Cor Blimey… That’s Old!
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Built in 1891 by Robert Stephenson & Co at Forth Banks in Newcastle, Twizell is the oldest (and largest) operational locomotive at the Tanfield Railway – a charming three-mile-long heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham – and has just celebrated its 125th birthday. Now that’s old!
Twizell is regularly seen pulling long passenger trains or heavy coal trains on the railway, her distinctive bellowing whistle and plumes of thick white smoke ascending from her chimney makes the veteran locomotive all the more of a joy to ride behind. Having spent her working life in and around County Durham, Twizell is very much a local lass, who has been painstakingly restored by passionate volunteers at the world’s oldest railway.
Now, I’m sure you don’t know many 125-year-olds in quite as good nick as Twizell…
But what else was going on 125 years ago? Well, Queen Victoria was on the throne, an upper-class bloke called Robert Cecil with a fancy title – the ‘Marquess of Salisbury’ – was Prime Minister, a telephone line was installed between London and Paris and we gained the first female editor of a national newspaper, The Observer. A bit of an uneventful year, to be honest.
Since then, Twizell has worked through the First World War, the great depression, the Second World War, the sexual revolution, the moon landing, Margaret Thatcher, the end of apartheid, the twin towers attacks, the introduction of the iPhone, six monarchs and 25 separate Prime Ministers.
Phew… That’s a a long time.
Happy Birthday Twizell.
If you’re interested in visiting the Tanfield Railway (which I would highly recommend), then take a look at the website here.
Or, if you want to keep up to date with the goings-on at Tanfield, see the blog here.
