The Stockton And Shildon Railway
Officially named the Stockton and Darlington Railway, it opened in 1825 to carry coal from the Shildon area to boats parked at Stockton.
It was the first steam-hauled railway in the world. Passengers were carried in coal trucks for the opening:-
Whether the company motto was designed to anticipate frequent breakdowns and boiler explosions is unclear.
But possibly to escape from the ever present "periculum" of steam haulage, passengers travelled in carriages hauled by horses!
Steam engines for real people chuffed along in 1833.
The 1825 opening ceremony is recorded in a painting done in 1880 (so a little fanciful, especially as far as perspective and distance are concerned).
The opening journey (described above) was re-enacted in 1925 ...
... and celebrations were also held in 1875 (50th) and 1975 (150th).
A couple of temporary stations were provided adjacent to Darlington's main road to the borth but soon a "proper" station was constructed ...
... and, much later, named Darlington North Road.
After years of neglect, the station has been restored in all its glory; maybe most of its glory. A single line unstaffed halt is provided for the current hourly local service to Bishop Auckland ...
... whilst the rest of the buildings form the "Head of Steam" railway museum.
The museum (check when it might open) specialises in the Stockton and Darlington Railway and its successor, the North Eastern Railway.
The Stockton and Darlington (S & D) expanded westwards to Penrith and Tebay, in the north to Bishop Auckland and in the east to a developing Middlesbrough docks. The company was also involved in the development of the main line south to York and North to Newcastle before being absorbed by the LNER.
But the opening of the main Bank Top station brought many changes.
The above map shows the original S & D alignment as a goods line (with "ticks") and its replacemnt continuing via a station at Dinsdale. The old and new were reunited north of Bank Top where the goods line crossed the main line with a level rail crossing. That must have been fun operationally!
The S & D siding remained in place until 1972 and we can still follow it on the ground. Here is the junction at Dinsdale ...
... and here is the start of the footpath and cycleway that follows the trackbed.
Much of the old route is now a road, Tornado Way ...
... where the footpath etc just run alongside the road.
At the town end of Tornado Way all signs of the old route have disappeared under housing.
Even that bit pf greenery has gone!
Even the usually revealing Google Earth ...
... reveals nothing of the complex junctions that once existed at this point.
Tomorrow we return to the main (Bank Top) station and see how it has developed; plus we take a look at proposals for significant upgrade.
As with Huddersfield (blogs last week), the local press and politicians have done a splendid job of misunderstanding and misexplaining the likely changes.
Next Darlington blog : Wednesday 21st April
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