Brusselton Incline

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The Brusselton Incline opened in 1825 and consisted of a stationary engine to haul coal wagons 1.5 miles over a hill which was too steep for the early steam engines of the day.

Brusselton Incline
Stone sleepers on the incline

By 1842 the Shildon Tunnel went under the hill making the incline obsolete, it ceased operation in the 1880s.

Brusselton Incline Engine House
Engine House

The Enginemans House carries a “H1” Stockton and Darlington Railway ownership plaque

Brusselton Incline Enginemans House
Enginemans House

The Brusselton Incline Group was formed in 2014 to carry our restoration and maintenance of the site.

Commondale Brickworks Railway Bridge with Masons Marks

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A short branch ran north from Commondale railway station to connect the brickworks to the main railway line.

Commondale Bridge

The brickworks was opened in 1861 by Stokesley printer John Pratt, before passing into the hands of the Crossley family in 1873, who operated it until 1947.

Commondale Bridge

The bridge abutments still stand although the deck of the bridge is gone. The stonework is covered in a number of different masons marks

Commondale Bridge

Cleveland Railway Bridge, Flatts Lane

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The Cleveland Railway opened in 1861 as a freight line for the local ironstone mines, but the route quickly became duplicated and redundant and closed in 1873, after only 12 years of use.

Capture

This sandstone wall marks where the line crossed over Flatts Lane as it turned North towards Middlesbrough.

Cleveland Railway

An excellent account of the Cleveland Railway can be found in Andrew Pearson’s comment on this previous post

End of Paddy Waddells Railway – Glaisdale

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The scheme to build Paddy Waddells Railway (or Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway to give its full name) was started in 1872 and intended to connect Kilton Thorpe to the ironworks at Glaisdale. The scheme struggled financially from the outset as the Eskdale mines and furnaces in the South all struggled, whilst iron mining and production became concentrated to the North in Cleveland. After year of inactivity the scheme was finally scrapped in the 1889. Glaisdale Ironworks having already closed by this point anyway.
Many parts of the infrastructure of the line were constructed, even though no trains ever ran.
End of Paddy Waddells
This bridge was constructed at Rake House in Glaisdale to carry the road over the railway.
End of Paddy Waddells

Aysdalegate Junction

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The posting was originally one I made for my “Our Industrial Heartland” project

One of the critical factors in the success of the industry in our project area was the construction of the Cleveland Railway, this was opened in November 1861 between the Skelton Old Shaft mines and Normanby Jetty, extending toward Boosbeck in 1862.  Branches were also constructed to Slapewath, Stanghow and Aysdalegate mines.
With the construction of the railways came numerous interesting bridges, tunnels and culverts.

This culvert (in orange) carries a stream under the branch line which went to Slapewath Mine
Culvert under branch to Slapewath
This small tunnel (yellow) went under the same branch line, but was dry for livestock and people to cross under the railway.
Underpass on branch to Slapewath
This much more sizeable tunnel (red) passed under the main line.
Underpass below main line at Slapewath branch
Considering they date from the 1860’s, they are all in excellent condition.