North East England - Steam Days Screenshots - Large Screenshots Possible

[borderreiver]

In NERA Express Magazine, issues 87 through 89, from back in 1982, J.B.Dawson wrote about his recollections of country station life at Eastgate, on the 1895 Wearhead extension to the Weardale branch. He mentioned several locomotive classes, often with numbers and I have been working on them.

G5 0-4-4T - No. 1881 operating from Wearhead and No. 408 operating from Stanhope, with No. 1737 as a spare, he thought at Shildon.
Class A 2-4-2 No. 41 (F8 by the time of the LNER) seen for several weeks, probably in the pre-grouping period due to JBD recalling it as a Class A.
J21 0-6-0 - No. 16, 1323 and 1553 were regular performers.
J25 0-6-0 - Nos. 25 and 29 being regulars on goods and mineral trains.

G6 0-4-4T - No numbers but according to JBD one operated a special livestock train on at least one occasion.
H1 4-4-4T - No number but according to JBD one came up the branch on Christmas morning bringing passengers and parcels, returning ECS.
D20 4-4-0 - No numbers but rare visitors on officer's saloon trips - could not be turned at Wearhead but was able to propel officer's saloons.
Tennant 2-4-0 - made one trip up the branch one day to JBD's recollection.
Class 398 0-6-0 - No numbers but appeared now and then.

Also, 4-wheel "birdcage" brake vans on the pick up goods - Wear valley Junction being allocated six, one for each guard - so that informs me that there were likely six daily diagrams out of Wear Valley Junction.

According to Yeadons, allocations were, with the January 1923 grouping allocation first:
F9 - No. 41 - West Auckland, moving to Shildon in December 1929, but quickly moved on to S. Blyth in Apr 1930.
G5 - No. 1881 - Wearhead shed, moving to Darlington in July 1935.
G5 - No. 408 - Stanhope shed, moving to Wear Valley shed in May 1930 and then moving on to Darlington in July 1935.
G5 - No. 1737 - Shildon shed, remaining there until January 1935, when it went to Darlington.
J21 - No. 16 - West Auckland shed, to Shildon shed by August 1924, back to W Auckland by January 1925. Shildon shed welcomed her back in January 1930 and then in July 1935 back to W Auckland
J21 - No. 1323 - Shildon shed, to W Auckland in January 1930 but back at Shildon by April 1931. July 1935 saw her once more back at W Auckland.
J21 - No. 1553 - Wear Valley Junction, Shildon by September 1925 but back to Wear Valley Jcn by April 1926, where she stayed unitl July 1935, when she went to W. Auckland.
J25 - No. 25 - Wear Valley Jcn, moving far afield to New England shed in March 1934
J25 - No. 29 - Shildon, moving to North Blyth in January 1930

The following are not mentioned by JBD, but might be relevant:

G6 - No. 605 - Moved to West Auckland by December 1923, so could have been the loco seen by JBD on the livestock special.
G6 - No. 952 - Moved to West Auckland by January 1924, so could be an alternative to No. 605.
J21 - No. 93 - Shildon shed, moving to W. Auckland in July 1935. No. 93 was Westinghouse fitted, so like 1323 could also have worked a passenger turn on the branch.
J21 - No. 582 - Darlington, moving to Shildon in Apr 1930, then to W. Auckland in July 1935. No. 582 was Westinghouse fitted, so like 1323 could also have appeared on the branch.
J21 - No. 1507 - Shildon shed at grouping, then to W. Auckland in July 1935. Unlike No. 1323 No. 1507 was unfitted, so not as likely to turn up on the branch as No. 1323.
J21 - No. 1512 - Darlington, moving to Shildon in Apr 1930, then to W Auckland in July 1935. No. 1512 was Westinghouse fitted, so, like No. 1323 could also have appeared on the branch.
J25 - No. 1961 - Shildon in January 1930, so might have done duties previously done by No. 29.
J25 - No. 1968 - Also moved to Shildon in January 1930, so may have also done duties previously done by No. 29.

 

[JackDownUnder]

Just because I do not always comment does not mean that I do not follow your posts.
Glad to see a revival of you activities.
Keep up the good work

 

[borderreiver]

Cab shots from the fourth down branch passenger train of the day bound for Wearhead. Starting at Darlington as set 189 Darlington Link C, travelling with set 190 as far as Wear Valley Junction, where they were separated.
This train stopped at Wolsingham at 4.30 p.m. in the 1923 timetable, and remained the same in the 1926 and 1932 carriage Rosters since the 3.57 p.m. departure ex-Wear Valley Junction did not change in the carriage rosters.
However, in the 1932 CR this train only has a strengthening Third attached on Saturdays. Therefore, however many schoolchildren travelled to school on the morning strengthened 3-carriage train they had to make do with the unstrengthened 2-carriage set for the return home.

In his article in NERA Express magazine issue 87 J.B. Dawson mentioned that the 3.57 pm departure from Wear Valley Junction did have a strengthening carriage attached; "The fourth train from Darlington arrived, at 4.50 pm, again strenthened by an extra coach". This is not borne out in either the July 1926 or May 1932 Carriage Rosters. However, the 1926CR has the train made up of a Darlington Link-B 3-set, so likely did not need it. The 1932CR has the train made up of a Darlington Link C 2-set, but no strengthener attached, except for Saturdays. If we are to believe J.B. Dawson's testimony that one was attached, then I think that at the introduction of the change to a 2-set it was rostered for a strengthener but something caused it to be discontinued at or before May 1932.

Just when the changeover to 2-set Link C happened is not explicitly mentioned by J.B. Dawson. While he mentions in the article that he eventually became a passenger on the 8.15 am from Wearhead to go to school, this would have been in September 1922 (he had turned 11 in May). Under the 1918 Act, the school leaving age was increased from 12 to 14, so J.B. Dawson attended Wolsingham until at least July 1925. There was provision for education beyond 14 with part-time 'continuation day' classes for those between 14 and 18 who were in work. he does not say if he left at 14, did the continuation days part time or stayed in education full time for at least a period beyond 1925. Another thing to deduce from the 1918 Act is that until then there was no need for a strengthener on either train since most children concluded their education in local primary schools by age 12.

In one of his three articles, J.B. Dawson mentioned various locomotives and in the course of my research I determined that as well as the alternatives he had recorded there were other possibilities for showing up on the branch. For whatever reason he may not have recalled them or just not seen them that day, due to being at school in Wolsingham, or some other reason.

Today, the fourth down branch passenger train is in the hands of N9 0-6-2T No. 1646 of West Auckland shed. Both No. 1646 and 1651 were at West Auckland at the grouping and remained there for some years. No. 1646 actually moved to Wear Valley shed in April 1931, but this shot must be pre-February 1929, since it was then that she emerged from Darlington works with a vacuum ejector fitted.
No. 1451 moved to Shildon shed in April 1928 and received her vacuum ejector under the unification of braking scheme in December 1929.

Whether the Darlington Link C arrangement was in place by 1928 is unclear to me. JBD mentioned that while he was at Eastgate that clerestory coaches appeared in the branch trains and recalled the strengthening coach on the morning passenger train, which was not required by the July 1926 Carriage roster. I might be pushing it with a changeover as early as 1928, but if a 1928 CR ever emerges we may be enlightened.

With the J21, J24, J25, N8, N9 and N10 all sharing the diagram 67 boiler No. 1646 and 1651 each had the power to take the train from Darlington to Wearhead.

 

[borderreiver]

JBD mentioned that Eastgate sent around five wagonloads of gannister out daily and that between the station, Greenfoot Quarry's output, as well as wagonloads from the two private sidings at Blackey's Isle and Billings Shield normally sent out 50 wagon loads a day, which elevated the station to grade 3.
According to JBD, Blackey's Isle could stand 10 wagons each side of the loader, while Billings Shield siding could accomodate a few more than Blackey's Isle. He does not mention the capacity of the sidings and Greenfoot but a drawing in the NERA digital archive has the siding arrangement and when I laid it out on the DEM route the exchange loop could accomodate 16 wagons, though the three sidings under the loader could only accomodate 8. If Greenfoot sent out 8 a day, then that leaves about 15 wagons a day coming out of one or more of the quarry sidings.

JBD specifically mentioning J25s operating on the line on "goods and mineral" trains makes me think that there might have been a daily mineral train somewhere in the timetable.

Some hours later.......

I laid in loops at Harperley station, Wolsingham station, Bishopley and Wearhead with rough track between them in order to run a test session.

Provided that a 25-wagon mineral train could get itself in to the down loop at Harperley station ahead of the arrival at Harperley station of the 3.57 p.m. Down branch passenger train out of Wear Valley Jcn, it would then subsequently be able to proceed to Wolsingham once the 3.57 down had cleared the section and cross paths there with the 3.52 p.m. Up branch passenger train from Wearhead around 4.30 p.m.

Despite there being a passing loop at Wolsingham and Stanhope the 3.52 p.m. Up passenger train ex-Wearhead and 3.57 p.m. Down passenger train ex-Wear Valley Junction crossed paths on the double track section laid in between Bishopley Junction signal box and Broadwood signal box. There was no station there on that double track section but the line to Bishopley quarries branched off at Bishopley Junction.
The mineral train could reach Stanhope after the 3.57 p.m. ex-Wear Valley passenger train's departure from Stanhope at 4.36 p.m. but then could not enter the single track section through Eastgate until 4.52 p.m.

While the path did exist to accomodate a mineral train there is a human resource problem. During the morning, a porter from Eastgate would travel to Blackey's Isle and Billings Shield Private Owner to mark up the tags for the wagons heading out. At 5 p.m. there was no Eastgate Porter available to go to either PO siding that late in the day. What the situation would be at Stanhope, which provided the porter to administer operating Greenfoot quarry earlier in the day, I do not know.

 

[TrainLords]

JBD mentioned that Eastgate sent around five wagonloads of gannister out daily and that between the station, Greenfoot Quarry's output, as well as wagonloads from the two private sidings at Blackey's Isle and Billings Shield normally sent out 50 wagon loads a day, which elevated the station to grade 3.
According to JBD, Blackey's Isle could stand 10 wagons each side of the loader, while Billings Shield siding could accomodate a few more than Blackey's Isle. He does not mention the capacity of the sidings and Greenfoot but a drawing in the NERA digital archive has the siding arrangement and when I laid it out on the DEM route the exchange loop could accomodate 16 wagons, though the three sidings under the loader could only accomodate 8. If Greenfoot sent out 8 a day, then that leaves about 15 wagons a day coming out of one or more of the quarry sidings.

JBD specifically mentioning J25s operating on the line on "goods and mineral" trains makes me think that there might have been a daily mineral train somewhere in the timetable.

Some hours later.......

I laid in loops at Harperley station, Wolsingham station, Bishopley and Wearhead with rough track between them in order to run a test session.

Provided that a 25-wagon mineral train could get itself in to the down loop at Harperley station ahead of the arrival at Harperley station of the 3.57 p.m. Down branch passenger train out of Wear Valley Jcn, it would then subsequently be able to proceed to Wolsingham once the 3.57 down had cleared the section and cross paths there with the 3.52 p.m. Up branch passenger train from Wearhead around 4.30 p.m.

Despite there being a passing loop at Wolsingham and Stanhope the 3.52 p.m. Up passenger train ex-Wearhead and 3.57 p.m. Down passenger train ex-Wear Valley Junction crossed paths on the double track section laid in between Bishopley Junction signal box and Broadwood signal box. There was no station there on that double track section but the line to Bishopley quarries branched off at Bishopley Junction.
The mineral train could reach Stanhope after the 3.57 p.m. ex-Wear Valley passenger train's departure from Stanhope at 4.36 p.m. but then could not enter the single track section through Eastgate until 4.52 p.m.

While the path did exist to accomodate a mineral train there is a human resource problem. During the morning, a porter from Eastgate would travel to Blackey's Isle and Billings Shield Private Owner to mark up the tags for the wagons heading out. At 5 p.m. there was no Eastgate Porter available to go to either PO siding that late in the day. What the situation would be at Stanhope, which provided the porter to administer operating Greenfoot quarry earlier in the day, I do not know.

Is your NER Carriages availabe to download?

 

[KotangaGirl]

Is your NER Carriages available to download?

They are payware carriages by Paulz Trainz.

 

[borderreiver]

North East England during the steam era.
Eastgate station on the Weardale extension of the NER's Weardale branch.

1928, and the substitute for the branch G5 0-4-4T, a N9 class 0-6-2T of West Auckland shed hauls the fifth, and final up branch passenger train of the day, approaching, at and departing Eastgate.

There appears to have been some evolution in the later branch passenger trains between the July 1923 LNER timetable and the May 1932 Carriage Roster, with an intermediate position in the July 1926 Carriage Roster.
I think that the appearance of the motor omnibus may have something to do with that, along with social changes related to entertainment.
In 1923, the fifth up branch passenger departs Wearhead at 6.13 pm, which has hardly changed since the NER 1912 timetable of October 1912 through March 1913.
However, while the 1926CR has the departure at 6.13 pm a Saturday evening out in Stanhope becomes possible for Upper Weardalers living along the Weardale extension as a Saturdays Only down branch passenger train appears at 9.33pm out of Stanhope for Wearhead, in the hands of Darlington Link B 3-set No. 161. originating at Darlington, where it departed at 8pm, the set would run ECS back from Wearhead to Stanhope, departing Wearhead at 10.10pm.
By the 1932CR the last train out of Wearhead has changed, Saturdays excepted, coming forward to 5.32 pm.
Whatever mandated the change to 5.32 during the week, it was too much for the saturday business, which has retained 6.12 pm for the Saturdays only train.
In the 1932CR both are in the hands of Darlington Link C 2-set No.189.

I wonder if J.B. Dawson ever took advantage of the 6.28/6.29 pm from Eastgate during the early 1930s to have an evening out in Stanhope?
He turned 18 in May 1929 and if there was a cinema or dance hall then it would have been a draw to people looking for something different to the local pub.
I have taken a gamble that the Darlington Link-C 2-sets were running as early as 1928.
J.B. is not specific as to when things changed on the branch.

According to J.B. Dawson's article in NERA Express Magazine Issue 87; "At 6.30 pm the last departure for Darlington was dealt with. This conveyed the mail, to connect at Darlington with the various mail trains going south, and also conveyed a small amount of milk, in churns. Only in very exceptional circumstance was this train to be allowed to be delayed for attaching horse boxes etc." I think that the switch to a 5.32 pm departure out of Wearhead on weekdays may have had something to do with the timings of mail departures on the ECML, or perhaps a decision to not put as much pressure on the last up branch passenger train of the day.

 

[Tanker46]

North East England during the steam era.
Eastgate station on the Weardale extension of the NER's Weardale branch.

1928, and the substitute for the branch G5 0-4-4T, a N9 class 0-6-2T of West Auckland shed hauls the fifth, and final up branch passenger train of the day, approaching, at and departing Eastgate.

There appears to have been some evolution in the later branch passenger trains between the July 1923 LNER timetable and the May 1932 Carriage Roster, with an intermediate position in the July 1926 Carriage Roster.
I think that the appearance of the motor omnibus may have something to do with that, along with social changes related to entertainment.
In 1923, the fifth up branch passenger departs Wearhead at 6.13 pm, which has hardly changed since the NER 1912 timetable of October 1912 through March 1913.
However, while the 1926CR has the departure at 6.13 pm a Saturday evening out in Stanhope becomes possible for Upper Weardalers living along the Weardale extension as a Saturdays Only down branch passenger train appears at 9.33pm out of Stanhope for Wearhead, in the hands of Darlington Link B 3-set No. 161. originating at Darlington, where it departed at 8pm, the set would run ECS back from Wearhead to Stanhope, departing Wearhead at 10.10pm.
By the 1932CR the last train out of Wearhead has changed, Saturdays excepted, coming forward to 5.32 pm.
Whatever mandated the change to 5.32 during the week, it was too much for the saturday business, which has retained 6.12 pm for the Saturdays only train.
In the 1932CR both are in the hands of Darlington Link C 2-set No.189.

I wonder if J.B. Dawson ever took advantage of the 6.28/6.29 pm from Eastgate during the early 1930s to have an evening out in Stanhope?
He was 18 in 1930 and if there was a cinema or dance hall then it would have been a draw to people looking for something different to the local pub.
I have taken a gamble that the Darlington Link-C 2-sets were running as early as 1928.
J.B. is not specific as to when things changed on the branch.

According to J.B. Dawson's article in NERA Express Magazine Issue 87; "At 6.30 pm the last departure for Darlington was dealt with. This conveyed the mail, to connect at Darlington with the various mail trains going south, and also conveyed a small amount of milk, in churns. Only in very exceptional circumstance was this train to be allowed to be delayed for attaching horse boxes etc." I think that the switch to a 5.32 pm departure out of Wearhead on weekdays may have had something to do with the timings of mail departures on the ECML, or perhaps a decision to not put as much pressure on the last up branch passenger train of the day.

Another fantastic display Frank!

I've had a glimpse upon Weardale via fellow train club member as his layout is built as a fictional reimagining of the area, but I don't know too much about the prototypical branch itself.

Out of curiosity, what were the usual goods workings that occurred along the branch? Were there any particular commodities that the area dabbled in or were they more or less a passenger orientated route?

 

[borderreiver]

Alex,

Essentially, the bulk of traffic out of the Weardale branch was stone.
J.B. Dawson, who was 70 back in 1982 related his teenage years as the son of the Stationmaster at Eastgate, the first station to the west of Stanhope.
Eastgate and the private sidings nearby sent out around 50 wagons a day of gannister, a mineral used in steelmaking. A quarry at Greenfoot, between Stanhope and Eastgate sent out roadstone.
Between Easgate and Westgate-in-Weardale stations there was an incline running down from Heights Quarry, which was built by German PoWs during WWI.
While Heights was taken under government control during WWI it actually closed following the war, only to re-open during WWII and it is still open today.
However, in WWII its output came down to the Weardale extension by aerial ropeway rather than the incline, which had been lifted some time in the interwar years.
For about 40 years from the 1960s there was a huge quarry southwest of Eastgate station and what was the site of Blackey's Isle private siding evolved into a cement works.
It was this traffic source which kept the line open long after the withdrawal of passenger trains and meant that the heritage railway operation which exists on the line had a railway to take over.

Further down the valley, around Stanhope and Frosterley there are the remains of extensive quarries and the quarries above Stanhope at Crawleyside were the cause of building the first railway out of the district in 1834.
From Crawleyside it went up across the top of the valley, over the moorland and the County Durham plateau down to the river Tyne at South Shields.
This was the Stanhope & Tyne Railway.

 

[borderreiver]

Today, while browsing the NERA archive, I happened across a file called LNER Study Notes and in it "John Dawson" makes some comments about the Weardale branch and so answers what the J stands for in J.B. Dawson.
I have also tracked down in the NERA Express that John B. Dawson died on 28th October 1999, age 88.

 

[borderreiver]

The sidings at Blackey's Isle and Billing Shield on the Weardale extension are going to change.

I have unearthed an LNER siding diagram with lengths dated Dec 1925/Nov 1927 in the NERA archive It clearly shows a NER-type four-cell coal depot at Blackey's Isle! it is located on a spur from the private siding, length 63 metres, along with a spur in which to stow the Brake van when delivering empties. These are at the western end of the PO siding. Billing Shield also has a spur at the western end of the PO siding for the same purpose. What Blackey's Isle lacks in the siding diagram is just how the galena and flourspar were loaded and produces the revelation that while Billing Shield is shown with siding gates, Blackey's Isle is not. The presence of the coal depot also complicates the loading operation, as when laying out the sidings to the lengths reported in the drawing the end of the coal depot cells are rather more than halfway along the PO loop, making it possible to only accommodate ten rather than twelve loaded wagons and two of them would have been still at the loading "gantry", assuming that it was right longside the end of the coal depot cells.

Further research has revealed that the book "The Life of a Northern Lead Miner" from 1990 actually has a photograph of a wagon being loaded at Blackey's Isle! I have found a used copy and am now awaiting delivery so I can see what is revealed. The book also reveals two other pieces of information. First, a date for the cessation of aerial rope workings at Blackey's Isle when traffic switched to road transport, 1947. Second, that coal was taken up to Rookhope by the same aerial ropeway that brought down galena and flourspar.

 

[borderreiver]

I have decided to post the photograph from the 1990 book "Life and Work of a Northern Lead Miner" since I have not seen it anywhere else.

The aerial ropeway was a monocable type, which presents something of a dilemma when it comes to modelling it. The PLL aerial ropeway scenery items and "track" are dual cable.

Building the terminal station at Blackey's Isle, Eastgate, Weardale as a monocable means that the monocable track needs to be modelled. I would also have to consider building the loading terminal at Boltsburn mine, Rookhope, since if the aerial ropeway is on the DLS then somebody wanting to use it would also likely want to have the loading, as well as the discharge terminal.

To build the Blackey's Isle discharge terminal as dual cable in order to be able to integrate it with the PLL aerial ropeway track means modelling it "incorrectly".

So, to compromise, or to go the whole hog?
It is a niche asset after all, even though, in the 1920s-1960s there were literally hundreds of aerial ropeways across the UK serving collieries, quarries, docks and industries.

FYI - the baskets were quite small.
However, if similar to the Claughton ropeway in Lancashire, (which still works as of 2025) is of a similar age to the one which served Boltsburn mine and Blackey's Isle PO siding, the baskets hold 250kg of stone.
Claughton runs 300 baskets per day and has run up to 500 baskets daily. At 250kg per basket that is 75 - 125 metric tonnes per day. If that is a 12 ton Central Division end-brake NER hopper wagon then 10 wagon loads a day out of Blackey's Isle was certainly feasible for a slow moving gravity driven aerial ropeway.

A youtube video on Claughton aerial ropeway mentions that the one inch diameter wire rope is changed every six years. The siding and aerial ropeway at Blackey's Isle were built in 1922, which would put wire rope replacements required in 1928, 1934, 1940 and 1946. I believe that if the replacement was actually done in 1940, which was during WWII, then the cost of replacing the wire rope in 1946 may have been a material factor in the traffic going over to road transport in 1947. Even that would have required deferring ( ie "ignoring) replacement for a year at risk of a break under tension causing serious damge, injury or even fatality. If the renewal was not done in 1940 then I can hardly imagine what the wire rope condition was like six years later following hard use during WWII.