| | The SSMWCR was originally built as a mineral branch serving a coal mine on the North-East coast, and this it did successfully for almost a century. Indeed here is where the story could have ended, for at face value this was no different from the hundreds of other branches which served pits in this industrial corner of the country. Scratch beneath the surface however and it soon becomes apparent that there was much more to the SSMWCR than the humble coal truck. The railway had its own passenger service which (although not unique for a colliery branch line) nonetheless boasted well-equipped termini and block signalling. Passenger trains were capable of taking the public back in time, leaving Westoe Colliery at one end of the branch, with its 20th century electric railway, and travelling down to Whitburn Colliery at the other end, firmly set in the l9th century with steam the staple power. Then there was the rolling stock. This bewildering menagerie was raked in from all comers of the land, mostly via the second-hand market and spent a twilight existence on the branch line long after similar main line stock had been dragged to the scrapyards. The locomotives (and there were 40 of them) represented a full cross-section of early mineral designs from tiny Manning, Wardle industrial tank engines up to the hefty ex-North Eastern Railway 'C' class tender engines which were so indigenous to County Durham. The most remarkable aspect of the railway, however, was the state of almost constant change it underwent throughout its history. It was built under wayleave as a mineral line, re-opened by Act of Parliament as a railway in the full sense of the word, and re-opened yet again at a later date as an official Light Railway. The original stations were demolished and rebuilt, signal boxes appeared on the railway, only to disappear again and be replaced by other boxes, while at one stage, even part of the railway itself was lifted and re-aligned. In fact so frequent were the changes that an enthusiast visiting the railway would return within a decade and find little to remind him of his previous visit. Contents:
- Introduction
- The Formative Years
- A Journey Down to Whitburn
- The Rise and Fall of the Rattler
- Locomotives, carriages and wagons
- Signalling and Safety
- Heavy Traffic on a Light Railway
- The Final Years
- Remains
- The Marsden Railway Locomotive fleet list
- A summary of Production at Whitburn Colliery 1881-1961
- A list of Final tickets sold at Westoe Lane station, November 1953
- Acknowledgements
- Index
Continent: Europe
Country: UK
Area: UK Durham | | Tag cloud: marsden whitburn ssmwcr north-east humble truck termini westoe l9th menagerie second-hand twilight wardle ex-north durham wayleave hatcher rattler | Tell a friend about this publication  | Last viewed titles |
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