“Where/what's Shildon?” It’s the sort of question a lot of people may ask when hearing the name of many half-forgotten places. #Shildon today is a small town in the North East, home to Locomotion, a fine #railway museum that sprawls across much of the footprint of its old claim to fame. 1/4
In 1821 Shildon held just 115 residents. In twenty years 2,631 called the town home, rising to over 11,700 by 1901. The reason? The railways, and the vast coal and iron deposits under the gloriously beautiful land of the North East of England. 2/4
A powerhouse of industrial revolution, the railways needed a way to move the bounty of the mines to the expanding ports & beyond. Shildon was perfectly placed to become a dynamo of Empire & industry, one of the first towns to produce commercial railway engines & eventually standardised rail stock –
1000's of goods wagons rolling across the world began life here. As late as the 1970s, it was the worlds' biggest producer of rolling stock. Today, #Locomotion remains, well worth a visit. Shildon 1915 www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/shildon.htm £3.50pp, one of almost 4,000 #history -filled #maps #rail200
