North East England - Steam Days Screenshots - Large Screenshots Possible

BCR Progress

North East England during the steam era. The Class J21 0-6-0, number 65028 from the previous post continues on its way with the early morning Hexham to Riccarton Junction unfitted goods train. It is a full day's work for the J21 and crew, covering the run from Hexham to Riccarton Junction and its return. The main spots for traffic are Reedsmouth Junction and Bellingham, the principal town on the route. Bellingham only has around 2,000 inhabitants but is a market town for the North Tyne valley. Reedsmouth has sidings for exchange with the ex-NBR Wansbeck branch to Scots Gap, where it joins the Morpeth to Rothbury line. There are Army ranges at Otterburn, the nearest station being West Woodburn and there is a small but steady flow of military traffic to and from the station. The arms manufacturer Armstrong Vickers also has firing ranges in the area, with sidings at Broomhope, between Reedsmouth and West Woodburn.





Above, the TW Worsdell J21 0-6-0 departs Reedsmouth after dropping off wagons for Reedsmouth Junction.







Above, the J21 0-6-0 is captured between Reedsmouth and Bellingham while proceeding at a stately 25 mph.





Above, the J21 0-6-0 arrives at Bellingham. The signalman is not in the token exchange stand as the train will stop at Bellingham and is booked time to shunt at the station before continuing to the north west towards Keilder and Riccarton. The 12T Vans are stopped right beside the station's goods shed, which is situated on the platform. This minimises the distance any consignments have to be moved between the road wagons and the shed, which is not much larger than a single covered wagon. Up to around 1950 the ex-NBR J36 0-6-0 and D30 4-4-0 would have been seen more frequently than ex-NER types. Photographs on the BCR and Wansbeck lines tend to predominantly be from the 1950s, by which time the J21s, J25s, D20s, D49s, BR Standard 2MT and 3MT locos were being seen rather than ex-NBR classes.
 
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BCR Progress Again

North East England during the steam era. My Class J21 0-6-0 continues her way over BCR metals. The last post saw her arrive at Bellingham. Here she shunts the station yard and proceeds on her way to Riccarton Junction.



Above, the Cattle truck is placed beside the loading dock for loading later. Cattle wagons were mostly common user stock and examples built by the LMS and GWR greatly outnumbered those built by the LNER. The final GWR design became the basis for the BR Standard cattle van and it can be a challenge to differentiate between the last ones built by the GWR, those built to the GWR design by BR in 1949/50 and the BR Standard Cattle Wagon built during the early 1950s.





Above, the locomotive runs around the train.



Above, after placing the brake van behind the cattle wagon in the loading dock line, placing the coal wagon in the short spur for the coal merchant.







Above, after re-attaching the brake van to the rear of the train, running around and taking up position at the head of the train.





Above, departing Bellingham.



In the countryside to the west of Bellingham.
 
BCR Progress - west of Bellingham

North East England in the steam era. The conclusion of the Class J21 0-6-0's journey across the short T:ANE route, here to the west of Bellingham at the occupation crossing for "The Riding".



 
ECML Parcels Progress 1925

North East England during the steam era. Returning to the East Coast Main Line circa 1925 during the LNER period, the 5:12 a.m. Down York to Newcastle parcels train makes its way north through County Durham around 7 a.m. in the harsh morning sunlight.

Below, a B15 Class 4-6-0, number 799 hauls the train through Croxdale station and is about to cross the River Wear viaduct. The train is made up of several different pre-grouping Full Brakes. Predominantly of the 56ft6in length favoured by the GNR and ECJS from around 1905, there is a sole example of a 46ft6in ex-ECJS Diagram 36 clerestory roof Full Brake. Attached at York are three bogie vans from the LMS, GWR and SR. The LMS probably from Manchester via Leeds with the SR and GWR vans coming via GCR metals and Sheffield.



Below, the train passes Browney Colliery Signal box and Langley Moor.





Below, the B15 continues north past Bridge House Junction and crosses the Browney River viaduct near Relly Mill Junction.





Below, the B15 rests at Durham station before continuing on its way to its destination at Newcastle Central.

 
10 a.m. from Edinburgh at Newcastle July 1914

North East England during the steam era. July 1914 at Newcastle Central and the N.E.R. top link engine, a Raven Z Class 4-4-2 of Gateshead shed has just backed on to the 10 a.m. express passenger train from Edinburgh and is preparing to depart for London King's Cross, though it will relinquish charge of the train to a G.N.R. large boilered Atlantic at York for the leg of the journey to Grantham. There the engine will change out with a Kings Cross shed Atlantic for the final run to Kings Cross. This is the relief service for the 10:15 a.m. Up Scotch Express from Edinburgh to Kings Cross. That train will have portions from Aberdeen, Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Below, the Z Class Atlantic is coupled up to an EC Diagram 36 46ft6in Cowlairs built Luggage van (Full Brake). The East Coast Main Line had an insatiable demand for vans, many being used by travellers to and from Scotland to stow their trunks and boxes. Few people "travelled light", especially not First Class passengers.





Below, views of the E.C.J.S. clerestory roofed catering vehicles on the 10 a.m. EC Diagram 77A Restaurant First, EC Diagram 30 Pantry Third and EC Diagram 31 Open Third with Pantry. All built at Doncaster and until this summer of 1914 were the top link of catering on the East Coast Main Line. The new set put in to service for the 10 a.m. from London and 10:15 a.m. return from Edinburgh has an all elliptical roof makeup with a steel built eight-wheel Kitchen car, Open Dining First and Open Dining Third. It will set the three-car catering core in place on the principal E.C.M.L. expresses for the next thirty five years.







Below, the view of the 46ft 6in EC Diagram 36 Luggage Van. This is already superseded as the main bogie van by the 56ft 6in E.C.J.S Luggage Van embodied by the EC Diagram 39 type and its Diagram 35 predecessor. The 56ft 6in Luggage Van (full brake/BG) of E.C.J.S and G.N.R. origins would be a familiar sight on the E.C.M.L. until the early 1960s.

 
Acklington, Amble Junction and Chevington 1905

North East England during the steam era. Edwardian days in rural Northumberland during the mid-1900s. Early morning activity on the East Coast Main Line. It will be several hours before the first up express passenger train from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross flies through and there are only five daytime express passenger trains scheduled each way on a normal summer weekday between July and September.

Here a TW Worsdell A Class 2-4-2T brings the morning branch passenger train off the Amble branch at Amble Junction. The train is made up of six-wheel coaches. Chrisaw's Lower Quadrant LSWR signals are on the gantry but they are close enough to the Mackenzie & Holland signals bought in by the N.E.R. for its signal installations on the Northern Division.



Morning stopping passenger train at Acklington station. The village only had about 200 inhabitants in the 1900s, though it would grow somewhat when the RAF opened an airfield here in the 1930s. Surprisingly, Acklington station remains open for passengers to this day, though unmanned. The daily service amounts to a couple of commuter trains formed of two-card class 142 Pacer DMUs. This sparse frequency is not too far removed from that provided in NER days!




A 59 Class 0-6-0 hauls a down goods along the independant line between Chevington station and Amble junction.



The 59 Class and A Class pass each other.



The A Class arrives at Chevington.

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The 59 Class rejoins the down main line at Amble Junction.



The 1463 Class passes Amble Junction in the up direction.



The A Class has run around the branch train at Chevington and hauls it across to the down line before placing it in the branch bay.



The 1463 Class arrives at Chevington, the first of around four trains to stop here in the up direction on the way to Newcastle, picking up any passengers from the Amble branch. There are less than a hundred inhabitants at East and West Chevington hamlets and they are both more than half a mile away from the station.



Continuing on its way to Newcastle the train is to the south of Chevington station. Next stop is Widdrington, another station that retains passenger service to this day, though again, only the sparse commuter service provided by the Northen Rail Class 142 Pacer DMU assigned to the service.

 
Can I just say this thread is one of my favourites on these forums and I look forward to updates everytime I log on. Your route has inspired me to recreate my own slice of the NER which you can see on my 'Burnham Fey' thread. Can I ask are you planning to commission any of the earlier locos like the Fletcher 901 class or my personal favourites the Raven A2s and the one-off EE1? Oh; and where did you get the diagonal wood fence at Chevington, I've looked everywhere for one like that.
 
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Hi nathanmallard. Thanks for the kind words. I am not commissioning any locos from Paul atm as my big project with him right now is the East Coast Joint Stock coaches. That is going to take up quite an amount of time and money. I have already commissioned older locos such as the Fletcher BTP 0-4-4T, Tennant 1463 Class 2-4-0 and McDonnell 59 Class 0-6-0. I have no current plans to delve further in to the Fletcher era locos such as the 901 Class 2-4-0, even though ten of them were still in service at December 1922. They were very much a Darlington loco, with examples used as station pilots by WWI and hauling trains over the Stainmore line to Tebay and Penrith. I would have a use for one or two at Darlington on my ECML section in County Durham but other priorities are taking up the cash.

Gaps I have in the N.E.R. stud are the S and S1 Class 4-6-0s, V Class 4-4-2 Atlantics and Raven's 4-6-2 Class Pacifics (the L.N.E.R. A2). No plans to fill those gaps just yet.

The fencing at Chevington is C+ SF PDC Midland Platform Fencing Diagonal by itareus. They are on the DLS. Itareus also does C+ SF LDC Midland Fencing diagonal and C+ SF LDC Ground Fencing Post & Rail. In fact do a search for itareus and see just how much they have available.
 
Thanks for the pointer on the fences borderreiver. That's fine, I do really like those ECJS coaches and it is clear that a lot of time and effort has gone in to them. I ask only because I have the drawings for these locomotives (as well as some from the Furness Railway, the GC and the Hull & Barnsley) and I may commission them myself at some point. It's lovely to see any pre-grouping types in Trainz, I'm certainly glad about what we've got.
 
Back to the BCR - New Signal

North East England during the steam era. I have been very lucky to have chrisaw build a signal for Reedsmouth Junction based on the actual prototype signal. I hope that this will be available on the DLS. The tall lattice signal has three arms, two four foot home arms for access to Platform 1 (BCR to Riccarton) and Platform 3 (Wansbeck Branch platform) with a miniature arm for access to the Wansbeck loop. Sig T Feathers installed to operate it ( straight, right 1 and right 2). Colour photographs from the 1960s indicate that the original lower quadrant NBR signals were still in situ. Neither the LNER not BR spent money changing them to upper quadrant arms. I think that they were supplied by a contractor. Certainly in the same period the N.E.R. turned to McKenzie and Holland to supply and fit major signalling installations.

Here in the early BR period, a BR Std 77XX 3MT brings a morning four coach stopping passenger train from Newcastle in to Reedsmouth Junction. It is bound for Hawick. It is a cloudy, wet morning, which is far from unknown during the summer up in the North Tyne Valley. The shots include approaching and passing the new signal.







 
Acklington, Amble Junction and Chevington, 1909

North East England during the steam era. Back to the Edwardian era in Northumberland, circa 1909. Acklington, Amble Junction and Chevington. A Worsdell O Class 0-4-4T is standing in on the Amble branch passenger service and the stopping passenger train from Alnwick is benefiting from haulage by a rare visitor, a Worsdell R1 Class 4-4-0. They are normally found down around Selby and York but Darlington works may have it assigned to Darlington shed for running in. The shed foreman there will be wanting it back, so here's hoping Gateshead shed obliges. A McDonnell 59 Class 0-6-0 is still hauling the down goods for Tweedmouth but it won't be long now before a C class 0-6-0 or P class 0-6-0 will displace the class from this work. Today we are seeing the locos in a fashion we normally see them, in monochrome.

Below the O Class 0-4-4T departs the Amble branch, passing a W Worsdell N Class 0-6-2T in the loop with a V1 10T Brake van. The N Class crew will be readying themselves to take a coal train down to Amble and the harbour staithes, where it will be tipped in to a collier bound for London. Buckingham Palace had an order for Shilbottle coal at this time. Shilbottle colliery is up near Alnmouth and its coal was well known for producing a high level of heat. Coal from the Northumberland coalfield was well suited for furnaces and domestic use whereas coal from the Durham coalfield was excellent for gas production and making in to coke for the iron and steel industry. This is why one could indeed sell coals to Newcastle. The gas works in Scotswood and Heaton on the north bank of the Tyne in Northumberland would prefer Durham coal for gas production, while coal from Northumberland would cross the Tyne to power stations on the south bank of the Tyne at Dunston and Stella because Northumberland coal produced more power per ton than Durham coal.



The Worsdell R1 Class gets away from Acklington. At the turn of the 19th century the NER needed more powerful locomotives to haul East Coast Main Line trains between York and Edinburgh, so Worsdell produced an enlarged version of his R Class 4-4-0. Unfortunately the R1 was not the success he hoped they would be and he turned to the V Class Atlantic to fill the role, which Raven would improve upon with his 3 cylinder Z Class Atlantics. As a consequence the R1 Class found itself largely confined to Yorkshire on secondary express work.



A McDonnell 59 Class quietly runs north of Chevington with a down loose-coupled goods for Tweedmouth.



The view from Amble overhead signal cabin as the 59 Class rejoins the main line for Acklington, Alnmouth and Tweedmouth.



A view from the south of the exchange sidings and the Amble branch at Amble Junction.



The R1 Class passes the 59 Class. The stopping train comprises 49ft bogie Arc Roof stock which was built around 1899 for North Tynesdie suburban services. The electrification of these services in 1905 led to the cascading of the 49ft arc roof coaches away to other services. They would be seen on the Consett branch, at South Shields, Sunderland, Whitby and at Scarborough through to the late 1930s.



Another view from the overhead signal cabin at Amble Junction as the R1 Class flies underneath bound for Chevington and Morpeth.



There will be a telegram for Chevington's station master from the District Controller at Newcastle wanting an explanation for this! The R1 was held for a couple of minutes at the home signal to the north of Chevington as the O Class brings the Amble branch train out of Platform 1 and runs it across to the branch platform. It should have been done five minutes beforehand but something delayed it, perhaps the Westinghouse brake hose coupling would not seal. The NER and the LNER after it took a dim view of delays on the ECML and followed up what caused them. Soon the telephone will become the bane of station staff. Chrisaw's Sig McKenzie & Holland LQ Combined slotted signal.



The R1 at Chevington.

 
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Holgate on a summer's evening 1928

North East England during the steam era. Holgate just south of York on a summer's evening in 1928. People think of parcels trains being a feature of the main line but on the East Coast Main Line at this time there was merely a daily parcels train in each direction. The usual practise of the G.N.R. and the L.N.E.R. after it, was to add vans to secondary express passenger trains. These could form a lengthy tail to a train and meant a longer walk than usual from the buffers at Kings Cross!

Here I am showing in the dying light of a summer's day an evening express from London in the hands of a former G.N.R. Large Boiler Atlantic of C1 class bringing an eleven coach train in to York from London. The train has a dining core made up of former ECJS vehicles, a 64ft Restaurant Composite and a Third Open Pantry. Five bogie gangway brakes form the parcels section, made up of a Gresley 61ft6in Diagram 43, a 56ft6in Diagram 44 built on former NER built sleeping car underframes, a former ECJS 56ft6in Diagram 35, a former ECJS 56ft6in Diagram 39 and a former ECJS 46ft6in Diagram 36. The 56ft6in vans, mostly built with Gresley design influence from 1906 formed a significant portion of van stock across the LNER lines right up to the early 1960s in BR days.

Here the C1 passes Holgate Excursion platforms. A late express for Newcastle might be due as the train has been switched across to the old main lines from Normanton, mainly used by Leeds trains.



Here the C1 is at the northern end of the Holgate platforms.



Here the view of Holgate bridge and the church. York station can be dimly made out through the bridge.

 
Echo of the North British Railway 1953

North East England during the steam era. Circa 1953 in the BR era, thirty years on from being absorbed in to the LNER, which itself is now five years on from extinction, a former NBR 0-6-0 of LNER Class J36 brings an up loose coupled freight for Addison sidings from Riccarton Junction. It is a "soft" day in the borders, with rain and drizzle. The line is three years away from closure to passengers. Through most of the LNER era the former Holmes C Class 0-6-0, rebuilt during the Reid and Chalmers era and classed as J36 by the LNER were the dominant loco on the Border Counties Railway. Passenger trains were dominated by the D30 and D31 4-4-0s, but some J36 class were fitted with automatic train brake and steam heating in order that they could also work passenger trains.

The J36 of Hawick shed to the north of Bellingham, approaching the distant for the station.



The home signal near the bridge leaving town.



Accelerating away from Bellingham after slowing to exchange tokens.



Running at 25mph between Bellingham and the next token exchange point at Reedsmouth Junction station.



Crossing the bridge over the River Rede.





Entering Reedsmouth Junction from the northwest.



Departing Reedsmouth Junction to the south.



Approaching Countess Park.

 
Assembling the coal train NER 1918

North East England during the steam era. A pre-grouping scene circa 1918. A North Eastern Railway W. Worsdell N Class 0-6-2T is in the exchange sidings near Amble Junction collecting coal wagons from the coal loader at the end of an aerial ropeway. It connects the loader with a drift mine around a mile to the east of the railway. The output will not be large, but potentially sufficient to fill a trainload of 15 10.5 Ton hoppers once a day, six days a week during the seasons of peak demand in autumn and winter. Most of the mineral traffic on the N.E.R. was ad-hoc and ran on demand, with paths available in the working timetable.

The N Class stands by the coal loader, ready to draw out a rake of five loaded hopper wagons. It is gloomy in the woods today. The N Class, like the earlier B Class and later U Class 0-6-2Ts, was built for hauling coal trains the relatively short distances between collieries and the riverside staithes. Increasing train weights at the start of the 20th century saw them displaced from many of these trips by Worsdell's P to P3 Class 0-6-0s, which in turn were displaced on the heaviest turns by Worsdell's T/T1 and Raven's T2 0-8-0s.





Drawing the wagons out of the spur and towards the loops.



Entering the loop which will allow access to the weighbridge. The first rake stands further towards the end of the loop and the brake van stands in the loop by the branch. The track is undulating but colliery tracks usually were lightly laid and not well maintained. Derailments were a risk and happened even in BR days with diesel locomotives.



Backing the wagons towards the weighbridge.



On the weighbridge. The colliery owner wants to know how much he is despatching and the NER will want to know how much it needs to invoice the colliery owner for the haulage.



Running around the wagons. The loco is not permitted to run over the weighbridge.





Drawing the wagons out to the end of the loading spur, the loco is not permitted to run under the loader but a five wagon rake will not pose a problem.



Pushing the rake of loaded and weighed wagons in to the loop. The empty wagons would have been loaded on arrival to establish the tare weight.

 
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Hi JackDownUnder. Barn700 (Paul Mace) of PaulzTrainz built the NER Diagram P4 10.5 Ton Coal Hopper for me two years ago. I have also had him build the NER Coal Hoppers to Diagram P5 (11 Ton), Diagram P17 (12 Ton), Diagram P6 (15 Ton) and Diagram P7 (20 Ton). The P8 8 Plank 23 Ton Hopper can be produced by adding the anti-friction gear, but coal dust quickly infiltrated the mechanism and maintainance costs were high, so by the grouping (probably during WWI) the NER removed the gear and downrated them to 20 Tons. Paul also has the NER Diagram R5 10.5 Ton Coke Hopper and NER Diagram Q2 20 Ton Loco Coal wagons available.

The NER introduced the P4 in 1874 but the 5-plank sloping sided version was built from 1886 to 1901, with 13,313 remaining in NER stock in December 1922. This had fallen by half within five years and fell by half again by the beginning of WWII, with many being sold on to colliery owners for use on their rail systems. Even by December 1947 the LNER still had 414 in wagon stock, though whether these were in revenue stock is unknown.
 
Assembling the Coal Train NER 1918 II

North East England during the steam era. Still near Amble Junction on the Amble branch. The train has been assembled in the loop, the brake van retrieved and placed beyond the loop turnout so that the N Class could back the wagons down to it. As previously mentioned, the loco was prohibited from running over the weighbridge, so placing it on the other line, couple the loco up to the front of the wagons and back them down on to the brake van. Once the brake van was coupled, the guard and shunters would walk the train, double checking that all the couplings are secure before moving off. Axleboxes would also be quickly checked for oil or grease. A bad sign would be a missing axle filling cap, since coal dust would have gotten in and contaminated the lubricant. A hot box while running was never a welcome visitor.



The substantial vertical timber members extending down below the solebar on the brake van were for contact with dumb buffered chaldron wagons, which were still around in substantial numbers when the V1 brake van was built. Some letters still exist from the start of the 20th century recording the N.E.R. complaining about colliery owners still using 4 Ton/5 Ton chaldron wagons. Another frequent complaint by the N.E.R. was colliery owners holding on to N.E.R. hopper wagons for use within the colliery or the owners' systems. During L.N.E.R. days a census indicated that hundreds of wagons had been built, delivered to yards and subsequently disappeared, whereabouts unknown, despite several requests for information from the traffic department!
 
Fletcher 901 Class at Darlington 1920

North East England during the steam era. Circa 1920, with the North Eastern Railway ruling the roost at Darlington a Fletcher 901 Class, number 53 is assigned to work the0 Wednesdays Only 9:25 a.m. passenger train for Barnard Castle. The train is made up of set 151, one of five three-coach Darlington Link A sets. These were made up of 52ft bogie coaches, a Brake Composite, Locker Composite and Brake Third. All in all it offered 36 First and 110 third Class seats. Arrival at Barnard Castle was scheduled for 10:09 a.m.

Number 53, rebuilt by W. Worsdell in the mid 1890s, departs Darlington.



Heading away northwards from Darlington station.



Joining the ECML for a short spell before taking the Stockton & Darlington line at Parkgate Junction.



Taking the south to west chord with the S&D Crossing in the background.



Approaching the River Skerne bridge.



Arriving at Darlington North Road station.



Standing at Darlington North Road station.



There were fifty-five 901 class built between 1873 and 1882. With 7ft driving wheels they were express passenger locomotives but with the inexorable growth in train weights as the 1880s wore on they were sometimes paired up to work the principal expresses double-headed. The pairings were usually with another Fletcher 901 but the Tennant 1463 Class could also be used. By the grouping only ten remained, concentrated in the Darlington district. All were withdrawn by 1927, with one, number 910 being preserved in a quasi-Fletcher form (There were no Fletcher boilers remaining in existence - it retained a modified steel Worsdell one mated with a Fletcher style smokebox and safety valves repositioned on the dome.)
 
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