S&DR200 Next Stop: The Future! Challenge

On September 27 1825, the Stockton and Darlington Railway opened, linking a number of North East locations.

It was the first passenger railway to use steam trains to transport travelers, thereby acting as a pioneer of modern rail travel as it chugged along connecting people, communities, and industries.

To honour the 200th anniversary of that very first journey along the tracks, Durham, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, and Tees Valley Combined Authority councils will join with organisations far and wide to revel in celebrations and conduct a series of projects and events.

With activities to suit visitors of all ages, the celebration is to comprise of a nine-month festival, S&DR200, that will see events and activities situated along the 26 mile line.

We will join in the celebrations with our very own challenge S&DR200 Next Stop: The Future!

The world is covered with abandoned and disused train tracks. In the UK alone there are 4000 miles of disused train tracks, many of which have become footpaths for walkers and cyclists. Even part of Stockton and Darlington railway is no longer in use.

We want you to come up with something more exciting for these unloved stretches of railway. Inventors of the past have come up with some hilarious and down right bonkers ideas for things that use tracks, from zoos to hand-powered bikes and everything in between!

You are the inventors of the future and it’s your turn now to go full steam ahead with your imagination and come up with something totally off the rails!

The competition is open to Year 5, 6, 7 and 8 students in areas governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Darlington Borough Council and Durham County Council.