Greatest Gathering brings together 40,000 train fans

PEOPLE came from across the UK and the world to experience the once-in-a-lifetime event that was The Greatest Gathering at Alstom’s Litchurch Lane works in Derby.

- By ZENA HAWLEY

By Sunday (August 3), the three-day event, featuring 140 rolling stock exhibits, had been visited by close to 40,000 people.

The Greatest Gathering commemorated the opening of the first commercial railway line - Stockton to Darlington - in 1825 and was part of the national yearlong Railway 200 celebration. Locomotion No 1, which was the first engine on the line 200 years ago, was at the event.

The historic locomotive was built by the Newcastle-based Robert Stephenson and Company, which became part of Alstom in 1989, giving the company a direct link to the dawn of the railways and making it the custodian of a unique legacy.

We spoke to some of the people - some had travelled quite a long way - to see what they thought of the event on the opening day.

Young Robert Ford, 10, was at the event with his mum and dad, Jackie and Alan, who had travelled from St Helens in Lancashire especially for the event.