The Pride of the Show.

To be found in the museum are also several authentic examples of the first iron roads which were made for wheels without flanges.

There is a splendid and genuine portion of the old Outram way, laid down by Outram himself, the father of the “tram,” in 1797. This was brought down from the L.N.E.R.'s Peak Forest Canal, near Chinley.

The permanent-way and rail sections shew the growth in the size and efficiency, of rails from 1830 onwards, and include the smallest rail, which was used on the Leeds and Selby line, and which was 36lb. to the yard.

The pride of the collection is the Hetton engine, built at Hetton Colliery workshops in 1822 by Geo. Stephenson and Nicholas Wood.

It was rebuilt in 1857 and again in 1882, and is said to have been working right up till 1913.

In the Railway Centenary Procession of old and modern locomotives in 1922 the Hetton engine led the way—under its own steam!