One of the most popular exhibitions mounted by the North Eastern Railway Association at Darlington’s Head of Steam Museum was ‘A Ticket to Teesdale’ during 2014, created by members of the NERA archives team.
This book was inspired by that exhibition and describes the railway between Darlington and Middleton-in-Teesdale. That railway comprised the lines of three separate concerns:
- The Darlington & Barnard Castle Railway
- The South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway
- The Tees Valley Railway.
This book describes the origin, promotion of, and opposition to the railways, and the support given by the neighbouring Stockton and Darlington Railway. The development of the line, including the potential of an extension to Alston, the part they played in two world wars, and later years, is fully detailed.
The layout and history of each of the stations is given and illustrated, along with staffing signalling and the operation of passenger and freight trains over the branch from their opening to closure. Although the railway served the local communities along its length for not much more than 100 years, the popularity of the NERA’s exhibition shows just how much it had meant to those who lived locally, and to those living further afield who appreciated its bucolic charms.
Well-illustrated throughout with archive black & white photographs, maps and track diagrams. 136 pages.