One of Hornby's most-recent and best-selling models has returned with the release of ‘Locomotion No. 1’ to mark the 200th anniversary of our railways. The locomotive earned its place in history as the world’s first steam locomotive to haul a passenger train on a public railway, when it ‘opened’ the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) in 1825. Its importance was recognised at an early stage and it became one of the first locomotives to be preserved when it was rescued from scrap in 1856 by Joseph Pease and his family.

Hornby locomotion No.1

'Locomotion' was steamed again for the S&DR’s Golden Jubilee in 1875, but for most of the time from 1892 until 1975, ‘Locomotion No. 1’ was on static display at Darlington Bank Top station. During 1924 however, it received a cosmetic restoration in readiness for the centenary celebrations of the S&DR in 1925 and, during the celebratory cavalcade, it hauled ten replica chaldron waggons and the ‘company coach’ propelled by a petrol engine hidden in a specially-built tender.

A further 100 years later then, Hornby's new arrival is a fitting, ornate and wonderfully-detailed locomotive to add to a discerning OO gauge collection for its history - whether to run on a layout, or display in a cabinet!