The summer of 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of the use of the first commercial adhesion steam engine 'Puffing Billy', employed to haul chaldron wagons on metal rails from the coal mine at Wylam to Lemington staiths on the River Tyne. It was built in 1813 by local men, engineer William Hedley, engine-wright Johnathon Forster, and blacksmith Timothy Hackworth, for Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery.
A festival is taking place in communities along the line of the Wylam Waggonway to mark this momentous event in railway history. One of the highlights will be a display of Beamish Museum's replica engine NZ2254 : Puffing Billy emerges brought for the occasion on a low-loader lorry.