1/15 #NTiHoR Hi, I’m Rob and welcome to my paper 'Wooden rails to steel wheels – the development of the Tanfield branch in the 19th & 20th centuries as a microcosm of mineral haulage in the North East of England' looking at the @TanfieldRailway in County Durham/Gateshead

2/15 #NTiHoR At the start of the 19th Century the Tanfield was little changed from its initial 1720’s guise of a waggonway moving coal in horse-drawn chaldrons (wagons carrying 53cwt of coal) on wooden rails north to the River Tyne for onward shipment downriver then by sea

3/15 #NTiHoR the Tanfield Waggonway was famous in the 18th Century for its engineering including the Causey or Tanfield Arch and nearby embankment, although by c1800 the Arch was out of use and the waggonway ran on the east side of Causey burn to serve pits in the Tanfield area

4/15 #NTiHoR The Brandling Railway took over the Tanfield in 1837 and progressively modernised the line, introducing iron rails (short lengths on stone sleeper blocks) and use of stationary steam engines to move chaldrons on inclined planes, as well as self-acting inclined planes

5/15 #NTiHoR There were three self-acting gravity worked inclined planes (Lobley Hill, Bakers Bank and Tanfield Moor/White-le-Head), where heavy coal wagons going downhill pulled the lighter empties up, joined by a long wire rope via a brake and binding wheel at the incline head

6/15 #NTiHoR The Brandling introduced a passenger service for a brief time. Throughout the history of the branch there were many problems with locals illegally riding wagons as a handy north/south transport link. This was very dangerous and there were numerous injuries and deaths

7/15 #NTiHoR The North Eastern Railway (NER) took over the line in 1854, and five years later opened Tyne Dock providing a large shipping facility for coal from the Tanfield and elsewhere. Shipping facilities for coal just as vital as railways and an important part of the story

8/15 #NTiHoR In the 1880’s the stationary steam engines were removed (one converted to a locomotive shed) and steam locos introduced to work the two levels between the self-acting inclined planes. Local topography meant gravity inclines could not be replaced or deviated around

9/15 #NTiHoR In 1902 Wilson Worsdell of the NER introduced the U Class locomotive. A tank locomotive version of the P1 tender loco and designed for mineral traffic, they proved perfect for the Tanfield branch and were used from then until near its closure. Later known as N10's

10/15 #NTiHoR Following the NER's study of American high capacity railway practice, in 1903 the huge P7 hopper with a 20-ton carrying capacity was introduced, almost twice that of the previous hoppers used. These were commonly seen on the Tanfield branch and other mineral lines

11/15 #NTiHoR The use of a 'hanging dog' attachment for the incline rope and the greater weight of loaded P7 hoppers meant the design had to be modified with strengthened ‘hanging buffers’ (end stanchions) to stop them ripping off – by end of 1922, 12,606 had the strengthening

12/15 #NTiHoR The NER became amalgamated into London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923. To save costs, ‘hanging buffers’ on wagons were being removed, which meant a new way of attaching the incline rope was needed. Problem was the old way was necessary owing to tight corners

13/15 #NTiHoR After a nationwide appeal of ‘£100 for an idea’ there was no suitable alternative and the LNER had to undertake the costly rebuilding of the inclines, buying more land, moving bridge abutments etc to ease corners so rope could be directly attached to the drawhook

14/15 #NTiHoR Decline - Tanfield Moor pit and incline serving it closed 1947-48, the line contracted further in 1962 and last incline closed 1964 with end of coal traffic. From 1970’s, @TanfieldRailway preserved most of the locomotive worked section between two of the inclines

15/15 #NTiHoR Thanks for reading – my research is ongoing, and of course I highly recommend a visit to @TanfieldRailway as it nears its Tercentenary in 2025. Ideally, I’d like my research to go towards a PhD so if anyone out there would like to fund it, I’d be very interested!