Last time I visited Darlington it was to the North Road Station Museum but some years ago this was expanded with the addition of the adjacent goods shed and carriage works. I took time on the way to stop off at the Brick Train sculpture so arrived just as things opened.
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My first port of call was the A1 Locomotive Trust’s workshop, this is the other side of the railway but there’s a wheelchair lift to the bridge across; I was having a few problems as the door kept trying to swing closed but one of the site maintenance people came over, held the door for me, then dashed up the stairs and made sure I was ok getting out! I got cannier going down and reversed in but the spring was still making it difficult to fully open the door to exit. Although Tornado wasn’t in residence their second new loco build, P2 - Prince of Wales is underway. This class would have been Britain’s most powerful passenger steam locos but unresolved problems meant they were rebuilt as Pacifics, the hope is that with modern engineering they can fix the issues.
From there I visited the carriage works, an exhibition space, which was closed, and the museum’s artefacts store which you can browse around. I did spot this platform sign which must be from Monkwearmouth Station, I suspect dating from around 1925 when Brockley Whins was renamed Boldon Colliery, hence the painted out name. It reverted to the old name in 1991 before being incorporated into the Metro system in 2002.
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The main museum building is a bit tight to get around as the main hall is literally two of the platforms with infilling between the stock. It’s changed a little since my last visit, but not all that much! I was constantly dodging little kids as I think mum’s had taken the chance to visit now the older ones are back at school but I managed to avoid running any of them over.
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