On Friday 1, Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 August 2025, Alstom’s historic Litchurch Lane Site in Derby will open to the public for the first time in over 50 years. Britain’s biggest and oldest remaining train factory will be home to more than 50 rolling stock exhibits from the past, present and future of the railways.
The event forms part of the wider Railway 200 festivities, a year-long celebration marking the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) on 27 September 1825 – and a journey that gave birth to the modern railway.
The first locomotive to run on the S&DR – Locomotion No. 1 – was built by the Newcastle-based Robert Stephenson and Company. It was the first company in the world created specifically to build railway engines and later manufactured several of the first locomotives for other countries around the world. Through successive mergers, Robert Stephenson and Company became part of Alstom in 1989.
“The Greatest Gathering, presented by Alstom for Railway 200, is a unique opportunity to celebrate not only the incredible progress of the past two centuries but also the bright future of rail,” says Gian Luca Erbacci, Europe Region President at Alstom.
At The Greatest Gathering in August will appear these historic locomotives (or examples from the same in class) representing steam, diesel and electric traction:
- LNER Class A4 (60007) 'Sir Nigel Gresley', built 1937. Preserved steam locomotive provided by the Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust, operated by Locomotive Services Limited
- Merchant Navy Class (35018) 'British India Line', built 1945. Preserved Southern Railway steam locomotive, operated by West Coast Railways
- Class 37 (37800), 'Cassiopeia', built 1963. Diesel-electric locomotive owned by Europhoenix and operated by Rail Operations Group
- Class 50 (50049) 'Defiance', built 1968. Diesel locomotive operated by GB Railfreight and owned by Class 50 Alliance Ltd, based at the Severn Valley Railway. The Greatest Gathering headboard created by Newton Castings
- Class 57 (57307) 'Lady Penelope', originally built in 1965 as 47225 and rebuilt in 2002. Diesel locomotive operated by Direct Rail Services
- Class 66 (66315) converted for UK use in 2025. Diesel locomotive operated by GB Railfreight
- Class 69 (69004) originally built in 1979 as 56069 and rebuilt in 2022. Diesel-electric locomotive in heritage British Rail Research Division livery operated by GB Railfreight
- Class 507 (507001), built 1978. Preserved Merseyrail electric multiple unit (EMU) in heritage British Rail blue-grey livery, provided by the Class 507 Preservation Society
- Class 390 Pendolino (390016 – now renumbered 390200 for Railway 200), built in 2002. Electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast
- Class 701 Aventra (701003), built in 2024 at Derby Litchurch Lane. Electric multiple unit (EMU) operated by South Western Railway
- Class 720 Aventra (720503), built in 2024 at Derby Litchurch Lane. Electric multiple unit (EMU) operated by Greater Anglia
Alongside displays of historic and modern, mainline locomotives, Britain’s biggest rail celebration will also feature rides along Derby’s test track and a variety of narrow-gauge trains will be in operation.
Derby Litchurch Lane is one of the world’s largest rolling stock factories, and the only UK facility that designs, engineers, builds and tests trains for domestic and export markets. The factory was opened by the Midland Railway in 1876, and the city of Derby has been building trains continually since 1839. In 2022, Derby was chosen by the Government as the home of Great British Railways following a vote by the public between contender cities.
