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'Puffing Billy' Locomotive
Locomotive 'Puffing Billy'.
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Puffing Billy is the world’s oldest surviving steam locomotive.
Dating to 1813-1814, it was built by William Hedley, Jonathan Forster, and Timothy Hackworth, for use at the Wylam Colliery near Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
Built to replace the horses used on the tramway, Puffing Billy was one of three engines built by Hedley, the resident engineer at the colliery. It remained in service at the colliery until 1862, when it was lent to the Patent Office Museum in South Kensington, which became the Science Museum. The Museum later bought the locomotive.
It has been suggested that the colloquialisms “puffing like Billy-o” and “running like Billy-o” came from the locomotive’s name.
- Measurements:
-
overall: 4572 mm x 2159 mm x 6782 mm, 8000 kg
- Materials:
- wood (unidentified) , iron and steel (metal)
- Object Number:
- 1862-2/1
- type:
- steam locomotive
- Image ©
- The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
