Shildon Works Fire Brigade

From Shildon Works Collection. Shildon works fire brigade, County Durham, about 1910.

Fire was always a great hazard in railway works. Steam locomotives and equipment, furnaces and forges were all sources of heat and sparks.

Shildon was the site of the world's first railway works. It was opened in 1833 by the Stockton & Darlington Railway. It originally built locomotives but later became the site of Britain's largest wagon works. It closed in 1984.