Wearhead branch

[Big Jumby 74]

Hi all. Does anyone know of any books that give an in depth history of the NE Wearhead branch, truncated to Eastgate in later years. Have checked Middleton Press lists and Oakwood Press to no avail, unless I've missed something, which is quite possible?

Thanks

 

[Gloster]

Possibly in books on the Stockton & Darlington or North Eastern Railway. There are a couple on Amberley that might cover the line, but I can’t be sure due to so many similar names: try googling ‘ wearhead railway book ‘ and look at Images.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Thanks Gloster. As it happens I did come across something on the Bay, published many moons ago so long o.o.p. now, which may answer my questions. Will await its arrival before commenting further.

I think many of the titles one comes across by doing a basic search on the net, may refer to the old route between the limestone quarries just to the North of Stanhope (but not connected to the Stanhope on the Wearhead to Bishop Auckland route) and Consett, more of an industrial route, seemingly referred to as the 'Stanhope and Tyne' or similar.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Will await its arrival before commenting further.

My new purchase arrived. A5 format, 35 pages, 'The railways of Weardale' (Rounthwaite/RCTS/1965). Not had a chance to read in detail as yet, but first half text, split in to a general background, followed by a couple of specific locations, albeit not all locations on the line from B-Auckland. The rear half is given over to images, four per page side, and finally three page sides of diagrams, the first a general basic schematic of all the lines in the area, followed by a couple of more detailed (track) plans, but these latter revolve around the quarries/industry along the route, not the NE/BR route as such.

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice work to have, but still lacking in (track/signalling) diagrams for the main stations along the Bishop Auckland-Wearhead line, hence my mentioning Middleton and Oakwood, who have published works with a little more detail. It may well be the case of course that no source material has survived to permit any authors to go there so to speak!

 

[NER1621]

My new purchase arrived. A5 format, 35 pages, 'The railways of Weardale' (Rounthwaite/RCTS/1965).

This is the classic work, and has not yet been replaced by a newer edition or a successor, although over the years there have been plenty of rumours that someone was working on one. The latest rumour is that the North Eastern Railway Association have a Weardale volume in the works… (If you’re interested in the railways of NE England and the North Riding of Yorkshire you really need to be a member of NERA - website is here - they publish some useful stuff, including the line diagrams for many NER routes and have a good archive).

Otherwise there are Rob Langham’s volumes on the Stanhope & Tyne line (see his page on his publisher’s website here.) Also try to find a copy of “Railways of the North Pennines” by Dr Tom Bell (secondhand). And finally for track layouts then the 1:2500 OS maps available for free on the National Library of Scotland website (they cover all of GB, not just Scotland) are a very good port of call.

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[Big Jumby 74]

This is the classic work, and has not yet been replaced by a newer edition or a successor

Many thanks for your input and your suggestions for further reading etc. Always nice to have something to dip in to now and again!

My primary interest in the Wearhead branch revolves around Stanhope and a family connection to said place (not the station or railway in their time, that is my interest being ex railway myself), so a mix of the two, if that makes sense?

My main NER interests prior to this (and still today) were/are related to the 'black gold' industry back in the day, and in particular anything Q6/J27 related. Always had a soft spot for the Q6's in particular, and I have no idea why being a lifelong S/Reg man! Merchant Navy's are ok, although a BB/WC Pacific's are better, to my mind, but a Q6 tops all in my humble retired interest stakes.

 

[NER1621]

My primary interest in the Wearhead branch revolves around Stanhope and a family connection to said place (not the station or railway in their time, that is my interest being ex railway myself), so a mix of the two, if that makes sense?

Makes absolute sense - my family background is LNER/NER in York hence my railway interests, but although my wife is an Essex girl her mum was born at Wearhead opposite the terminus (her father - my wife’s grandfather - ran the post office at Wearhead) and used the branch trains for school, and thus I became interested in the history of Weardale. (The family moved south after the war as my mother-in-law’s father died young and his widow remarried.)

I also later worked with a railway & museum colleague who lived in Stanhope - small world!