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Actions	Letter from John Backhouse to his sister describing the opening train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway Remove from selection Add to selection TitleLetter from John Backhouse to his sister describing the opening train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway ReferenceBACK CreatorBackhouse, John Church John Church Backhouse (1811-1858) was born in Darlington, Durham. Part of the Quaker Backhouse family, his father was John Backhouse (1779–1842), one of the principle underwriters of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and first treasurer of the company. Date 27 September 1825 Scope and ContentLetter from 14-year-old John Backhouse to his sister in London, describing the opening train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 27th September 1825. Above the letter text is Backhouse's pencil sketch of the train, with numbers to identify the various wagon and carriages described in the body of the letter. Extent1 document Physical descriptionGood condition LanguageEnglish Archival historyThe letter was bought at auction from a private collector before being purchased by the National Railway Museum in 2005. It appears to have been accumulated by the Backhouse family. At some point in its history it seems to have been in a collection of some sort, as evidenced by annotations, and by the remains of a paper guard along one edge where it was presumably tipped into a scrapbook or album. Levelfonds Repository nameNational Railway Museum, York Associated people and organisationsStockton & Darlington Railway Co The Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) was the first steam operated public railway in the world when it opened in 27 September 1825. The object of the railway was to reduce the cost of carriage of coal sent from the small coal mine in the Shildon area to Darlington & Stockton and at first it was not thought that there would be any need to provide facilities for passengers. For the first eight years the few passengers were carried in horse-drawn coaches operated by the contractors, it was not until 1833 that the company started to operate passenger trains hauled by locomotives. Synonymous with the S&DR are the names Pease and Stephenson. The Pease family, led by Edward Pease strongly supported the railway and Edward's son, Joseph, prepared the original prospectus and became the company's first treasurer. George Stephenson was appointed engineer in January 1822 to see to the survey and the building of the line, he also supplied the first locomotives which were built be his son, Robert Stephenson. In May 1825 Timothy Hackworth was appointed locomotive foreman and worked with the company for eight years and designed a type of locomotive more suitable for coal traffic, with six-coupled wheels. Most of the branches and extensions to the Stockton and Darlington Railway were built by separate companies, although worked by the S&DR, however most of these companies were taken over by S&DR in 1858. In 1863 the Stockton & Darlington Railway ceased to exist as a separate concern, but until 1876 it was run as the Darlington section of the North Eastern Railway. SubjectRailways Conditions governing accessAccess is given in accordance with the NRM access policy. Material from this archive is available to researchers through Search Engine Conditions governing ReproductionCopies may be supplied of items in the archive, provided that the copying process used does not damage the item or is not detrimental to its preservation. Copies will be supplied in accordance with the NRM’s terms and conditions for the supply and reproduction of copies, and the provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Related object Papers of John Melling, Locomotive Superintendent Leonard Raisbeck Archive

TitleLetter from John Backhouse to his sister describing the opening train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway

ReferenceBACK

Date

27 September 1825

Scope and ContentLetter from 14-year-old John Backhouse to his sister in London, describing the opening train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway, 27th September 1825. Above the letter text is Backhouse's pencil sketch of the train, with numbers to identify the various wagon and carriages described in the body of the letter.

Extent1 document

Physical descriptionGood condition

LanguageEnglish

Archival historyThe letter was bought at auction from a private collector before being purchased by the National Railway Museum in 2005. It appears to have been accumulated by the Backhouse family. At some point in its history it seems to have been in a collection of some sort, as evidenced by annotations, and by the remains of a paper guard along one edge where it was presumably tipped into a scrapbook or album.

Levelfonds

Repository nameNational Railway Museum, York

Associated people and organisationsStockton & Darlington Railway Co

SubjectRailways

Conditions governing accessAccess is given in accordance with the NRM access policy. Material from this archive is available to researchers through Search Engine

Conditions governing ReproductionCopies may be supplied of items in the archive, provided that the copying process used does not damage the item or is not detrimental to its preservation. Copies will be supplied in accordance with the NRM’s terms and conditions for the supply and reproduction of copies, and the provisions of any relevant copyright legislation.

Related object

Papers of John Melling, Locomotive Superintendent

Leonard Raisbeck Archive