Lines to Consett

Description

The Stanhope and Tyne Railway first opened in 1834 to link the limestone quarries in the Wear Valley, the coalfield around Pontop and South Shields. Over-optimistic traffic estimates lead to the break-up of this concern in 1840 with the section from Consett to Shields operating as the Pontop and South Shields Rly. Agents eventually bought the section from Stanhope to Consett via Crawley and Weatherhill inclines to the S&DR, which had built its own link from Crook to Waskerley by 1845. Nanny Mayor’s incline was bypassed when a new deviation was opened in 1859 from Burnhill Jct. to White Hill Jct. This and the replacement of the inclines at Hownes Gill by a viaduct in 1858 meant trains could run direct from Tow Law and Consett without reversal at Waskerley or inclines (BA&W Bch.). With the growth of traffic from the Derwent Iron Co. at Consett the NER opened the Lanchester Valley branch from Relly Mill Jct., south of Durham, in Sept. 1862. To fend off rival schemes, backed by LNWR, the NER promoted a branch down the Derwent Valley to Blaydon; this line opened in June 1867. These line diagrams collectively refer to the Lanchester and Derwent Valley branches as the Consett Bch. (Co. Bch.). The four inclines on the S&T between Stella Gill and Carr House were bypassed by deviations between 1882 and 1896 (BA&C Bch.). The curve from Consett East Jct. to North Jct. was also completed in 1896 as a link between the Pontop and Lanchester Valley routes