Deerness Valley Railway

  Deerness Valley Railway
Overview
LocaleCounty Durham
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length8 miles (13 km)
East Coast Main Line to Chester-le-Street
 Durham
Lanchester Valley Railway to Consett
Durham to Bishop Auckland Line to Bishop Auckland
East Coast Main Line to Darlington
 Ushaw Moor
New Brancepeth Colliery
Ushaw Moor Colliery
Hamsteels, Esh, and Cornsay collieries
 Waterhouses
Waterhouses Colliery
East Hedley Hope Colliery
Stanley Inclines
Stanley Drift Mines
Wooley Colliery
Bank Foot Coke Works/Chemical Plant
Stanhope and Tyne Railway to Consett
Crook
West Durham Railway to Byers Green
Weardale Extension Railway to Bishop Auckland

The Deerness Valley Railway was an eight-mile-long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Deerness in County Durham, England. Built by the North Eastern Railway, it ran from Deerness Valley Junction, on the Durham to Bishop Auckland line, to the coal mines along the valley via two intermediate stations, Waterhouses, and Ushaw Moor.[1]

History

The line was primarily built to serve the collieries at Ushaw Moor, Waterhouses, Hamsteels, Esh, Cornsay, New Brancepeth and East Hedley Hope, and was opened to passengers only as an afterthought.

Opening

Authorised in 1855, the line opened to goods on New Year's Day 1858, but it was not until 1 November 1877 that the first passenger station, Waterhouses near Esh Winning, was opened. A second station was opened on 1 September 1884 at Ushaw Moor.

Industries served

Beyond the East Hedley Hope junction, the line was known as Stockton and Darlington Railway Deerness Valley Branch, with the rope worked Stanley Inclines giving access to Stanley Drifts and Wooley Colliery. It then accessed Bank Foot Coke Works and Chemical Plant at Crook, where it junctioned with both the Weardale Extension Railway and the Stanhope and Tyne Railway. This section was built for Joseph Pease and Partners, the owners of Waterhouses Colliery who also owned the industrial complex at Bank Foot.[2]

Closure

The entire line closed to passengers on 29 October 1951, and to freight on 28 December 1964.

The site today

The trackbed became part of the Durham Railway Paths network[3] in 1975.

References
  1. "Disused Stations: Waterhouses Station (Durham)".
  2. "Waterhouses railway station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  3. "Long Distance Walkers Association".
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