The North Eastern Railway from Stockton and Darlington to the ECML

Presenter: Ray Schofield

Hybrid Meeting both Physically at Shenfield Parish Hall and via Zoom

Boarding an Azuma at Kings Cross for a journey to Edinburgh evokes memories of its predecessors, the Class 91s, the HSTs, the Deltics, the A4s and the Flying Scotsman. All of which, apart from the 1980’s Selby diversion, have followed the same route between the two capitals. However, this has not always been the case as Ray Schofield explained in a comprehensive look at the railways that formed the NER. Passengers traversing the East Coast Main Line in the early days would have experienced different railway companies, a couple of reversals, some road connections and even a ferry.

The NER was made-up of several earlier and smaller individual railways. The Tanfield Railway, originally a wagonway dating from as early as 1725, the iconic Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Clarence Railway, Stanhope & Tyne Railway, Newcastle & Carlisle Railway, the Leeds & Selby and more, made the ultimate NER. The contribution of the latterly-discredited George Hudson, The Railway King, was his foresight and ambition that led to the establishment of the ECML route - which served Euston not Kings Cross, which was yet to be built. The many changes from that first route to the current East Coast main line via Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle connecting with the North British Railway at Berwick-on-Tweed were described and illustrated. Each change led to improvements in speed and convenience as the foibles of the early route were ironed out over the latter part of the 19th Century and early part of the 20th.

The NER also set the standard for early electrification. From the North and South Tyneside 600v dc third rail system to the 1500v dc overhead electrifications promoted by the LNER, a standard adopted by BR on both the Trans-Pennine Woodhead route and the suburban services from Liverpool Street to Shenfield which commenced in 1949. Interestingly, as part of the Shenfield Metro scheme, the ex NER EB1 Steeple Cab No 26510 was transferred to Ilford depot in 1949 as a shunter.

Overall a very interesting talk on the history of the railways in an area that is somewhat ‘off-route’ for many South Essex branch members.