Newcastle Central 26 Aug 2022

Newcastle Central Station Platform 6
Direct Rail Services Class 66

Wylam - DRS Nuclear Train Aug 23 2022

 Travelling along the Tyne Valley on the afternoon of 6th August 2022 was a 'Nuclear' Train from originating from Seaton o-t- Energy en route to Sellafield BNF, passing through Wylam.  It consisted of a double header class 88 hauling a nuclear flask.

Wylam  Aug 23 2022
DRS double headed Nuclear Train 

Newcastle - Vermont Hotel - Aug 2022

Newcastle Casltle Keep
LNER Azuma awaiting at a Signal

LNER Azuma awaiting at a Signal

 

Wylam - 21/22 August

Wylam 21 Aug - Northern Rail Class 156
Express to Hexham

Wylam 22 Aug - Northern Rail Class 156
En route to Carlisle

Wylam 22 Aug - Northern Rail Class 156
En route to Newcastle

Aln Valley Railway - Richboro

Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro

 Locomotive Richboro was built in 1917 by Hudswell, Clarke and Company in Leeds and allocated works number 1243. It was delivered to the docks at the Military Port of Richborough, a vital part of the logistics chain during World War One. 

Richborough Military Port

Military activities continued after the war, but as they came to end, the locomotive was sold. It was purchased by W Craig and Sons, operating at their Ifton Colliery in Shropshire. 

Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T locomotive 1243
Ifton Colliery in Shropshire

In January 1947 the locomotive passed to the National Coal Board when the mines were nationalised. 

It worked at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham, North Wales, till 1969 when it was placed in storage. It was preserved, and moved to the Aln Valley railway in 2012.

Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T Richboro

Aln Valley Railway - Locomotive 60

 Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST no. 60 built in 1948. Works number 3686. Built for the National Coal Board with cab and bunker cut down to a smaller loading gauge for working the Lambton Drops, a coal staithe in Sunderland.

Aln Valley Railway Journey

 Aln Valley Railway journey from Lionheart to Greenrigg Halt.

Lionheart Station Locomotive 60

Lionheart Station

Departing Lionheart Station

Departing Lionheart Station

En route Lionheart to Greenrigg Halt

Greenrigg Halt

Greenrigg Halt Locomotive 60

Greenrigg Halt Locomotive 60 run around

Greenrigg Halt Locomotive 60 run around

Lionheart Station

Lionheart Station locomotive 60

Lionheart Station locomotive 60

Aln Valley Railway

 The Aln Valley Railway is a preserved railway which runs along the route of the former Alnwick to Allmouth Branch line.

Aln Valley Railway - Aln Valley Railway

The East Coast main line between London and Edinburgh was constructed in the 1840's. Sections were completed in sections by various companies. The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. 

The section between Morpeth and Chathill was opened on 1st July 1847, the route bypassing Alnwick. The original   plan was to route through Alnwick, however the Duke of Northumberland objected. As the railways gained greater prominence, the Duke decided that would be appropriate that Alnwick had a station. A branch line was constructed between between Alnwck and Alnmouth opening 5th August 1850.

Alnwick Station 1887

The Branch flourished and by 1911 there were 45 passenger trains a day over the Alnwick to Alnmouth. The Branch was also busy with freight traffic. 

Alnwick Station

As the century progressed and road traffic increased, passenger and freight traffic declined.  The Branch closed to Passenger services 29th January 1968, and goods services 7th October 1968. 

Plans for a preserved railway to run over the branch were launched in 1997. The project would have required bridging the the A1 dual carriageway to the east of Alnwick, but insufficient funding was obtained to do so. It was therefore decided to build a new station on a greenfield site in Lloyd’s Field, adjacent to the Lionheart Enterprise Park just outside Alnwick.

Lionheart Station

The plan is to extend the line to Alnmouth. Currently the line terminates at short of Alnmouth at a station built by the Aln Valley Railway, Greenrig.