Connecting Scotswood & Marley Hill

Thanks to Dave Dixon, who contributed this feature.

Scotswood Tunnel is just west of Scotswood Station on the North Wylam loop which was built as the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway between 1872 and 1875.

The bricked up eastern portal of Scotswood Tunnel on the North Wylam route .....
(photo courtesy of Dave Dixon)

..... one of two lines from Newcastle via Scotswood to Prudhoe & Carlisle
(from Disused Stations)

One part of Scotswood station was on each of the two routes, shown at the junction, bottom right
(from maps at National Library of Scotland)

(Station photos above from Disused Stations)

That North Wylam line was closed as a through route in the late 1960s.   The section between Newcastle and Newburn remained open for coal trains supplying Stella North power station, as well as Anglo Great Lakes Graphite works and an Ever Ready battery factory.    The power station closed in 1991 and the line was lifted in 1992.   The bridge & route across to Blaydon was closed in 1982.   Since then Newcastle - Carlisle trains travel south of the Tyne (as they did in the 1830s) through Dunston.

Scotswood Junction today - Blaydon to the left, Wylam to the right
(photo courtesy of Dave Dixon)

Several structures remain ......
(photo courtesy of Dave Dixon)

...... on the railway routes around Scotswood
(photo courtesy of Dave Dixon)

The Scotswood - Blaydon bridge remains, but carries only pipelines
- there is no railway, no deck & no public access.
The bridge can be seen from the A1 Western Bypass.
(photo Chris Bell)

The former railway bridge west of Wylam is now a cycle & walk way.
An expensive single span was needed due to shallow coal workings.
(photo Craig Hennessey)

So how is the railway at Scotswood connected to Marley Hill?

The Famous Five enter the dark tunnel

The connection was made by Dave Dixon in a Famous Five episode Five Go off to Camp in 1995.   This involved a "spook train" & a tunnel, which was filmed by Dave in Scotswood Tunnel & around Marley Hill.   The episode contains many views of Marley Hill & can be seen on YouTube.