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The Tees Valley Railway was an branch railway line that ran between
Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...
on the
South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway The South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR) built a railway line linking the Stockton & Darlington Railway near Bishop Auckland with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (the West Coast Main Line) at Tebay, via Barnard Castle, Stainmore S ...
line between Bishop Auckland and Kirkby Stephen East, and
Middleton-in-Teesdale Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale between Eggleston and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle. The settlement is surrounded by the North Pennin ...
via three intermediate stations
Cotherstone Cotherstone is a village and civil parish in the Pennine hills, in Teesdale, County Durham, England. Cotherstone lies within the historic county boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but along with the rest of the former Startforth R ...
,
Romaldkirk Romaldkirk is a village in Teesdale, in the Pennines of England. The village lies within the historic boundaries of the North Riding of Yorkshire, but has been administered by County Durham since 1974. It is thought that the name might be deri ...
and Mickleton.


History

The first sod was cut on 19 June 1865 by the Duke of Cleveland, who owned a large portion of land that the railway would cross. Whilst building the line in August 1867, the foreman of works, in a hurry to build a viaduct at Baldersdale, removed the wooden frame from underneath the viaduct being built at Mickleton before the keystone was in place. Four men were injured due to falling bricks, but there were no fatalities. Both viaducts survive, but only the grade II listed Mickleton Viaduct is used as part of the Tees Valley Walk; Baldersdale viaduct is in private hands.


Opening

Built as the southern section of a proposed a line from Barnard Castle to that was never completed the section to
Middleton-in-Teesdale Middleton-in-Teesdale is a market town in County Durham, in England. It is situated on the north side of Teesdale between Eggleston and Newbiggin, a few miles to the north-west of Barnard Castle. The settlement is surrounded by the North Pennin ...
was built by the Tees Valley Railway opening on 13 May 1868, with intermediate stations at Mickleton and Cotherstone. Romaldkirk opened later in the July of the same year.


Traffic

The line was primarily used to transport stone from first the Middleton Quarry and later the Park End and Crossthwaite Quarries. Although Middleton Quarry closed in the 1930s the other two quarries outlasted the line. Stone was also forwarded from Greengates quarry and much of the stone from Lunedale quarry was railed out on a tramway to exchange sidings between Mickleton and Middleton. Work started on a reservoir at Grassholme in 1914 and this provided extra traffic with the addition of transfer sidings for the construction site. The original intention of the line was to rail out lead from the adjacent hills, but by the time that the line had opened, the lead industry boom had mostly gone into reverse. However, in 1911, the station at Middleton railed out of barytes. A shed was provided at Middleton to service the steam trains up and down the line. Most trains worked beyond Barnard Castle and into with at least five out and back workings daily in 1922 which had risen to six each way by the 1946 timetable.


Closure

The line closed for passenger traffic on 30 November 1964 and the line closed to freight on 5 April 1965.


The site today

Much of the line now forms the Tees Valley Railway Walk, with parking provided at the former site of Mickleton station.


References


Sources

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External links

{{commons category, Tees Valley Railway
Mickleton station and line historyDetails of the Tees Valley Railway Walk
North Eastern Railway (UK) Closed railway lines in North East England Rail transport in County Durham Railway lines opened in 1868