RS Works Bicentenary

In the continuum of the industrial revolution & the development of railways, we should expect many railway & industrial bicentenary exhibitions over the next few years - more so than tercentenaries & quadricentenaries (we missed the Tanfield route of 1621 around Lobley Hill).    Another for our region is Robert Stephenson's works at Forth Street, opened in 1823 as the world's first workshop dedicated to loco production.

Eventbrite link to free RS bicentenary exhibition at the Common Room
(Does anyone recognize the loco depicted?)

There may be several celebrations of the RS bicentenary - the first of which is next year's free exhibition at The Common Room (formerly the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers (NEIMME)) on Westgate Road next to Newcastle Central & the Lit & Phil.   The Robert Stephenson Trust & TWAM's Stephenson Railway Museum at Middle Engine are likely to celebrate.   Later in 2023, TR aims to show & use Twizell (RS 2730 of 1891).

The oldest extant products of the works are S&D Locomotion of 1825, L&M Rocket of 1829, C&W Invicta of 1830, C&A John Bull of 1831; the oldest working, Caroline, is in Norway.

RS 2-4-0 of 1861, No.17 Caroline, at work in 2019 
(Sister loco No.16 is a static exhibit at the same Norwegian Railway Museum at Hamar)