Locomotion No. 1
A locomotive connected with a landmark opening day.
Bring the engine
to life.
Start with the suggested palette or choose your own colours. Build gentle layers around the engine's distinctive shapes.
Suggested pencil shades and approximate screen swatches. These are not historical paint specifications.
Start lightly and build the darker surfaces gradually. Preserve the printed details.
Leave fine white highlights to separate the moving parts.
Keep the surroundings quieter than the locomotive. Retain light sky areas.
Look a little closer.
Preserved Locomotion No. 1 on display at Shildon. Read each caption before using it as a colour or configuration reference.
Preserved Locomotion No. 1 on display at Shildon. Photograph of the named locomotive. Preserved appearance may differ from its original working condition.
Chris Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Preserved Locomotion No. 1 at Darlington, showing its timber boiler cladding and overhead mechanism. Preserved original locomotive; its museum presentation includes later restoration and may differ from its working appearance.
Chris55 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Preserved Locomotion No. 1 and tender at Darlington in 2009. Preserved original locomotive; its museum presentation includes later restoration and may differ from its working appearance.
Gillett's Crossing from Bristol, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Archival photograph of preserved Locomotion No. 1 displayed at Darlington station. Preserved original locomotive; its museum presentation includes later restoration and may differ from its working appearance.
Hugh Llewelyn · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Preserved Locomotion No. 1 at the Darlington Railway Centre and Museum. Preserved original locomotive; its museum presentation includes later restoration and may differ from its working appearance.
Kim Traynor · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source photograph. Resized and converted to WebP.
Know the version.
The Science Museum Group describes the surviving Locomotion as a restored approximation of its early appearance, retaining an altered boiler and wheels. The photographs therefore show preservation history as well as early locomotive design. The iron and timber palette is indicative; it is not a verified 1825 paint specification.
The pencil example uses charcoal and timber brown. Its palette is interpretive. The gallery records the particular appearances described in its captions; preserved engines, replicas and monochrome photographs cannot establish every original shade or marking.
Science Museum Group: Locomotion collection recordDid you know?
After its railway career, Locomotion spent several years as a stationary engine before being restored for preservation in the 1850s.
Make the details count.
Leave the open wheel centres light.
Work through the exposed rods one at a time with a sharp point.