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| A typical 1960s colliery shed scene at Backworth, with 49 - which now runs at TR |
In 1969 some enthusiasts were dissatisfied with existing efforts to save steam locomotives in the North East. There had been successful efforts to save a very small number of engines within the region however these locos left to go south.
There was a group with a particular interest in colliery and
minor railways, and this group of individuals wanted to save a loco, restore
it, and operate it within the Tyneside area. They actually wanted more, but had
little confidence in what could be achieved – they were only in their teens and
twenties, inexperienced, and had little access to finance.
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| Founders Alan, Eric, Neil, Derek & Peter on Malleable, the first loco steamed by them at Marley Hill (photo courtesy of Peter Weightman) |
It is significant to note that this group had very firm
ideas that what they wanted to revive was a railway or shed which was entirely
devoted to minor and colliery railways – not main line. They searched for
interesting small locos and sought small old wooden carriages. Unlike many
groups, they did not seek to preserve a “branch line”; from the outset they
wanted to be different. This philosophy was unlike that of most other railway
preservation organisations.
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| The expanded group at Marley Hill station loop in the mid 1970s |
They created a formal organisation which they called the
Hawthorn Locomotive Group (HLG). Attempts were started to purchase locomotives
and find a potential home. Sheds were surveyed around the area, including
Marley Hill Engine Shed, on the Bowes Railway – which was still in use by the
NCB. The adjacent Tanfield line’s trackbed looked very attractive to them – and
it had outstanding historic merit. At a
public meeting in a Newcastle pub on 12th December 1969 they
announced their proposal to acquire Marley Hill Shed, a steam loco numbered 38,
and an eight wheeled brake van – but recognising the need to appear credible
they didn’t mention also wanting to relay the Tanfield line and connect the
shed to it with a short entirely new curve. The plan did not go down well with
established railway preservation organisations, as the prevailing view was that
preservation was on the brink of collapse due to excessive numbers of new
schemes stretching “limited” resources too far. In fact objections, disruptions,
and the NCB’s withholding of the shed put paid to the HLG but the individuals
persevered and reformed in another guise. Meanwhile the NCB closed the Marley
Hill Shed in 1970 and handed the building to Beamish Museum to use as a store.
Working with the museum, the Tanfield Railway protagonists made progress,
taking over the shed, forming a not-for-profit company and pursuing the
acquisition of the trackbed and sources of old track from many industrial
concerns in the region – as well as locos, carriages, waggons etc.
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| Cochrane with visitors in the ex-Dorman Long pay carriage in the mid 1970s, MH pit behind (photo courtesy of Tommy Knox) |
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| Laying a run round loop c1976 at Bowes Bridge, our first terminus, MH pit behind. All track on the railway has been brought in by road & laid by volunteers. |
A hundred yards of track around the shed enabled the holding
of steaming events to create a little funding. The enthusiasts raised what
money they could, frequently dipping into their own pockets to pay the bills.
Track was lifted elsewhere, carried to the Tanfield line and relayed. In 1977
trains were running the half mile to Bowes Bridge and four years later to
Sunniside along the original waggonway alignment. Work in the other direction
was harder. In spite of not owning the old line, British Railways had
demolished the road and footpath bridges – these had to be reconstructed,
including the masonry road bridge over the line at Andrews House. That bridge
was believed to date from the waggonway era and had structural features of
eighteenth century character so had to be painstakingly reconstructed from its
remains and from old photographs. By 1991 trains were running to Causey Arch over
a further length of the original route, incorporating massive earthworks and
original culverts, including that over the Causey Burn. Some of the
embankments are now heavily wooded and not at first apparent, as they now look
like natural banksides. By 1992 the line was relaid to East Tanfield. This last
length was not on the original Tanfield Waggonway alignment but part of the
later iron railway, possibly on the course of an earlier short lived waggonway branch
to Lanchester Fell.
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| Tyne Tees TV covering the grand opening of Sunniside station in 1981 (photo courtesy of Tommy Knox) |
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| The arch of Gibraltar Bridge rebuilt c1988 by volunteers including Neil, Alan, Eric, Peter, ?, Ian, me & Andrew |
After opening the line, there followed many years of
upgrading the track, which was initially of very poor quality. Meanwhile all
the buildings on the Tanfield Railway apart from Marley Hill Engine Shed (by
now the world’s oldest working engine shed) had to be built or rebuilt – almost
entirely by volunteers. As a poorly financed entity, the TR had to plan to work
on the cheap, and so recognised the need to be self-sufficient, therefore an
early decision was to have full workshop facilities with practically everything
needed – even a wheel lathe weighing 20 tons.
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| The trackbed & Andrews House station site in the mid 1980s (photo courtesy of Bob Payne) |
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| A growing loco collection outside in 1990: steamers from L-R No.3 (being restored elsewhere), Horden (running at TR), No.49 (running at TR), No.17 (sold & restored), No.6, No.3 (waiting in the new 5 road shed), No.16, Gamma (was restored, now waiting again in the new 5 road shed); the carriages behind are now in their own shed. (photo courtesy of Bob Payne) |
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| Hopper waggons arriving from Ashington - all locos & rolling stock have been brought to TR by road. (photo courtesy of Bob Payne) |
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| Marley Hill signalbox, which controlled the crossing of the Bowes & Tanfield routes, being resurrected on its original foundations in 1987. The 1854 engine shed is the only original item on Marley Hill site. (photo courtesy of Bob Payne) |
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| The refurbished engine being refitted c1979 in No.2, a diesel electric built on Tyneside in 1933, used at Reyrolles in Hebburn, now in everyday use at TR. The bodywork filler follows being found buried in a scrapyard. (photo courtesy of Tommy Knox) |
Reconstructing a railway was only part of the objectives. An
enormous quantity of valuable historic material was at risk of destruction in
the region. A substantial collection of locomotives, carriages and waggons was
saved, often with little prospect of short-term restoration. This has been a
source of criticism however there is never a second chance to save historic
material from the scrapman, and once saved it always has the possibility of
restoration by future generations. A pristine site may be attractive but saving
relics is paramount.
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| A finished product - HL No.2 in Causey Woods |
Throughout this mission, the Tanfield Railway has stuck to
its objectives. These are summed up in the railway’s Guiding Principles:
- Show what would have been seen in the
period 1920-1950 (this would be predominantly steam).
- Focus on industrial and minor railways.
- A North East of England focus with items
used or built in the North East.
PW July 2022
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