The Picton to Battersby Line was constructed 1857/1858 running via Stokesley
Passenger services ended in 1954 with freight continuing between Stokesley and Battersby until 1965.
Presumably it was 12 miles from this point to Picton Junction.
In the days of steam trains, water columns would have been a familiar sight at many stations. The arm would swing out and allow the water in the tender to be topped up.
This one dates from 1907 when the line was part of the North Eastern Railway (NER)
Its no longer operational and the tank is now full of mud.
The North Eastern Railways chief architect William Peachey designed the Albert Bridge in 1877.
Over the years it low clearance has peeled many a roof off double-decker buses.
Glaisdale Station was originally known as ‘Beggars Bridge‘ and opened in 1865
Station masters were allowed to operate a coal business, providing to the local area. Often making more money from this than their actual job.
Coal was dropped in from the railway line above, this example being restored in 1986.
Newton Cap Viaduct now carries the main A689 and is not visible from the road or its approaches. There are 11 arches of 60 feet in span, giving a length of 276 yards. Rising 105 feet above the river bed.
Construction started in 1854 with the first freight crossing in 1856.
The line closed in 1968 and became a footpath until the road was diverted onto the viaduct as recently as 1993-95. The Bondgate tunnel also lies buried at the Bishop Auckland end, blocked in 1977.
Thomas Richardson had acquired the Hartlepool Iron Works in 1847 and this bridge lintel is dated 1851. Although it doesnt appear to be structural as the surround bridge is much newer.
A friend at Network Rail informs me there is a 1940 steel deck built from old rails that carries no tracks.
The live line are carried by a modern steel slab deck installed in 1989.
Nunthorpe railway station was originally on the Stockton & Darlington Railway Middlesbrough to Guisborough line.
The line opened in 11 November 1853 as a freight line for the Hutton Ironstone mines near Guisborough.
The passenger station was not opened until February 1854, all properties on this line owned by the company carried a “B” number
The station at Beck Hole closed in 1914, but this sign still remains.
I strongly suspect its not been left standing alone for 100 years without getting the attention of a scrap man or railway collector. I would guess it was erected as part of the Moors Railway / Rail Trail.
Following on from yesterdays post, the remains of a second bridge on the same line.
The one crosses back over the Murk Esk again, near Murk Side
The original line between Grosmont and Beck Hole was opened in 1836 by the Whitby and Pickering Railway and was horse drawn. Steam came in 1845 when it was absorbed into the York and North Midland Railway.
The original line was closed in 1865 when a deviation was made to avoid the rope hauled incline at Beck Hole, although parts were later reused for summer services to Beck Hole and for goods.
Although the parapets are stone, the timbers in the river suggest the bridge itself was wooden.
