2025 will be a momentous year in the Tees Valley. There’ll be nine months of festivities to mark the bicentenary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR), the world’s first public railway to use steam locomotives. The inaugural journey took place on 27 September 1825, and a map of the route is shown below:
A sneak peek
On 14 September, to give a flavour of some of the places worth visiting as part of the bicentenary, I travelled the entire route of the maiden run. Most of my journey was by train, but there are gaps where parts of the line are now closed, so I walked these. I’ve written about my journey below. My description contains a lot of superlatives, but this is inevitable because the S&DR was a pioneer in many ways.
Shildon – Mason’s Arms
On the day that the S&DR opened, the railway ran for 25 miles (40 km) from Witton Colliery in the Wear Valley to Cottage Row in Stockton-on-Tees. But the passengers didn’t travel the first eight miles from the colliery. These were traversed by inclines, too steep for the locomotives of the day, worked by stationary engines and horses. Coal wagons were worked across the inclines to the Mason’s Arms level crossing in Shildon. Locomotion No. 1 was waiting there, and between 450 and 600 people climbed into wagons for the historical journey to Stockton.
Brusselton Incline
I actually started my visit just west of the starting point. A 15-minute walk takes you to the site of the Brusselton Incline, the last obstacle before the railway levelled out. It’s worth a visit because it contains the longest remaining stretch of the original railway, and also the world’s first rail-over-road bridge.
I retraced my footsteps to the Mason’s Arms, then continued for a further 200 metres where the S&DR extension to Bishop Auckland, built in 1842, connected with the existing route.
A new passenger station was later built at Shildon, and I would board my train here, but first a look around the world’s first railway town.
Shildon
Shildon soon became the engineering centre of the S&DR, with repair facilities for locomotives and wagons. The vast Shildon Wagon Works opened in 1833, employing 2,750 at its peak. Shildon’s place in railway history is celebrated at the National Railway Museum (NRM) where Locomotion No.1 can be seen.
My visit to the NRM was a fleeting one, but it’s worth setting a day aside if you can. Admission is free. The Flying Scotsman is on display, near to the rebuilt Gaunless Bridge, which is a work of art. The original location of this elegant bridge can be seen on the map above.
The Shock of the New
The inaugural train made two unscheduled stops before reaching its first intended stop at Darlington. Firstly, one of the wagons lost a wheel. George Stephenson had mounted the new railway on stone sleeper blocks, as he always had done, but the blocks couldn’t absorb the shock of faster trains, and wheel cracks became frequent. Before long, many of the blocks had been replaced by wooden sleepers. Many of the stone blocks were reused in local buildings, such as the Shildon Goods Depot.
Some ended up in the sea defences at Saltburn, where they remain to this day. The blocks can be identified by their distinctive drill-holes. The second unintended stop was due to the failure of Locomotion No.1, The new technology wasn’t reliable. The loco re-started after 35 minutes.
Heighington
I took a train from Shildon to Heighington.
The train didn’t stop there on 27 September, but Aycliffe Lane, as it was known at the time, is where Locomotion No.1 had been mounted on the railway tracks the previous day. The locomotive had been completed at George Stephenson’s Forth Banks Works in Newcastle 10 days earlier. It was dismantled, and the components were taken down the Great North Road to be re-assembled at Aycliffe Lane.
The loco made a trial run to Darlington, then made its way to Shildon, ready for its memorable debut the following day. A railway station was built at Heighington in 1827, and the buildings are still there, incorporated into the now-closed Locomotion No.1 pub.
North Road, Darlington
Back on the train to the next stop, North Road Darlington.
This was the only intermediate stop on the inaugural run in 1825, although the stop on that day took place just east of the present station.10,000 people were there to greet the train. Just as with Shildon, the area around the station became a vast railway engineering enterprise. Darlington’s speciality was locomotive building. But, as with Shildon, it’s all gone now and Darlington’s rail memories are preserved at the recently opened Hopetown Museum next door to North Road station.
Just like the NRM at Shildon, a whole day’s visit is recommended. Admission is free, but here you need to book an online ticket in advance. A visit to the Viewing Gallery is a must. They are building a LNER P2 steam locomotive, Prince of Wales, from scratch here.
Footpath Diversion
I walked the closed section of the S&DR line from North Road station to the former Fighting Cocks station, where the two lines intersected again. The walk took around 100 minutes. The first stop on my walk took me to Skerne Bridge, the oldest working railway bridge in the world.
Flat Crossing
My next call was the former crossing of the East Coast Main Line (ECML) and the S&DR. In 1844, the fledgling (ECML) cut across the S&DR from north to south. The lines crossed at right angles on a flat crossing. This remained in place until this section of the S&DR closed in 1967, although passenger trains from Bishop Auckland and Saltburn had been diverted from the S&DR to run via Bank Top station back in 1887. The site of the flat crossing is reached via Cleveland Street, crossing beneath the ECML, then turning right on to Allan Street and Engine House Lane, where a sign commemorates the former crossing. The sign can be seen on the left hand side of the train as you head north from Darlington. The former railway engine house, from which the lane takes its name, can be seen on the right.
Footpath and cycleway
Just along from Engine House Lane, I picked up National Cycle Route No. 14. This is a classic old railway walk, with willow trees providing a canopy.
Beside the path, another railway artefact: More stone sleeper blocks. They’ve survived in several places along the S&DR route for almost 200 years, and will probably last another 200.
I eventually reached the site of Fighting Cocks station, named after a local inn, then made my way to Dinsdale railway station to complete my journey east.
Allens West and Eaglescliffe
I was back on the route of the S&DR. Allens West is the first station after Dinsdale. Just near the station, the inaugural train on 27 September 1825 reached a junction with the short branch to Yarm. Four coal wagons were detached here and taken down to Yarm in a horse-drawn train, then the train headed around a northward curve to Eaglescliffe, crossing the Stockton to Yarm turnpike. A passenger fell off one of the coal trucks and had his foot crushed. It was an eventful day.
Bowesfield Junction to St John’s Crossing
At Bowesfield Junction the S&DR curved north To St John’s Crossing, the final stop on 27 September 1825. But this section closed in 1968, eventually being replaced by the A135 road, and there is no pedestrian access. I continued my train journey to Thornaby station, then crossed Victoria Bridge to the site of St John’s Crossing station. George Stephenson hadn’t intended this to be the terminus of the first journey, but Wharf Exchange Siding, another 200 metres further along on the bank of the river Tees, wouldn’t be completed for another few weeks. However, the company was losing money, the shareholders and bankers were growing impatient, and the new railway couldn’t wait.
More superlatives
St John’s Crossing station has some claims to fame. The first section of track was laid here in 1822, and the world’s first rail passenger booking was made here. Wall plaques record both events, although the first booking may have taken place in the railway hotel next door.
Wharf Exchange Siding
The railway backers needn’t have worried. The siding soon opened, the coal started moving from the Durham coalfields to London, and the cash started flowing. Nothing remains of the siding now, but a distinctive building on Finkle Street, currently occupied by the Laporto restaurant, can be seen in many archive photos of it. A commemorative silhouette sculpture has been built into the railings of the riverside walk.
Extension to Middlesbrough
But Stockton’s heyday as a coal port was to be short-lived. Within 5 years, the S&DR was to be extended to Port Darlington, later to become Middlesbrough, and the coal traffic moved there. The Stockton section effectively became a long siding. St John’s Crossing station only lasted until 1848, replaced by South Stockton station, later renamed Thornaby, on the other side of the river. The goods station next door fared better, serving a myriad of iron and steel works in the Bowesfield and Parkfield area until closure in 1968.
Stockton Town Hall
The first day of the S&DR had been a roaring success. 102 of the biggest wigs retired to Stockton Town Hall for a celebratory dinner. Luckily the Parmo hadn’t been invented in 1825, so they ate well.
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