Walking Britain's Lost Railways

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That was a great watch - it's on My5 if anyone wants to catch up.
 
Nice watch considering all you read on social media is the city is a shit hole
And that's from its residents
errant said:
Never quite sure if all the disused railway lines round our way are a great asset to the region or a sign of a fallen area. As a cyclist though, it brings its own benefits.

Just need sustrans to convert the leamside line...
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It's like one of those boom stories ,we had something and we did a great job of capitalising on it Then it ended and I think we've done okay considering
 
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Botchie said:
I told @KENT-FTM about the history of the railways in our region a few months ago. It's a pity more hasn't been done to explain on the existing lines to explain what went on. My advice to anyone would be get a bike and go and explore the old lines.
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Our mining heritage down here on Caradon is scattered by disused railways. Granite sleepers still dot Bodmin moor with pony ponds here and there where the horses were kept.
The village I live was called Railway Terrace at one time with a railway line running from the mines on Caradon hill to Looe
 
PinzaC55 said:
That's different to the two opposite the SOL. The line from Silksworth Colliery through the Barnes tunnel to the Hetton Landsale in Railway Row was closed in 1971. I remember walking through the tunnel and as you say it was full of watter.


There was the existing line though Seaham and at Dawdon a line diverged which went through Vane Tempest colliery to join up with the main line at Hawthorn Junction near Hawthorn Towers. There was also a branch from Seaham station to Seaham Harbour station which closed in 1939 IIRC
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I've often wondered if the line that goes along the coast would have originally gone into Ryhope station before going to Seaham.
 
I'm not sure if I've got the wrong end of the stick here but according to that programme we were the birth place of the railways in the world?
I never had a clue about this and doubt many others did!

This will be put up there with the Victoria Hall disaster as another part of Wearside history that's shamefully not talked about...
 
Falconhoof said:
I'm not sure if I've got the wrong end of the stick here but according to that programme we were the birth place of the railways in the world?
I never had a clue about this and doubt many others did!

This will be put up there with the Victoria Hall disaster as another part of Wearside history that's shamefully not talked about...
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Think the first line was Stockton to Darlo? Maybe the first use of it for Industrial purposes was the Hetton Line?
 
snelleton said:
Never knew about the Hetton railway, and that Stephenson built it before the Stockton-Darlington :eek:
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It ran down the bottom of our street. Growing up there was always a sign on a telegraph pole saying Beware of the Trains.

We used to dig up the old sleepers for bonny night. I’m not convinced we didn’t also burn the sign :oops:

My sister texted to say it was on but we’re out in France so will have to try and catch it when we’re back.
Amnorrageordie said:
I can remember when there was 3 level crossings in Seaham. One unmanned at Dawdon, and two, if you can call them manned for the harbour. They would poke a dirty old red flag in a hole each side of the crossing. Edit four, there was one on cottages road anarl.
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you can see the lines round Dawdon and Seaham way on this map. They ran up to the glass works as well I think?

There’s an even older map on his site but not so easy to read.

Logon or register to see this image
 
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PinzaC55 said:
That's different to the two opposite the SOL. The line from Silksworth Colliery through the Barnes tunnel to the Hetton Landsale in Railway Row was closed in 1971. I remember walking through the tunnel and as you say it was full of watter.


There was the existing line though Seaham and at Dawdon a line diverged which went through Vane Tempest colliery to join up with the main line at Hawthorn Junction near Hawthorn Towers. There was also a branch from Seaham station to Seaham Harbour station which closed in 1939 IIRC
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Think you've got your pits mixed up. The tempest had a branch in off the main line just south of Byron's walk crossing. To get coals from the tempest to the docks, they had to head north back up this branch, then head south and along to the branch you mention, and into dawdon pit. Then they would shunt the coal trucks north again onto the staiths.
 
Amnorrageordie said:
That Harold Watson bloke ended up surface superintendent at dawdon. Sure he was a bbc scab.
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Haven’t seen the programme yet but is that the same Harold Watson who went on to be under-manager at Eppleton? If so he worked with my Dad at both Dawdon & Eppleton. They lived in our street in Hetton, we knocked around with his kids.
 
Flared Hicks said:
Haven’t seen the programme yet but is that the same Harold Watson who went on to be under-manager at Eppleton? If so he worked with my Dad at both Dawdon & Eppleton. They lived in our street in Hetton, we knocked around with his kids.
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He was on the surface at dawdon. I'm sure he was badly hurt watching the kielder section of the car rally when a car went into the crowd. Me dar was traffic manager, both road and rail at dawdon. I was a shunter till the rapid, and land sale bunkers were built, then went into the fitting shops.
 
Amnorrageordie said:
He was on the surface at dawdon. I'm sure he was badly hurt watching the kielder section of the car rally when a car went into the crowd. Me dar was traffic manager, both road and rail at dawdon. I was a shunter till the rapid, and land sale bunkers were built, then went into the fitting shops.
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Ah probably not the same bloke then. From memory we’d left Dawdon before you moved there anyway, and I think Harold moved within a year or two of us as well. We moved in 65.
 
Falconhoof said:
I think the Stockton line was first for passenger journeys but our line was running coal.trucks long before then!
I'll watch it again tomorrow as I've had a drink tonight
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The Stockton and Darlington was the first "proper" railway ie one that used steam locomotives instead of horses. The first rail ticket in the world was sold at St Johns Crossing station in Stockton which still exists though very neglected.
Amnorrageordie said:
Think you've got your pits mixed up. The tempest had a branch in off the main line just south of Byron's walk crossing. To get coals from the tempest to the docks, they had to head north back up this branch, then head south and along to the branch you mention, and into dawdon pit. Then they would shunt the coal trucks north again onto the staiths.
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Yeah you are right I mixed up Vane Tempest with Dawdon.
The line to Dawdon pit left the main line at Dawdon Crossing then went to Seabanks signalbox then round the top of the cliffs to Hawthorn Junction. They reopened the bit of line at Hawthorn Junction in the late 80's when they built an MGR loading tower at Dawdon but it closed a couple of years later.
Botchie said:
I've often wondered if the line that goes along the coast would have originally gone into Ryhope station before going to Seaham.
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This a really good site for closed railways. He has done each of the Ryhope-Murton-Hart line stations and the Murton - Durham Elvet line.

Disused Stations: Ryhope East Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk
 
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PinzaC55 said:
The Stockton and Darlington was the first "proper" railway ie one that used steam locomotives instead of horses. The first rail ticket in the world was sold at St Johns Crossing station in Stockton which still exists though very neglected.


Yeah you are right I mixed up Vane Tempest with Dawdon.
The line to Dawdon pit left the main line at Dawdon Crossing then went to Seabanks signalbox then round the top of the cliffs to Hawthorn Junction. They reopened the bit of line at Hawthorn Junction in the late 80's when they built an MGR loading tower at Dawdon but it closed a couple of years later.


This a really good site for closed railways. He has done each of the Ryhope-Murton-Hart line stations and the Murton - Durham Elvet line.

Disused Stations: Ryhope East Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk
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This is a canny read, marra.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1169899571729666048
 
PinzaC55 said:
The Stockton and Darlington was the first "proper" railway ie one that used steam locomotives instead of horses. The first rail ticket in the world was sold at St Johns Crossing station in Stockton which still exists though very neglected.


Yeah you are right I mixed up Vane Tempest with Dawdon.
The line to Dawdon pit left the main line at Dawdon Crossing then went to Seabanks signalbox then round the top of the cliffs to Hawthorn Junction. They reopened the bit of line at Hawthorn Junction in the late 80's when they built an MGR loading tower at Dawdon but it closed a couple of years later.


This a really good site for closed railways. He has done each of the Ryhope-Murton-Hart line stations and the Murton - Durham Elvet line.

Disused Stations: Ryhope East Station

www.disused-stations.org.uk
Click to expand...
The branch from dawdon crossing is still there into the docks, but not sure if it's used much. I remember passenger trains being redirected through Dawdon pit when work was getting done on the bridges south of seaham station. They prepared everything for this detour when, after the last sunday service, british rail were demolishing the brick hump back bridge half a mile south of the green drive iron bridge.
 
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