Touring railway exhibition coming to Darlington

Historical documents, images and maps from the birth of the modern railway are coming to Darlington as part of a touring exhibition.

Whistle Stop is presented by the S&DR200 Festival and gives visitors the chance to step back 200 years in time to see the start of the Stockton and Darlington Railway story.

The documents have been brought together from archives across the UK. They include engineering drawings, rarely seen maps and cultural items like paintings, cartoons and poems.

Niccy Hallifax, S&DR200 festival directors, said: “This touring exhibition has already delighted visitors in Durham and Stockton-on-Tees libraries, and I hope Darlington residents will come along and see this impressive collection of artefacts from around the country. The Whistle Stop is a fascinating insight into the birth and subsequent development of the modern railway into what we see today.”

The free exhibition at Darlington Library in Crown Street will run from Saturday 14 June to Thursday 24 July.

The S&DR200 Festival marks the bicentenary of the opening of the Stockton & Darlington Railway on 27 September 1825. Events are being held between March and November this year across County Durham and the Tees Valley.

Visitors to the exhibition in Darlington will be able to see some of the peg dolls made for A Memory of a Journey. This art project sees residents and community groups decorate peg dolls representing their favourite train journey.

After appearing at the library the exhibition will move to Shildon library (31 July- 20 August), the Friends Community Hub on Skinnergate (25 August- 3 September) and the Locomotion railway museum in Shildon (6 September- 4 October).

More events can be found on the S&DR200 website: www.sdr200.co.uk.