Stephenson Railway Museum

The Stephenson Railway Museum stands beside the Silverlink Retail Park in North Shields. It shares a building with the North Tyneside Steam Railway workshops on Middle Engine Lane. A standard-gauge line runs two miles south from the museum to Percy Main. The railway is run by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association. The museum honours George and Robert Stephenson, railway pioneers from the area. The museum houses one of George Stephenson’s early locomotives, named Billy. The site once formed part of a busy network of waggonways carrying coal from Northumberland pits to staithes on the River Tyne. Rope haulage began here in the 1820s, and by the 1850s steam locomotives took over. After coal declined, the tracks were used for testing Metro trains before becoming a heritage railway. Inside, the museum’s exhibition space displays historic rolling stock and railway relics. The railway yard has three sidings, two of which lead into the exhibition area. A single track runs to Percy Main, where an open platform sits beside the Metro line. Volunteers maintain the locomotives and carriages, offering rides along the restored route. A two-acre woodland walk has recently been added to the site.