The LNER Encyclopedia

Hello All--Chris in Lewisville, Texas here--I've got a question for the board: Today I was perusing my 1947 British railway atlas, and noticed a small LNER branch to the west of Newcastle. It ran just to the north, and fairly parallelled with the Stanhope branch. It ended just north of Stanhope, in sort of a 'U' shape at a Lime kiln. There were two 'goods sheds listed along the branch (but no passenger). I looked back at my 1926 map, and the branch did not appear on it. Does anyone know of which I speak? A mining lead built after the '20's? A failed branch to somewhere else? One of the goods sheds was called 'Waskerley.' Thanks!

Hello Chris

I think you must be talking about the western end of the Stanhope & Tyne Railway which opened west of Carr House in May 1834 and throughout to the River Tyne at South Shields in the following September.

A history of the line can be found in The Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, G.Whittle, published by David & Charles in 1979 (ISBN: 0715378554 / 0-7153-7855-4 )

Hope this helps

Andy Rush

Most of the route from Washington right through to Waskerley and Parkhead is part of the C to C cycle route. Parkhead Station, which used to be called Blanchland, is now a very nice little tea room with some bits of railway memorabilia. The route from there down to Stanhope is still visisble and Hog Hill Tunnel under the road at the top of Crawleyside is still in existance. The route to Burnhill to the east of Waskerley was still in use into the mid 60s serving the ammunition dump there (now gone). The original route from Waskerley down Nanny Mayors incline towards Rowley is also still visible. Another good book by G Whittle is The Railways of Consett and North West Durham, ISBN 0 7153 5347 0.

Sorry, I posted the wrong G Whittle book, it is the one quoted by 52A that is correct



Andy

The line actually survived to Parkhead until 1968.The goods sheds were at Waskerley and Stanhope.Hog Hill Tunnel between Parkhead and Stanhope is reckoned to be either the oldest railway tunnel or second oldest in the world."The Railways of Weardale" by T.E Rounthwaite (RCTS 1965) is one of the best histories and you can see excellent photos here -

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stat ... ndex.shtml

There was also this pair present.

Didnt a G5 get roasted in a fire at Waskerly?

Aren't you thinking of the fire at Garsdale?

I never saw Waskerley with track but I visited with my dad in the early 70's and the "K8" offices were still there (so called because of the S&DR K8 ceramic number plaque) and the little wooden weighbridge.The K8 plaque turned up in an auction a few years ago and went for over a thousand pounds.

The Stanhope and Tyne almost bankrupted Robert Stephenson. He was only a consultant but accepted shares instead of cash. The company didn't receive an Act of Parliament so all shareholders became liable for the huge debts this badly planned railway accrued. Stephenson got out of it with a bit of wheeler-dealing with George Hudson, and vowed he would never get involved in such a scheme (or similar deals) again.

The Stephenson side of the story is in Rolt's excellent biography of the Stephensons (guess who recently found a copy in Half Price Books!).


Richard

There was an article about this line, with diagrams and photos, in the North Eastern Railway Association's magazine 'The Express', a few issues ago.

Thanks, guys, for all the information. Let me ask just one or two more questions, as it's hard for a yank like me to meld all these posts together. The line I'm curious about is NOT the Wearhead-Stanhope-Bishop Auckland line. My atlas shows the line in question beginning just east of "Waskerley Goods" at a junction with the Blackhill-Bishop Aukland line. It proceeds west, then turns south, ending at a point labeled "Lime Kilns." So.....
1) the atlas shows the line ending here, and NOT making into Stanhope--is that so? (the stretch from Lime Kilns to Stanhope is called a 'wagonway)
2) Where is the Hoghill tunnel exactly?
3) Why does this line show on my 1947 atlas and not on my 1926 (mistake, or built after '26?)
Thanks! Chris

The line from Parkhead did not go into Stanhope but terminated at Crawleyside where a number of other lines branched off into quarries etc. From just south of Parkhead the line was a rope worked incline with winding engines at Weatherhill (now in NRM York) and Crawleyside. This was opened in 1834 so why it is missed off your 1926 atlas I know not. The pictures show the north end of the tunnel and a view from there up the incline towards the Crawleyside engine.