LINE HISTORY

The Middle Engine Lane site has been associated with colliery waggon ways since the 18th century. The bulk of the coal mined locally was shipped out of the Tyne, mainly to London. As pits near to the river were worked out, new pits were opened further to the North. The only way to get this coal economically to the waiting colliers was by trucks (or cauldron wagons) running on rails.

The first coal to pass through the Museum site was around 1755-60. A line using wooden rails and horse drawn trucks was built from Shiremoor to staithes at Hayhole on the river. A branch off this line was constructed to a pit at Flatworth, the site of which is now within the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate to the south of the Coast road. About 1764-69 a line was built from a colliery at Murton to Percy Main. This line joined the Shiremoor alignment at Murton Row. Whether this was a branch of the Shiremoor line is not known, but it was on wooden rails and horse drawn.

The next major development was not until 1818 when a line was built from the Backworth 'A' pit down to Percy Main. This was still horse drawn wagons running on wooden rails, but by 1821 a start was made to convert the line to rope haulage by stationary steam engines, completed in 1827. Two winding engine sites have been identified, one at West Allotment on a site that later became a coal depot and the other at Murton Row, the site of which is just outside the east corner of the museum railings in what is now Chirton North Ind Estate. In 1858 this was a hamlet of 21 cottages. By this time the Bedlington Iron Works were producing wrought iron rails of up to 16 feet in length and so it is probable that the wooden rails were replaced at this time.

In 1822 the Cramlington group of pits built its own line from the Ann pit at Cramlington, via Prospect Hill, to Murton Row, where it joined the Backworth line. It then shared the Backworth line as far as the Newcastle to North Shields road at Percy Main, after which it ran on its own tracks to the staithes. This is the line taken by the Museum's own railway today.

In 1826 the Seghill colliery negotiated an agreement with the Cramlington waggon way to carry its coal. This was at the rate of 3 shillings per chauldron wagon, if the total number exceeded 22500 wagons per annum. This was from Seghill to 200 yards from the staithes at the Tyne. A chauldron wagon carried just over two and half tons of coal.

A further development in 1826 was the building of a new line from Fawdon , north of Newcastle, to Middle Engine lane, then to run alongside the Backworth line to Percy Main. At just over 9 miles it was the longest newly built line at the time. Initially named the Brunton & Shields railway, it was later renamed the Seaton Burn Wagon way. It came into being because coal mined in the Fawdon area was being moved by rail south to the Tyne to be loaded into shallow draught keel boats. These then sailed down the Tyne to the North or South Shields area where the coal was transferred to sea going colliers. The new wagon way cut out the use of the Keel boats and led to their eventual demise.

This was a time of great expansion in the coal industry and as more pits to the north in the Backworth, Cramlington and Seghill area opened, congestion on the Backworth line from Murton Row to Percy Main was considerable. So much so, in 1839 the Cramlington group of pits built a new line to the Tyne from Murton Row, having severed their connection with the Backworth line. This line veered to run further west through what is now the Tyne Tunnel Trading Estate. It rejoined the route to the staithes at a point just to the south of the Museum's own Percy Main platform. The section of track between the Newcastle-North Shields road and its new line was abandoned.

A further development took place in 1840, when the Seghill collieries dissatisfied with sharing the line to the Tyne with the Cramlington pits built their own line. This ran from Seghill and paralleled the Cramlington line as far south as the museum site but then ran alongside the Backworth line to Percy Main. There it took over the discarded Cramlington line and made its way passed the site of the Museums present platform to its own staithes It was at this time that the cutting to the East of the Museum's car park fence was dug. It is now a pathway about 15 to 20 feet below the surrounding ground. A bridge was built to carry the Backworth waggon way over to Murton Row, the remains of the East abutment of which is still visible. The building survey of 1840 gives the bridge clearance as 13 feet 2 inches.

In 1839 the Newcastle to North Shields passenger line had opened, with a station at Percy Main. In August 1841 the Seghill wagon way decided to run a public passenger service from Seghill to Percy Main where passengers could transfer to the Newcastle line. This was an unusual occurrence for a colliery line, although in later years miners special trains were quite common. History does not tell us what sort of carriages the people traveled in, but it was on iron rails and south of Holywell it was certainly rope hauled. There does not appear at this time to have been a timetable as coal traffic had priority. During 1843 the Seghill collieries and their associates decided to extend the line to Blyth. This was done by linking up existing waggon ways and some new build. Until the 1880's Blyth harbour was shallow and difficult for colliers to berth, so in 1846 coal from pits in the Bedlington and Blyth areas was transported to the Tyne for shipment. By this date coal, and some passengers, from an area stretching from Seaton Burn, through Cramlington to Bedlington and Blyth in the east were being funneled through the Middle Engine Lane site. By 1846 the Blyth Seghill and Percy Main railway as it was now called, had visions of becoming a public railway. It ran a passenger service 3 times a day between Blyth and Percy Main, taking 1 hour. The section between Seghill and Holywell was operated by two Timothy Hackworth built engines, named Samson and John. South of Holywell station the line was still rope hauled. The winding engine was at Prospect Hill station and hauled trains up from Holywell and then lowered them down to Percy Main. The site of Holywell station is adjacent to the still existing British Rail level crossing on the east edge of Backworth village and Prospect Hill was sited to the north of New York road, adjacent to the road bridge over the railway track bed at West Allotment. There was never a station at Murton Row. The following year, 1847, the line was calling itself the Blyth & Tyne Railway, but the passenger and goods part of the business was operated by the Newcastle and North Shields Railway. The Blyth & Tyne was not incorporated as a public company until 1853.

The Museum site stands almost on the top of Prospect Hill. With the urban development that has take place over the years it is not now obvious as a hill, but it was a major obstacle to the railways. This was the reason rope haulage persisted on the site 20 years after steam engines were a common sight at nearby Killingworth. So in the year of its incorporation, 1853, the Blyth & Tyne began a programme to ease the gradients on its line down to Percy Main. The 1840 survey gives the gradient between Percy Main north to Flatworth as 1 in 55, too steep for the steam engines of the day. With this work now done, steam engines could now work through from Blyth to Percy Main. It was at this time the engine shed came into being at Percy Main, being built at a cost of £8552.00. It was to last until 1966.

The Blyth & Tyne railway was an ambitious company and by 1864 had opened a line from Monkseaton to Manors in Newcastle, via Backworth. (This line is now part of the Metro system.) Passengers from Blyth could now reach Newcastle via Backworth, so it is probably about this time the passenger service to Percy Main ceased. The museum site reverted to mineral traffic only, which must have been quite considerable. The Tyne in 1848 exported, mainly to London, 3.5 million tons of coal.

In 1874 the Blyth & Tyne Railway was absorbed by the bigger North Eastern Railway. This in turn became part of the London & North Eastern Railway in 1923 and, in 1948, part of British Rail.

In 1896 the Backworth collieries built a new line from the Blue Bell pit in Shiremoor to link in with its existing line at Murton Row. It ran along the east side the B&T line and crossed Middle Engine Lane immediately adjacent to the fence that encloses the Chirton North Ind. Estate. The Blue Bell branch also served the Algernon pit.

Just prior to the First World War coal production had reached its zenith. Steam engines now handled all the traffic, the Seaton Burn line being the last to convert from rope haulage in about 1900. The ruins of the Middle Engine winding house of the Seaton Burn line lasted till the 1970's. After the First World War coal production gradually declined and the Seaton Burn wagon way closed in the 1920's.

In 1939/40 the last line to be built was constructed by the LNER to the Rising Sun colliery just to the north of Wallsend. Coal from the pit had been moved to the river by a railway that ran over a trestle bridge built in the Wallsend Burn Closes, then by a level crossing over the High East Street and finally crossed the North Shields electrified line on the level. This line closed once the new line opened. The new line ran through what is now Battle Hill and the Silverlink. The trackbed exists in parts as a pathway. The only tangible part of the branch that is left is the rail bridge that carries the Museum's railway over the Cramlington wagon way trackbed.
The nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947 brought all the various colliery wagon ways under the ownership of the National Coal Board. It now meant that coal could be transported by the most convenient route which led to the inevitable rationalization of the wagon ways and subsequent closure of various sections. Under the NCB the first to close was the Cramlington Wagon way in the 1950's. At this time there were two sets of lines running through the cutting to the east of the site. The pair to the east belonged to British Rail and the pair to the west the NCB. The Blue Bell branch still operated to the Algernon and Blue Bell pits. In 1971 the NCB lines closed at the same time as the last of the coal staithes at Percy Main closed. Finally the British Rail lines between Percy Main and Backworth closed in 1983 and the tracks lifted. It was worthwhile contractors excavating the track bed to a depth of three feet to recover the coal that had been spilt over 200 years. The railway presence on the Middle Engine Lane site had gone.

There had been a short interlude in 1975 when the newly planned Tyneside Metro system established a test track at the site. The Metro is a light transit system and no one in the UK had any experience of building or operating such a railway. So to test out the theories, a 1.5 mile track was laid. A two road workshop was built which now forms the rear half of the museum. The test track ran south from the workshops on the track bed of the Seaton Burn wagon way as far as the Coast road bridges. To the north the line crossed Middle Engine Lane on a open level crossing controlled by traffic lights and took the route of the Backworth wagon way as far as West Allotment. A passing loop and a section of tunnel were built on this northern extension. Two prototype Metro cars amassed a considerable mileage on the track until 1979 when the Metro system opened. The test track then closed and the track and over head equipment were all removed, leaving only the test sheds.

Re-birth of the Railway

In 1982/4 North Tyneside Council acquired the test sheds as the nucleus for a transport museum. At about this time, a group of volunteers under the identity of The Monkwearmouth Station Museum Association were working in the station goods shed on restoring and repairing rolling stock, decided to relocate to Middle Engine Lane. These people formed the nucleus of what is now the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association. A partnership was formed between Tyne and Wear Museums and the Council, to construct a steam hauled passenger railway rather than a static transport museum. Construction work began in 1987 and involved the creation of new embankments, the building of two stations, the inspection and renovation of bridges and laying of the rails. A group of unskilled and unemployed people, under supervision, were recruited to relay a single line from the museum to Percy Main. The work was completed in 1989 and the first passenger trains ran in early 1991. In 1994, Tyne and Wear Development Corporation and North Tyneside City Challenge made a grant available to North Tyneside Council to extend the workshops, redesign the museum space and construct a new facilities block. In 2003 the facilities block was further modified to improve educational and toilet facilities.

The railway was, and continues to be, operated by a keen group of volunteers. These dedicated people undertake the duties of train crews, ticket staff and most of the essential work needed to operate a successful railway. But perhaps more importantly, the work of restoring and maintaining the locomotives and rolling stock could not be achieved without their help. A glimpse into the workshops will reveal the magnitude of the projects undertaken.

Today, the museum, whilst still owned by the North Tyneside Council, is managed on a day to day basis by the Tyne and Wear Museum Service. So after 250 years trains still run to Percy Main.

 

Acknowledgments:

Rails Across Northumberland by C R Warn
The Blyth & Tyne Branch Part 1& 2 by J A Wells
Meet Your Metro published by Tyne & Wear Transport
Memories of the LNER by Allan W Stobbs
Staff of the Local Studies Department North Shields Library for finding maps.
Staff of the Archives section of the Discovery Museum, Newcastle

In researching the above history most of the perceived gaps in my knowledge of the waggon ways have been answered, however the more I read, the more gaps in that knowledge were uncovered. It is like being on a tread mill. The following is one such gap:
In 1840 there were three entirely different waggon ways running down to Percy Main on what is now the Museum's railway alignment. The eastern most one was the Backworth line from Murton Row. The western most one was the Seaton Burn waggon way and sandwiched between was the newly built Seghill waggon way. At the Newcastle to North Shields road, just to the north of Percy Main village, the three lines crossed the road on the level. (The road bridge came later) The Backworth and Seaton Burn lines continued in an almost straight line through the edge of village. The Seghill line however deviated in a south westerly direction to go down the abandoned Cramlington line. (This the line of the Museums railway). Robert Nicholson, who was responsible for the Seghill waggon way construction, states in his survey that the Seghill line would cross the Seaton Burn line on the level. Now the Seaton Burn line would be rope hauled for another 60 years and the Seghill line for about another 13 years, until the engine shed was built at Percy Main and locomotives took over. Now, consider that the winding engines of these two lines were both over a mile away and quite separate, and there were no telephones or telegraph so how were the conflicting movements of wagons coordinated over this crossing?

Any additional information or corrections would be gratefully received via: webmaster@ntsra.org.uk.
Ian R Taylor, Whitley Bay