Age of Steam: the steam trains fanlisting

Puffing Billy and Wylam Dilly

Puffing Billy

Built: 1812-1813
Retired: 1862

The oldest surviving steam locomotives, built by Willaim Hedley for Wylam Colliery near Newcastle. These were the first locomotives to operate as a commercial success using the traction of a smooth wheel on a smooth rail. After retiring in 1862, Wylam Dilly moved to the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh, and Puffing Billy to the Science Museum in London.