Weardale Reconnections

I've been taking a break from routebuilding over the past few weeks due to work committments (and to recharge a bit - all that landscaping gets a bit tiring after a while!).

However, on 19th February I was fortunate enough to be booked onto the first mainline tour (from Kings Cross, no less) to travel up the Weardale branch since at least 1993 - the "Locomotion and the Weardale Railway" tour organised by UK Railtours. The tour was completely sold out, so I obviously wasn't the only one who felt this way. :)

Our train (mostly Mk1s where the heating worked, thankfully) was "topped and tailed" by DBS class 67s, led by 67029 "Royal Diamond" in EWS Executive livery:



Of course this was also a chance to revisit my hometown (even if very briefly - we didn't stop there) and visit the NRM at Shildon:





It was quite an experience to travel through Shildon Tunnel again. Quite breathtaking, in fact!



Once we reached Bishop Auckland we had quite some welcome, for at virtually every crossing on the route local people had turned out to wave to our 12 coach train. It was quite fantastic to see how glad people were to see the railway running again.



Although a rather long day, it was all worthwhile to be on the first tour to travel up to Weardale and to sample (albeit rather briefly) the hospitality of the Weardale Railway. I wish them well, and hope their plans for the long term development of the line bear fruit.

When I Moo, I only Moo for You

I'm busily landscaping again, this time on the Tunnel Branch between Shildon North and Fieldon's Bridge Junction.

You can find this charming little scene about halfway between the two junctions:













More from this area of the route soon.

Peak-a-boo!

Shildon Tunnel (or Prince of Wales Tunnel to give it its full name) was built by the Stockton & Darlington Railway to link Shildon with Bishop Auckland without all those pesky inclines. I've now finally got around to landscaping the area around it on my Bishop Auckland route:



The tunnel portal I've used here is a temporary one until I can get a protoypical asset sorted. The real thing actually looks like this:



Or, for a more up to date photo (the one above was taken around 1900 - it's the only one I've found which shows that it was originally double tracked), see http://blackhatrailwaypics.fotopic.net/p41265249.html

I've just about finished laying scenery around Auckland Park Colliery now, so once I've done a bit more work on Coundon Grange and South Church I'll be able to post another full set of screenshots. :)

Work in Progress: Tunnel Branch Junction

As well as the familiar (and surviving!) line from Shildon to Bishop Auckland, there was also a line (the "Tunnel Branch") from the northern portal of Shildon Tunnel to West Auckland at Fieldon Bridge. The Tunnel branch closed with Randolph Colliery near Evenwood on 31st August 1968 (itself 6 years after the Stainmore line itself closed), so in reality I never got to see it and only learnt of it later.

What's particularly interesting to me is that the Tunnel Branch was opened by the S&D to replace the Brusselton Inclines, so it has a real place in history in its own right. It's a real pity it's not better documented - I've not found a single contemporary photo of the branch.

As this is a "work in progress" post, the following screenshots are somewhat incomplete. In particular, you'll see areas of untextured landscape, a lack of trees etc. as I'm trying to give a flavour of this part of the route here (an area which I've not shown before) rather than show the finished article.



The view from Tunnel Branch (or Shildon North) Junction looking north towards Auckland Park and Coundon. The lines on the left form the Tunnel Branch to West Auckland, Butterknowle and Barnard Castle, whilst those on the right lead to Bishop Auckland itself.

Sadly, all that remains here today is a single line to Bishop Auckland, as an be seen in the photo at http://blackhatrailwaypics.fotopic.net/p41265262.html.



The junction where the private sidings at Auckland Park Colliery met the Shildon-Bishop Auckland branch. Although Auckland Park Colliery closed in 1946, the site remained active as a pumping station until 1961.



Looking back up towards Tunnel Branch junction from the Tunnel Branch. The line to Bishop Auckland can be seen coming in from the left.



...and back the other way.




Finally, these two shots show where the Tunnel Branch meets the West Auckland - Bishop Auckland line at Fieldon's Bridge Junction. Full landscaping here is still a little way off, but West Auckland MPD can just be seen in the background behind the large gas tank.

Alone in the Dark? (part 3)

Even more midnight meanderings (but this time with a few trains in them!).



A Gresley A3 shunts coal hoppers at Rough Lea.





A Carlisle-Eastgate cement train passes a Bishop Auckland - Durham service at Hunwick.



Newton Cap viaduct.



A Peak passes Auckland Park on the Bishop Auckland - Shildon line.





Finally a pair of West Auckland shed's class 24s stabled at Coundon on the Bishop Auckland - Spennymoor line.

Alone in the Dark? (part 2)

More midnight meanderings...



Hunwick station approach, viewed from the Hunwick-Newfield branch.



One of several farms in the Hunwick area. This one is right on the edge of the landscaped area - you just can't see the bare baseboards behind it because of the terrain!



Coundongate station approach. The station is just down the hill to the left of the wall.





The pathway which leads from the Bishops Park to Coundon Station footbridge.

Alone in the Dark? (part 1)

I thought I'd take a break from working on landscaping Westerton Village (near Binchester Colliery, on the Spennymoor line) to do some new screenshots. :)

Just for a change this set are at night and mostly feature landscapes rather than the railways themselves. Basically I just went wandering around with the clock set to "midnight"....



The disused former NER station at Todhills, seen from the south west.



The NER Todhills branch originally linked with Newfield Colliery down a rather vicious (1:17) incline. By the 1960s this was a footpath, seen here looking back up the incline towards Todhills.



Newfield village church.



A view from the Hunwick-Newfield branch looking across the fields towards towards Farnley and the River Weir.



Rough Lea Junction. The signalman is awake, obviously!