The Tanfield railway
Introduction: The Tanfield railway is situated 6 miles south west of Gateshead close to the village of Sunniside in the hills of county Durham. The railway started as a 4' gauge wagonway in 1725 though some parts do go back to the mid 17th century. In 1839 it was rebuilt as a standard railway by its then owners the Brandling junction railway and was soon taken over by the North Eastern railway (NER). Today however it is operated as a mixed industrial passenger railway, using authentic preserved industrial steam locomotives to haul classical ex main line vehicles.
Tanfield No 6 at Andrews Bridge
History: As was mentioned above, this railway started life as a wagonway serving local collieries the owners of which wanted to ship their product to the River Tyne 8.1 miles away. In 1837 the Brandling Junction railway who had bought out several other wagonways in the area bought the wagonway and started its conversion to a standard iron edge rail system. The line saw its first and last passenger service between Tanfield Lea and Gateshead in 1842 starting on the 16th of June that year with stations at Tanfield Lea, Bowes Bridge, Fugar Bar and Redheugh and an unofficial stop at Lobley hill near to the Whickham turnpike road. The passenger service operated on Saturdays only with the journey taking about one hour. Passenger facilities were initially a coach but this was later replaced by cleaned out coal wagons, when the NER took over complete control however the passenger service was disbanded.
No 6 on its way to Sunniside
In 1854 a new branch was opened from Tanfield moor west to Lintz colliery. Then in 1881 horse traction was replaced on the line by locomotives that also did away with the stationary winding engines at Bowes bridge near Marley hill and the one at Causey west bank where the Bowes Bridge engine shed was to be built. Near this point a branch was built to connect to the Pontop and Jarrow railway. The engine shed housed two locomotives that worked all the traffic between Tanfield Lea and Fugar bank. By the end of the 19th Century there was a new branch serving Watergate colliery near Lobley hill though the old wagonway branches seem to have closed by this time. Coal traffic on the line was steady until the end of the First World War when traffic started to decline and by 1945 it was at a one third of the percentage it was at in 1907. In 1947 the Tanfield moor colliery ceased production followed by the LNER closing their Tanfield moor incline though the track was not lifted until 1957. Two pits did provide plenty of work for the line however and these were Tanfield Lea pit and East Tanfield colliery though the latter ceased rail transportation of coal in 1955 resulting in the branch requiring only one locomotive in operation at any one time. The Tanfield Lea colliery closed on 24th August 1962 resulting in the end of coal traffic and the reason for the little branches being. Though the line north of Watergate colliery, near Lobley hill, was maintained to serve the colliery there though when Watergate changed to road haulage the remainder of the line was closed. Parts of the line could still be found on this stretch until 1969 with some parts of the infrastructure in place as if waiting in hope for a reopening.
Marley Hill signal box
Preservation: In 1973 a group of enthusiasts from the North east opened a short section of the old line. The present focus of the line is the engine shed at Marley hill which has been in use for locomotive storage since the NER days and was opened in 1854 remaining in use until 1970. Today it again holds locomotives for the railway when they are not in use as the railway operates services through the year. The present line is about 4 1/2 miles long with single track and passing places all the way between Andrews house and East Tanfield.