The Stockton & Darlington Railway Company’s takeover of half of the 1834 Stanhope & Tyne route, under the guise of the Wear & Derwent Railway, saw the most interesting period in the history of this part of the line. The route, which ran from the limestone quarries above Stanhope to Consett, was now joined to the Stockton & Darlington Railway’s network, and the new operators wasted no time in converting the line to locomotive working where possible, building deviations to the original route to get rid of rope-hauled incline working and instead use the distinctive double-tender heavy goods locomotives. This work culminated with the opening of the 150-foot-high Hownes Gill Viaduct and the Burnhill deviation. This book covers the history of the line from 1845, detailing the drastic transformation of the line so that it could serve the mighty ironworks at Consett. It features a wide variety of historic and modern images.

Rob Langham has been passionate about history since childhood, later turning it into his vocation. Working in museums, he has completed an MA in Britain in the First World War and spends his spare time researching a diverse range of topics such as the early railways of North East England and the First World War battlefields of Gallipoli.