Opened in 1834, the Stanhope & Tyne Railroad Company’s line connected the limestone district of Weardale and the collieries of north-west Durham to the mouth of the River Tyne at South Shields. This extraordinary railway used horses, steam locomotives, stationary steam engines and gravity-worked inclines to transport lime, limestone and coal.
Construction of the line proved to be a considerable undertaking and the company soon found itself in financial difficulties. Its downfall almost bankrupted Robert Stephenson, who was the consulting engineer for the company.
A change of ownership saw the line move into profit, with one half run by the newly formed Pontop & South Shields Railway Company, and the other by the Stockton & Darlington Railway Company. The two halves later came under the ownership of the North Eastern Railway, before transferring to the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923 and then British Railways.
The Stanhope & Tyne Railroad Company tells the story of this remarkable line and its varied ways of working, including building the line, running the railway, locomotives, changes under different ownership, decline and closures. Well illustrated in colour and black & white. 96 pages.