project is the full restoration of the BR 2-6-0 Mixed Traffic loco 78018. This engine was built in the North Road works at Darlington and spent much of its life working between the Western and the Eastern side of the Pennines, over the ferocious Stainmore Summit. It is expected to take several years to complete the rebuilding of this engine and it is hoped eventually that 78018 may run over the line from Bishop Auckland to Eastgate (The Weardale Line).
A1 Steam Locomotive Trust
Tornado - No.60163 under construction in The completed Tornado - No.60163 in full steam
Hopetown Carriageworks Darlington
The A1 Steam Locomotive Trust is a registered charity whose mission is:
"To build and operate a Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific steam locomotive for mainline and preserved railway use".
The Trust has completed Tornado, the first new mainline steam locomotive in Britain for 40 years at a cost of over £1.7million. The locomotive has been built within Darlington Locomotive Works. The Loco works are usually open to the general public from 11am to 4pm on the 2nd Saturday of every month.
The A1 Trust are currently restoring and modernising a service carriage.
A1 Steam Website [external link]
Enquiries via email to. enquiries@A1steam.co.uk
North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group
N.E.L.P.G is a charity run by volunteers of skilled and unskilled enthusiasts.
The group owns and maintains several locomotives such as
- LNER Class K1 v6-0 No. 62005
- LNER Class J27 0-6-0 No. 65894
- NER Class T2 0-8-0 No. 2238
- LNER Class J72 0-6-0T No. 69023
N.E.L.P.G Website [external link]