National Railway Museum Shildon
The exterior of the main exhibition hall
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| Established | September 2004 |
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| Location | Shildon |
| Coordinates | 54°37′27″N 1°37′50″W / 54.6243°N 1.6306°W |
| Type |
Railway museum  Transport museum  Collection Museum  Children's museum  Open-air museum |
| Visitors | 203,000 (April 2012-March 2013) |
| Director | George Muirhead |
| Public transit access | Shildon railway station |
| Website | Museum Website |
National Railway Museum Shildon, also known as Locomotion: the National Railway Museum at Shildon or Shildon Locomotion Museum is a railway museum in Shildon, County Durham, England. The museum is a branch of the National Railway Museum (NRM), which is part of the Science Museum Group. Shildon acts as an annex, with important exhibits on display in the NRM's headquarters at York, though major exhibits are regularly rotated.
The museum was opened on 22 October 2004 by Prime Minister Tony Blair. Built at a cost of £11.3 million, it is based on the former "Timothy Hackworth Victorian Railway Museum". The museum is operated in partnership with Durham County Council and was expected to bring 60,000 visitors a year to the small town. However, during its first six months, the museum attracted 94,000 visits. In the 12 months to March 2013, the museum had 230,000 visitors. NRM Shildon was shortlisted as one of the final five contenders in the Gulbenkian Prize, which is the largest arts prize in the United Kingdom.
The museum is sited near Timothy Hackworth's Soho Works on the world's first passenger railway, the (opened on 27 September 1825 with a train hauled by Locomotion No 1 which took 2 hours to complete the 12-mile journey from Shildon to Darlington). The town was to become a major centre for British railway engineering thanks to the Shildon wagon works, which closed in 1984.
Shildon station, on the Tees Valley Line was rebuilt and modernised as part of the museum's construction and is actually situated adjacent to the trail and demonstration rail line through the museum site. It is served by all services on the line, operated by Northern.
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