JW Carmichael - Again

John Wilson Carmichael was born in Newcastle in 1799, served on ships & was apprenticed to a ship builder, but became a prolific full time artist.   He was notable as a marine artist of accuracy & detail, but he produced railway & engineering scenes as the opportunity arose, such as for "Views on the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway" written by its engineer John  Blackmore on the opening of the line.

Newcastle from Redheugh, near the junction of the N&CR with the Tanfield Waggonway.
On the right quayside is the short-chimneyed engine house of the Redheugh incline**.
(JW Carmichael, late 1830s, published in The Northumbrian)

Dennis loaned me a copy of The Northumbrian for June / July 2020 containing an interesting short article on the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway illustrated with 11 Carmichael works, one of which is that shown above.

Murton Colliery in 1843 by Carmichael

I've not seen either of the above before - more on the ArtUK web.   Because railways & the industrial revolution predate photography, we rely on the work of Carmichael, Hair & others for early images.   Some of Carmichael's local work featured on this blog in April 2017.

** Footnote: The proximity of the end of the Tanfield route with the Tyne bridge, makes me wonder if the operators tried to get the line across the approach road to be able to remove the use of keels & directly load into ships downriver of the bridge.   This was solved by the Brandlings, who took the line up the Greensfield hill, bridged over the road, then down an incline roughly where the Sage now stands, although it also more importantly enabled running to staiths at Shields or Monkwearmouth .