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The 52ft Luggage Composite with 3 x 1st Class and 4 x 3rd Class compartments, code XCG or XCGV in the carriage roster, was built from 1896 to 1906. 138 examples in total, with only 1904 seeing none produced.
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North East England during the steam era. The bailiwack of the North Eastern Railway, which was approaching its 70th birthday during the 1920s. However, it was not to be, with the grouping taking place in 1923. During lockdown I have wandered down to Ferryhill station in 1920 to see what is happening as the morning gets under way. Ferryhill is a junction station with relatively sparse passenger traffic from the village of Ferryhill Station alongside it and the town of Ferryhill further up the hill to the west. Most passenger traffic is from transferring. The station was located on loops between the ECML to the west and the goods lines to the east. The ECMl fast lines remain in the same position now as then, though the station itself is now long gone. Back in 1920 though, the lines from Darlington, Stockton, Newcastle via Durham, Newcastle via Leamside, West Hartlepool and Bishop Auckland via the Byers Green branch are all still carrying passenger traffic, as they had for decades. Things would change as the 1920s ended, with a decline lasting over three decade
N.E.R. Worsdell 0-4-4T of O Class runs south along the Byers Green branch with the 7.05 am passenger train from Hartlepool via Castle Eden and Wingate. The four-carriage set is set No. 305, a LEEDS Link A set! A long way from home, the two 49ft 4 compartment Van Thirds, 49ft Third and 52ft Lav Compo provides 29 1st Class and 164 3rd Class seats. These carriages left Leeds the previous day at 5.30 am as set No. 304, ending its workign day at West Hartlepool at 10.45 pm. This is a vestige of the mid-19th century Leeds Northern Railway service between Leeds and Stockton via Ripon and Northallerton. Leaving Hartlepool at 7.05 am and West Hartlepool at 7.14 am as set No. 305 it will arrive at Ferryhill at 8.01 am. It is scheduled to return from Ferryhill at 8.32 am and will be home at Leeds by 9.49 pm tonight. The O Class is not a Leeds Neville Hill engine though! In 1908 the passenger turn to Ferryhill approximating this train was worked by West Hartlepool shed passenger engine turn No. 5, which would take the engine to Newcastle later in the day (but not with set No. 305) before the men of first shift finish back at West Hartlepool at 4.58 pm. A second shift of men will work the engine through until 1.35 am.
A signal check outside Ferryhill means plenty of smoke swirling around as the engine draws away to head for Platform 1.
The O Class has decoupled from the set and is running round, a T2 Class 0-8-0 gets away along the down goods lines bound for Consett with the morning Croft yard to Consett steel empties. The company wants freight like this away from the ECML as much as possible during the day to keep it clear for express passenger trains. Nothing is due north from York with an express passenger label for a couple of hours yet, so no exotic atlantics to view on down ECML expresses. In the meantime, the goods department is "making hay" while the sun shines and getting the T2 on its way to Bridge House Junction and the Lanchester branch.
At the south end of the station, and ready to run round northwards using the Up slow passenger loop beside the station.
Passing set No.305 in platform 1 as the O Class runs round. The 49ft arc roof stock was originally built around 1900 for North Tyneside local services. The entire stock was displaced only four years later with the electrification of the services. Gould couplings were removed and replaced by regular screw link types. They worked widely across the N.E.R. and later the L.N.E.R. N.E. Area up to WWII. The 52ft Lav Compo is to provide some amenity for the rather long circuit worked by the Leeds link A sets.
After running round, the O Class has drawn set No. 305 to the north and prepares to slowly back the set in to one of the northern end bays for the 8.32 am departure. Excavating this deep and wide cutting through the limestone here by hand bankrupted the original builders, A little further north building the Victoria Viaduct across the River Wear on the Leamside line bankrupted the builders there. George Hudson swept in to cobble together the first main line through County Durham to Newcastle via the Leamside route, though at first with a diversion to the northeast along the Stanhope & Tyne to Boldon Colliery and then along the Sunderland to Gateshead line. Even then, the train did not reach Newcastle but Greenesfield station ay Gateshead (later the NER works). The Stephenson High level bridge finally spanned the Tyne some years later.
The bay named Platform 2 receives the stock for the 8.32 am for Hartlepool. A G Class 4-4-0 stands in platform 6 with the 7.10 am from Middlesbrough via Sedgefield, which arrived at 8.03 am. The carriages are Set No.12, a Main Line set made up of four 52ft carriages. Two three compartment Van Thirds, a Third and a Lavatory Compo. Set No. 12 will lay over at Ferryhill for twenty-five minutes, departing for Newcastle via the Leamside line at 8.28 am. Today being Tuesday, the set will visit Newcastle several times, visit Stockton, Consett, Blackhill and Jarrow before ending its working day at Low Fell station at 10.47 pm. Tomorrow it will spend its working day mainly in Northumberland. The 1908 passenger engine working arrangements show Middlebrough passenger engine turn No.1 working the early Middlesbrough to Newcastle via Ferryhill and Leamside.
Relatively prestigious loco provision for the 6.56 am from Newcastle via Leamside in the shape of an R Class 4-4-0. The extra-long smokebox No. 2013, which Raven fitted an experimental superheater to in 1912 and requiring an extra-long smokebox to do so. Like the 7.10 am from Middlesbrough, the 6.56 am from Newcastle will lay over at Ferryhill for an extended stop, in this case lasting twenty-three minutes, from 8.13 am. It will depart for Middlesbrough at 8.36 am. The set is No. 179, one of two Middlesbrough Link A sets. Despite the name, set No 178 starts its day at Ferryhill, while set No, 179 starts its day at Delaval sidings to the west of Newcastle. Set No. 179 will end its day here at Ferryhill at 9.11 pm, though on Saturday it will end its day here at 10.49 pm. Both set 178 and 179 will make several visits to Newcastle and Middlesbrough. Both are made up of the same 52ft carriage types as the main line sets Nos 1 through 20.
A TW Worsdell A Class 2-4-2T brings in the first morning train of the day from Bishop Auckland via Spennymoor on the Byers Green line. The 7.49 am will reach Ferryhill at 8.13 am. This will give connections to both the 8.28 am for newcastle and the 8.33 am for Middlesboru as well as the 8.36 am for Hartlepool. Spennymoor suffers from its branch facing south towards Ferryhill, requiring a change of train to reach Durham, the main destination for its local travellers. Motor omnibus services are poised to decimate passenger traffic during the 1920s along the Byers Green branch as a whole and from Spennymoor in particular. The set forming the train is No.97, one of fourteen Sunderland &cc Sets. All 49ft stock, with two 4 compartment Van Thirds, a Third and a Composite and the single passenger turn for West Auckland shed, though one that lasts from 7.47 am (6.40 am MO) to 9.54 pm (11.14 pm SO) with two shifts of fottplate crew. Like set No. 305, the engine will not spend all day with set No.97. The engine will predominantly work on the Byers green branch but will wander out to Barnard Castle, Middleton in Teesdale and Middlesbrough over the course of its long working day. On a Tuesday, as most weekdays, set No. 97 will end its day at Durham at 8.04 pm after a trip on the Lanchester branch. Prior to that it will wander out as far as Sunderland, Newcastle and West Hartlepool. On Saturdays it will work as late as 10.46 pm and end its working week at West Hartlepool. Tomorrow, it will work as set 99. Today's set No. 101 will work as set No. 97 tomorrow. This morning, the 8/16 a, arrival at Ferryhill will take the engine and set back to Bishop Auckland as the 8.47 am departure.
In case anyone thinks that passengers are the money maker at Ferryhill they are wrong. It is freight and particularly moving minerals which keeps Ferryhill the busiest. Engine changes and interchange takes place on a large scale at Ferryhill. A coal train off the Leamside line comes past the R Class on the goods lines. It looks like the Worsdell T1 Class has a leak and is belching steam everywhere. it may be from Bowburn Colliery. At its peak, Bowburn was despatching around 140 20-ton hopper loads per day. It was one of the most productive inland collieries of County Durham and merged with Tursdale Colliery in 1930 by joining underground, permitting the closure of much of Tursdale surface infrastructure.
Hi, I have recently returned to Trainz after a 7 year absence and looking at your amazing screenshots it seems you have done everything I tried to do originally, only better ! Sorry if it's been covered already but can I ask where you got the NBR lattice signals and the signalboxes ?
Cracking images as always lads, firing up the DLS as we chat :udrool:Hello Lewisner, re post #752. Apologies for the late reply, I have had a rather busy day. As John says he has some NER Type S3 Yorkshire signal boxes on the DLS under username johnwhelan. Chrisaw has done a great deal of work on NER and LNER signals. My route on the DLS, BCR Reedsmouth and Bellingham has some custom made NBR signals though they are on the DLS as NER signals. Welcome back to Trainz and thanks to Kotangagirl and yourself for the kind words.