Fathers day rally at Locomotion

The Northern National Restoration Group was delighted to attend this year's Father's Day Rally at Locomotion, Shildon. The event brought together a fantastic variety of classic vehicles, transport enthusiasts and families, making for a brilliant day celebrating our rich transport heritage.

We were proud to exhibit our preserved vehicles and spend the day talking to visitors about the work our charity carries out to preserve historic buses from across the North East. It was wonderful to meet so many people who share our passion for transport preservation, along with those discovering our charity for the first time.

A particular highlight of the day was our preserved Scania 5217 taking part in one of the local heritage bus trips operating from the event. Carrying a full load of passengers, 5217 once again demonstrated exactly what these vehicles were built for—transporting people while creating lasting memories. Seeing so many visitors enjoying a ride aboard the bus was a fantastic reminder of why preserving working vehicles is so important.

After completing its trip, 5217 was parked alongside former Chester-le-Street depot vehicle 3963, a Wright-bodied Volvo B7TL Gemini. Seeing these two North East favourites displayed together proved popular with visitors, with many taking the opportunity to photograph them and reminisce about the days when they were regular sights on local roads.

Throughout the day, our volunteers were on hand to answer questions, discuss our restoration projects, our plans for the future and explain how preserving these vehicles helps keep an important part of our region's transport history alive for future generations. We would like to thank everyone who stopped by our display, shared their memories, took photographs and supported our work.

Attending events such as the Father's Day Rally are a fantastic opportunity to showcase the dedication of our volunteers and highlight why preserving historic buses matters. Every vehicle has its own story to tell, and we are committed to ensuring those stories continue to be shared.

A huge thank you goes to Graeme Scarlett and the organisers at Locomotion for hosting an excellent event, as well as to all of the exhibitors and visitors who made the day such a success.

If you enjoyed seeing our vehicles and would like to support our work, why not consider becoming a member of the Northern National Restoration Group? As a registered charity, every membership and donation helps us continue restoring, preserving and displaying historic buses, ensuring the transport heritage of the North East is protected for future generations.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at our future events. Keep an eye on our website and social media pages to find out where we'll be appearing next and for our next chapter beginning hopefully very soon.

We are registered as a charity in England and Wales (1193235)

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Member of the National Association of Road Transport Museums (NARTM)

Please note the NNRG is not open to the general public as the work that we do is on a voluntary basis. We cannot guarantee that authorized members will be at the depot. Our site is controlled by an external CCTV monitoring company.