About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It's a distraction for the weary traveller, but anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found on the SideTracked Series website at www.sidetrackedseries.info https://www.sidetrackedseries.info
This one is located just outside Alston Railway Station on the South Tynedale Railway.
In 1844, the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway turned their attention in 1845 to the South (and North) Tyne Valleys. Plans were prepared by their engineer, John Bourne and deposited on 29th November for a branch line to run for 17 miles from Haltwhistle to Nenthead.
Although the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway had obtained authorisation to build their Nenthead Branch, nothing was done for over two years. Then, on 29th November 1848, plans were deposited for various modifications to the route, including the construction of a short branch to Lord Carlisle’s Railway at Lambley and the abandonment of the route from Alston to Nenthead.
The southern section of 9 miles from Alston to Lambley Colliery was brought into use for goods and mineral traffic on 5th January 1852, and the whole branch was finally opened to all traffic on 17th November 1852, with the completion of the half mile link over Lambley viaduct, from Shafthill to Lambley station.
During the early years of the line being opened it was probably worked by former main line engines, but by the turn of the 20th century North Eastern branch line classes appeared, which included the E. Fletcher designed Bogie Tank Passenger 0-4-4Ts including № 319.
The initial service consisted of two trains per day in each direction which had increased to three per day in the 1870s and then to four per day by the turn of the century, with trains leaving Alston at 7:10am, 10:00am, 2:15pm and 6:30pm returning from Haltwhistle at 8:20am, 11:50am, 4:15pm and 7:33pm with a total journey time of 35 minutes.
Following the First World War the government embarked on a re-organisation of the railways and proposed that the main line railway companies would be merged into four large regional organisations, the so called “big four” as a way of generating investment without nationalisation. And so it was that in 1923, the North Eastern Railway became a part of the London & North Eastern Railway company (LNER)
Later, as was the case with many rural branch lines, traffic levels diminished, and eventually the line closed in May 1976.
Today, although the old Standard Gauge lines have been lifted, a narrow gauge railway shares the trackbed with a mixed use path running for 5 miles down to the current terminus at Slaggyford Halt