The museum is operated in partnership with Durham County Council and was expected to bring 60,000 visitors a year to the small town.

The museum is arranged as stops along the 1-kilometre (0.6 mi) demonstration line with station direction board signs and information points on the trail between the car parks and the main collection building.

The museum has a six-spur apron in front of the main shed and another short length of track for showing off resident locomotives and visiting trains.

[7] The railway station's parcel office is the next part of the trail and at the junction, visible across the tracks are the former stables for the early horse-drawn wagonways that linked to the line.

[11] In 2014, ahead of the 75th-anniversary celebrations for Mallard's setting the world steam speed record, 8,000 visitors turned up to welcome five sister A4 locomotives including 60008 "Dwight D Eisenhower" and 60010 "Dominion of Canada" that were repatriated from North America, the latter was given a cosmetic overhaul in Shildon's workshop.

The main exhibition building houses most of the collection and includes the sole examples of the prototype APT-E and Deltic units.

[12] The museum has a wind turbine which provides power to the National Grid and an on-site biodiesel bus for transporting visitors around the site.