Opened in 1834, the Stanhope & Tyne Railroad Company’s line ran from the limestone district of Weardale, via the collieries of north-west Durham to the mouth of the River Tyne at South Shields. This extraordinary railway used horses, steam locomotives, stationary engines and gravity-worked inclines to transport lime, limestone and coal. The company soon found itself in financial trouble, and its downfall almost bankrupted Robert Stephenson, who was consulting engineer for the company. Change of ownership saw the line become profitable, one half being run by the newly formed Pontop & South Shields Railway Company, the other by the Stockton & Darlington Railway Company, with the two halves later coming under the ownership of the North Eastern Railway and later the London & North Eastern Railway and then British Railways. The story of this remarkable line and its varied ways of working are told here, accompanied by images of the route, the locomotives, equipment and men who ran it.

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.