Waggonways
The Durham and Northumberland coalfield was rich in the mineral, and it was extracted in increasing volumes from the Middle Ages. Transport of the heavy mineral to market was expensive and difficult; water transport, on rivers and by coastal shipping was the most practicable, and the earliest pits were close to waterways, particularly theFormation of the Stanhope and Tyne
Early in 1831, Pontop Colliery (a landsale pitLandsale pit: one whose output was expected to be sold locally and not shipped away from the district.) at Medomsley was advertised to be let. William Wallis of Westoe (near South Shields) found the potential attractive and later in the year he agreed to leases of coal seams at West Consett and Medomsley, and limestone quarries at Stanhope. A railway would be needed to connect those places, and a partnership was formed. They arranged wayleaves to get their line from Consett to Stanhope, avoiding the expense of obtaining a Parliamentary Act. Stanhope was the location of extensive reserves of limestone, required in the process of smelting iron ore. At this stage, the plan was to use the Tanfield WaggonwayAccording to Snaith and Lee; Hoole says "the old Pontop Waggonway". Tomlinson says (page 212) "probably down the old Pontop waggonway." to transport the materials to the Tyne. As well as the limestone quarries at Stanhope, there were limekilns, producingConstruction and opening
The terrain at the western end of the line was exceedingly difficult due to its hilly nature and the high altitude; construction at Stanhope started in July 1832. The eastern section across much easier terrain was begun in May 1833. From Kyo (near Annfield Plain) eastward to the Durham turnpike road near Pelaw Grange, it had been intended to take over the Beamish Colliery Railway and use it for the line. The Beamish had recently been converted from wooden rails to iron rails; it was to be reached along the old Shield Row waggonway. However the negotiations with Morton John Davison for the purchase of his railway fell through, and the Stanhope and Tyne was forced to fall back upon a line running by way of West Stanley to Stella Gill and thence to the Durham road. On 17 May the tenders were let, and the works began very soon afterwards. The South Shields Improvement Commissioners objected to the railway passing through the town at street level, and the Company was forced to alter the line to run at a higher level, crossing the main roads by bridges; these were completed in November, 1833. Early in May 1834, the first locomotive (built by Robert Stephenson & Company) was placed on the line at South Shields,On 1 May; Tomlinson, page 241 and on 15 May the upper part of the line, a section of from Stanhope to Annfield, was opened for traffic. The day was marred when a shackle broke on a set of four wagons, conveying 40 people, on the Weatherhill incline. The wagons ran away down the incline and were diverted into a siding containing spare wagons; a man and a boy were killed. The eastern section was opened on 10 September 1834, the first public railway on Tyneside.Hoole, page 188 Horse traction was used as well as locomotives, and in the hilly section there were inclines worked by stationary engines as well as self-acting inclines. The first consignment of coal was brought from the Medomsley collieries in a train of 100 wagons, and was loaded on a ship named "Sally".Dr Tom Bell, ''Railways of the North Pennines'', The History Press, Stroud, 2015, There were three drops or staiths at the South Shields quays, of a design considered to be advanced for the period; they were capable of dealing with 25 to 35 chaldrons per hour, and the berths could take vessels at low water of spring tides. The chaldrons were lowered to the ship on a swinging derrick; as they descended the tension on the restraining cable increased; a 5-ton chain was housed in a shaft, and at first it was coiled on the base. As the load descended the chain was increasingly pulled up, neatly counterbalancing the weight of the loaded chaldron; when the chaldron was discharged the weight of the chain pulled it back up.Tomlinson, page 248 The main line was in length; there was a branch to Medomsley Colliery (), and in 1835 a branch to Tanfield Moor colliery was opened, partly by restoration of an earlier waggonway, , this was known as the Harelaw branch. There were no large towns on the line of route, which was planned purely for mineral transport. The rails used on the line were of fish-bellied form, weighing , on stone blocks. The gauge of the line was .In operation
The original proprietors had forecast considerable profits but this did not prove to be the case. Dividends of 5% were declared in 1835 and 1836, but these were paid from capital, not income. The finances of the company were mismanaged and traffic did not reach expected volumes. The company burnt lime at Stanhope and Annfield, consuming nearly 10,000 tons of coal in the process; the resultant quicklime was distributed at seven depots, and it was a significant traffic in the early years, but it was not profitable and it was discontinued in 1839. Except for one locomotive with four uncoupled wheels, the S&T hadIt as only the force of circumstances that compelled us to take passengers at all. We had constant applications from poor people to ride on the coal waggons and, at first, permission was granted them to ride on the waggons without any payment at all, then passenger carriages were put on the way to save the trouble of these applications and to obviate the risk of accidents. We first put on an open carriage attached to the coal train, afterwards we ran a coach once a fortnight on pay days with an engine at considerable loss. In 1835, from 16 April, we carried 2,814 passengers. There was a considerable loss that year by carrying passengers, not less than £220. In 1838 we carried 17,490 passengers. There was an apparent gain that year of £117 15s. In 1839 we carried 15,010 passengers. In that year I consider the loss was £166 6s. 10d. Up to the close of 1839 I think there was distinctly a loss to the Company and I recommended the directors to discontinue it. They thought it a great public convenience and determined not to discontinue it.Tomlinson, pages 366 and 367
Route
The quarries at Stanhope are at an altitude of above sea level. The railway left the quarry sidings and turned north up the hillside, by rope worked inclines. From Stanhope to the Crawley engine was long on gradients of 1 in 8 and 1 in 12, passing through Hog Hill tunnel, about long. At the Crawley engine ( above sea level) the ropes were changed and the sets of wagons were drawn up to the Weatherhill engine, over away, over gradients of 1 in 21 and 1 in 13. From Weatherhill the line climbed on a further rope-worked incline at 1 in 57 to the summit level at Parkhead, above sea level.Tomlinson refers, on page 243, to a summit at Whiteleahead, above the sea. Whiteley Head is nearby, and is not to be confused with White-le-Head or Whiteley Head at the end of the North Eastern Railway Tanfield Branch. This was the highest railway summit in England.Several sources make this assertion; the nearby Weatherhill and Rookhope Railway crossed the contour, but that was not a ''public'' railway.History of Railways in Durham, https://sites.google.com/site/waggonways/history-durham Horses worked the next section, about in length, descending gently for over , and then for at the rate of 1 in 80 and 1 in 88. At the Park Head wheelhouse, the waggons were attached to a tail-rope and let down an incline at gradients of 1 in 80 and 1 in 82, in length, to a stationary engine at Meeting Slacks. Here the rope was changed, they continued their descent down a second incline in length; the steepest gradients were 1 in 35, 1 in 41 and 1 in 47. This brought the wagons to Waskerley. Next the line descended down to the valley by means of a self-acting plane called Nanny Mayor's bank (or Nanny Mayer's bank); it was long, with a gradient of 1 in 41. From the bottom of this incline, horses drew the wagons along the near-level past White Hall and Rowley (or Cold Rowley), then reaching the ravine at Hownes Gill where a break occurred in the line. The cleft at Hownes Gill is wide and deep, with steep rocky sides. When the line was planned, it was obvious that a viaduct was unaffordable and an alternative means of crossing was adopted. A track of with four rails, the outer pair at a gauge of and the inner pair at , was laid down each face of the ravine, with gradients of 1 in on the west side and 1 in 3 on the east. A special cradle was built for each side, with the lower wheels larger than the upper wheels, so as to keep the platform level. The wagons were run onto one of these cradles and were lowered to the bottom, where they were transferred to the other cradle for the ascent of the other side. The wagons travelled sideways-on. Both cradles worked simultaneously, driven by a stationary engine situated at the bottom, the ascending and descending cradles partly balancing one another. Only one railway wagon could be handled in each direction at a time, limiting the throughput to twelve an hour.A B Granville, ''The Spas of England I: Northern Spas'', Henry Colburn, London, 1841, pages 309-311 After Hownes Gill the line passed the site of Consett Iron Works, later very much enlarged and developed; the line climbed at 1 in 71 to Carr House. There the Medomsley colliery branch of the S&TR trailed in. From Carr House the line continued, falling at 1 in 108; both inclines were worked by a stationary engine at Carr House. The line then ran northeast along the ridge near the collieries of Stanley and Annfield Plain. It passed over the Pontop Ridge (between East Castle and Annfield) on an incline, gradient 1 in 148, worked by a stationary engine at the summit, at Loud Bank, then reaching Annfield. Here the Harelaw Waggonway, adopted by the S&TR as a branch, trailed in. The gradients then fell further towards the east, descending by self-acting inclines consisting, from west to east, of the Stanley bank (maximum gradient 1 in 21), Twizell bank (1 in ), Eden bank (1 in 17), and the Long Waldridge bank (1 in to 1 in ). The line then crossed the course of present-day East Coast main line, opened here in 1868, north of Chester-le-Street. This section was level enough for locomotive working, passing through Washington and Boldon, and near Brockley Whins to reach South Shields. Running at high level through the town, the line ended at quays off Wapping Street and Long Row. On 28 August 1839 the Sacriston waggonway opened; it ran from the colliery to the Waldridge waggonway, and together they formed a branch railway over in length. The Sacriston pit was to bring considerable traffic to the S&TR. It joined the S&TR at Pelton Fell. On 11 November 1840 the Brandling Junction Railway opened its Tanfield Moor branch. This resulted immediately in Tanfield Moor traffic diverting away from the Stanhope and Tyne line.Incline working
The cost of working the self-acting inclines on the Stanhope and Tyne Railway in 1839 was £415 per mile; the inclines with stationary engines in the same period was about £485 per mile. Tomlinson, writing about the North Eastern Railway in 1903, said:Sixty great ropes, of a total length of , were daily travelling over these stationary engine and self-acting inclines at a speed of from with loads of 24, 32, 48 and even 96 tons attached to them. Some of the earlier ones—those originally used on the Stanhope and Tyne Railway—were of india rubber solution, a material found to swell and become soft in wet weather, and therefore unfitted to stand the friction on the inclines. From 1835 to 1841 no other than hempen ropes were used and, as these were occasionally tarred, a smooth and glossy surface was soon formed upon them which diminished the wear from friction. Varying in girth from and in weight from nearly 2 to 6 tons per mile, these ropes rarely lasted longer than 10 months—their average duration was 7 months... By means of these stationary engines it was possible to work over the principal inclines from 2,000 to 4,000 tons a day... The power of the "Vigo" engine was the measure of the carrying capacity of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway. In 1837, with waggons at both sides, it was capable of making 4 "runs" an hour with 24 waggons, equal to 1,158 waggons in a day of 12 hours.Tomlinson, pages 379 to 381In January of each year the entire line was closed for a week so that the ropes could be changed and the machinery inspected; this coincided with colliery closures for corresponding reasons.
The Brandling Junction Railway
In 1839 theThe Durham Junction Railway
On 16 June 1834 the Durham Junction Railway obtained its authorising Act of Parliament to build a railway from collieries at Houghton-le-Spring to Washington where it joined the S&TR. The S&TR subscribed more than 50% of the share capital of the Durham Junction Railway: £40,000 of the £80,000 share capital. An agreement had been made on 17 May 1834, that the line would be worked by the locomotives of the Stanhope and Tyne Railway Company. In fact the company never progressed the line further south than Rainton Meadows.Bankruptcy
At the end of 1840 the company was unable to pay its debts, and the loss of the Tanfield Moor traffic emphasised the difficulty. As it was a partnership the partners were each liable for the debt without limit. The authorised capital of the company was £150,000 and loans to the extent of £440,000 had been taken, in violation of the terms of the deeds of the company. It had closed the Stanhope to Carr House section to save money, although it was obliged to continue the rental of the quarry and the wayleave fees for the line. On 29 December 1840 an extraordinary general meeting was held at which it was decided to promote a statutory company, with capital of £440,000, to take over the railway and its debts. On 5 February 1841 the Stanhope & Tyne Railroad company was dissolved, and its assets and debts transferred to a new company.The Pontop and South Shields Railway
The new company was called the Pontop and South Shields Railway Company (P&SSR); it was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 23 May 1842. The section of line between Stanhope and Consett (then called Carr House), and the limestone quarries at Stanhope, were sold to theDerwent Iron Company
Around the area of Carr House there were extensive deposits of iron ore as well as coal, and the availability from relatively near of abundant limestone encouraged consideration of iron smelting, and in 1840 Jonathan Richardson founded the Derwent Iron Company there. Within ten years the district had a population of 2,500 due to the iron works. When the Stanhope and Tyne Railway fell into financial difficulties, the Derwent Iron Company had to take urgent steps to ensure continuity of the Stanhope limestone, and it was this factor that caused the acquisition referred to above. The Derwent Iron Company sought to connect with theBrockley Whins
When the Brandling Junction Railway main line was constructed in 1839 it crossed the S&TR near Boldon by a flat crossing, with a west-to-north connection curve and a south-to-east curve. In the following years a number of local railways were opened which together formed a through north-south route: the beginnings of an East Coast main line, although not the present-day route. In 1844 the final link in this chain (Belmont Junction to Rainton Crossing) was opened and on 24 May 1844 a special train carrying the directors of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway ran through from York to Gateshead. On 18 June 1844 a special train was run from London to Gateshead, the journey lasting 9 hours 21 minutes, including 70 minutes of stoppage. The following day a public service was inaugurated. The trains ran over the Durham Junction Railway to Washington and then over the Pontop and South Shields line (former S&TR) to Boldon North Junction, reversing there and running over the Brandling Junction line via Brockley Whins.The names of the junctions have changed over time. The area was referred to as Brockley Whins and most sources refer to the reversal taking place at Brockley Whins. A station of that name was later built to the west, and as it was a simple through station, no reversal was required there. On 19 August 1844 a south-to-west curve was opened, avoiding the reversal. It had been constructed at the joint expense of the Pontop and South Shields and Brandling Junction Companies. Although a short line it involved a crossing of a deep valley of the River Don, and a considerable wooden viaduct had had to be built. The structure was long and was above water level. It consisted of single timber trestles of various heights, about apart, on which were laid longitudinal beams and cross girders. Use of this route by main line trains continued until 1850, when the opening for passengers on 1 October 1850 of a line between Washington and Pelaw enabled trains to run by a more direct route.''Demolition of Brockley Whins Viaduct'', in Railway Magazine, February 1941The Pontop and South Shields Railway
The Pontop and South Shields Railway, established in 1842, generated enough capital to pay off the bulk of the debt of the Stanhope and Tyne line, and continued operating as before, except for the Derwent Iron Company section southwest of Carr House. In a series of changes of owning company, the Pontop and South Shields Railway was taken over by the York and Newcastle Railway on 1 January 1847. On 9 August 1847 that company enlarged and became theThe Stockton and Darlington Railway at Consett
From about 1857 mineral traffic at Consett became very difficult to operate. The railways had been built to take heavy minerals from the area downhill to the Tyne and the coast, but now iron ore was being brought in from the Cleveland districts to the east, and from Whitehaven in the west, requiring a long uphill haul. As much of these routes was over rope-worked inclines, this was an expensive and slow business. In the case of the self-acting (gravity) inclines, locomotive assistance was brought in; in some cases to propel the loaded uphill set. The Hownes Gill defile presented a major constraint on mineral and passenger traffic. Some relief was obtained from 1853 when it was found possible to run sets of three wagons down the very steep inclines and up the other side on their own wheels, but finished iron products on wagons were liable to shift on the descent. At length in December 1856 the Stockton and Darlington Railway (as interim operators of the line) decided to substitute a viaduct for the inclines; the viaduct was designed byOpening of the Hownes Gill Viaduct on the Stockton and Darlington Railway: This structure was opened on Friday last 5 June, contradicting Tomlinson.. At half past 12 a train of 72 laden waggons was passed slowly over the bridge without the slightest signs of shake or deflection being observable. Afterwards a locomotive, appropriately termed "The Leader", repeated this experiment... During its progressThe reversal at Waskerley Junction was obviously inconvenient, particularly for through mineral traffic between Crook and Consett, and on 4 July 1859, the S&DR opened the Waskerley deviation, a line from Burnhill junction making a gradual but continuous descent to Whitehall junction, forming the third side of a triangle. Locomotive working was now possible from Crook to Carr House. The old line between Waskerley Junction and Whitehall Junction, including Nanny Mayor's incline, was then abandoned.he work He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...has been unattended by any accident, and on its completion has been opened with complete success. The materials used are fire-bricks, manufactured at Pease's and Stobart's works, and stones of the finest quality, hewn from an adjoining quarry—of which there are millions of the former, and of the latter. The entire length of the viaduct is , its height , with 12 arches of span each. Fifteen months have sufficed for its erection, at a cost of £14,000, for a single line of way. It is higher than the High Level Bridge.
Improving the line
The P&SSR itself ordered improvements to its own line about the same time; from Stella Gill (Pelton Fell) to Fatfield (east of Vigo) was doubled; the new work was opened on 8 June 1857. Vigo had been a rope-worked incline, albeit of moderate gradient, and on the completion of the doubling work the rope working was abolished, and locomotive working substituted. The level crossing of the Durham Turnpike (the Great North Road) was altered to cross the road by a bridge. The numerous rope worked inclines were a continuing inconvenience and source of expense, and in 1875 the North Eastern Railway obtained authorisation to bypass some of them by new routes on easier gradients. That scheme was dropped, but on 19 June 1882 the powers were renewed on a modified scheme. A deviation line looping south of the hills near Annfield Plain that had necessitated Loud Bank incline, was opened on 1 January 1886. This left three difficult inclines between Annfield Plain and Pelton, where the line crossed the East Coast Main Line (ECML). The North Eastern Railway decided to build a completely new line long, suitable for locomotive operation; the new line was to make a junction with the ECML, and to connect the old Stanhope line there as well. This scheme was authorised on 23 May 1887 and the connection from the old line to the ECML was opened 16 October 1893. The new deviation line, known as the Annfield Plain Branch, was opened on 13 November 1893. In both cases the openings were for mineral trains only; passenger opening for the Annfield Plain Branch followed on 17 August 1896. There were numerous colliery connections on the old line, which was retained to serve them. The Edenhill and Stanley inclines became disused in 1946 but the Waldridge incline continued in operation serving collieries on Pelton Level until the late 1960s. The Annfield Plain Branch naturally had stiff gradients and in the 1960s it became notable for the operation of the Tyne Dock to Consett iron ore trains, operated by two class 9F 2-10-0 locomotives climbing the 1 in 50 gradients.Chronology of connecting lines
Running west to east across what became a fruitful mining area, the line attracted a considerable number of connecting railways. The line west of Parkhead sand quarry closed on 28 April 1951. The Weatherhill and Rookhope Railway opened in 1846; it was a private line built by theAfter 1923
On 1 January 1923 the main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" following thePreservation
Both parts of the former line are now mainly used as foot and cycle paths, with part incorporated into the nationalTopography
The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was never planned for passenger operation, and when this took place it was in many cases informal, provided for miners on coal trains. Some early "stations" had no facilities whatever, and there was never a consistent through service from end to end of the line. From Stanhope the principal locations were: * ''Stanhope quarries''; * Crawley; opened 1 September 1845; closed 31 October 1845; reopened 1 April 1846; closed after December 1846; * Waskerley Park; opened 1 September 1845; closed 4 July 1858; * ''Waskerley Junction''; line to Crook diverged; * ''Whitehill Junction''; line from Crook converged; * Cold Rowley; opened 1 September 1845; renamed Rowley 1868; closed 1 May 1939; * Consett; opened 1 September 1862; replaced by another station opened as Benfieldside 2 December 1867; * Carr House; opened 1 July 1858; closed 1 October 1868; * Leadgate; opened 17 August 1896; closed 23 May 1955; * Pelton; opened by March 1862; closed after January 1869; * Durham Turnpike; opened 16 April 1835; closed after December 1853; reopened by March 1862, closed after January 1869; * Vigo; opened 16 April 1835; closed after December 1853; reopened from March 1862; closed after January 1869; * Biddick Lane; opened February 1864; closed after January 1869; * Washington; opened 16 April 1835; closed after December 1853; * Jarrow; opened by August 1844; * South Shields; opened 16 April 1835; closed 19 August 1844, when the service was diverted to the Brandling Junction "Low" station. However, in 1879 the NER built a new station on the site of this S&TR station and all services were diverted to here. It remained open until 1981 when it was replaced by a Tyne & Wear Metro station around further south, which approached it on the S&TR line from Tyne Dock. In 2019, a new Metro station will replace the 1980s one, again around further south; * ''South Shields quays''.M E Quick, ''Railway Passenger Stations in England Scotland and Wales—A Chronology'', The Railway and Canal Historical Society, 2002Notes
References
Further reading
* * *Langham, Rob (2020) ''The Stanhope & Tyne Railroad Company'', Amberley, ISBN 978-1445697666External links
* * * * {{cite web, url = http://www.railbrit.co.uk/Stanhope_and_Tyne_Railway/frame.htm, title = Stanhope and Tyne Railway, publisher = railbrit.co.uk, Map showing track Early British railway companies Rail transport in County Durham North Eastern Railway (UK) Railway lines opened in 1834 Railway companies disestablished in 1841 Stockton and Darlington Railway Industrial railways in England Horse-drawn railways Transport in South Shields British companies disestablished in 1841