The Tanfield Railway

 

The leaves were golden, sun shone down on a small green locomotive as it chuntered its way through the hills of County Durham.  Such was the introduction I got to the Tanfield Railway.

The Tanfield Railway holds the right to call itself one of the world’s oldest existing railways from its days as a wooden coal carrying wagon way from the collieries around East Tanfield and Causy.

 

Nowadays the preserved system is a remnant of two railways one being the North Eastern Railway’s branch line from Tanfield to Gateshead and the other being part of the Bowes Railway system. The two cross on a crossing that still remains at what could be or was a fairly insignificant place called Marley Hill. This, nowadays is the site of the world's oldest working railway depot using the original Coal Board buildings.

 

You wouldn't believe it but actually the entire railway has been rebuilt completely, buildings, bridges, structures and track. Everything has been rebuilt to what it looked like it when it was running all those years ago. The only original building on the whole railway site is the main engine shed at Marley Hill - everything else is new.

 

If you're travelling by car or train, your journey will undoubtedly start from the delightful station at Andrew's House. This is now the railway’s centre and heart incorporating tea rooms, shop, visitor facilities and car park and is a short walk to Marley Hill engine sheds. But if you are travelling from the city of Newcastle by public transport you will probably arrive at Sunnyside which is only a short walk or you can wait for the train to Andrew's House. The train journey itself takes you along the side of the awe-inspiring Tanfield Gorge.    In any season of the year this is spectacular and especially in mid autumn when the colours can awaken an artist in all of us.

 

I think I should probably say something about the trains themselves as this is a railway. The trains are operated by industrial locomotives, ones that were either built in the area, worked in the area or both.  But the carriages are even more spectacular. Nearly all the carriages on this railway are wood from the frames up, mostly rescued from back gardens, farms, fields and many other locations and then reunited with frames and wheels. This gives a superb impression to the traveller of what it used to be like on a branch line such as this over 100 years ago, and also what it's like on a branch line nowadays.

 

Marley Hill engine sheds are something quite special in themselves. As well as housing the resident running fleet and carriages, they also the site of storage for over 60 locomotives and even more carriages and wagons in varying states of disrepair. Some describe the yard at Marley Hill as depressing and sad seeing all these beautiful machines rusting and rotting away, but I see it as potential, and it's much better these engines be saved from the scrap man than not. In the next few years we may see a significant change in the fate of these locomotives because at East Tanfield a project for constructing a large museum building to house some of this stock is underway.

 

The Tanfield Railway is special in many ways, most importantly it has, as far as I can see, one of the best junior groups in the country. Children can get involved with the railway from the age of 11 or 12 in a safe, kind environment. The railway is so welcoming and is very much worth paying a visit to this little bit of paradise nestled within the splendid hill's.

 

There are so many good things to say about this little railway that there is in the space in this review, yes I know the food can be a bit limited and the toilets mediaeval but all in all it's a great place to visit and you should go and experience what it really was like hundred years ago today.

The Tanfield Railway receives one of our silver medals for a beautiful re-creation of what was.

 

GHGF 2009