View source for Stockton and Darlington Railway

{{short description|English railway company, 1825 to 1863}}
{{Redirect|S&DR|the railway between Bath and Bournemouth|Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}
{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name     = Stockton and Darlington Railway
|logo_filename     = 
|logo_size         =
|system_map        = Tracts vol 57 p252 1821 Plan of intended Stockton and Darlington Railway.jpg
|map_caption       = Map of the original planned route of the railway, taken from the prospectus of 1821
|map_size          =
|marks             =
|image             = StocktonDarlingtonOpening.jpg
|image_caption     = In the ''Opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway'', a watercolour painted in the 1880s by [[John Dobbin]], crowds watch the inaugural train cross the [[Skerne Bridge]] in Darlington.
|locale            = [[County Palatine of Durham|County Durham]]
|start_year        = 1825
|end_year          = 1863
|predecessor_line  =
|successor_line    = [[North Eastern Railway (UK)|North Eastern Railway]]
|gauge             =
|length            = 
|hq_city           = 
|website           =
}}

The '''Stockton and Darlington Railway ''' ('''S&DR''') was a railway company that operated in north-east England from 1825 to 1863.  The world's first public railway to use [[steam locomotive]]s,{{sfn |Kirby|2002 |loc= back page}} its first line connected [[coal mining|collieries]] near {{rws|Shildon}} with {{rws|Darlington|S&D}} and {{rws|Stockton|S&D}} in County Durham, and was officially opened on 27 September 1825. The movement of coal to ships rapidly became a lucrative business, and the line was soon extended to a {{rws|Newport|S&D|new port}} at [[Middlesbrough]]. While coal waggons were hauled by steam locomotives from the start, passengers were carried in coaches drawn by horses until carriages hauled by steam locomotives were introduced in 1833.

The S&DR was involved in building the [[East Coast Main Line]] between {{rws|York}} and Darlington, but its main expansion was at Middlesbrough Docks and west into [[Weardale]] and east to [[Redcar]]. It suffered severe financial difficulties at the end of the 1840s and was nearly taken over by the [[York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway]], before the discovery of iron ore in [[Cleveland, Yorkshire|Cleveland]] and the subsequent increase in revenue meant it could pay its debts. At the beginning of the 1860s it took over railways that had crossed the [[Pennines]] to join the [[West Coast Main Line]] at {{rws|Tebay}} and Clifton, near {{rws|Penrith}}.

The company was taken over by the [[North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)|North Eastern Railway]] in 1863, transferring {{convert|200|rtmi|rtkm|abbr=off}} of line and about 160 locomotives, but continued to operate independently as the Darlington Section until 1876. The opening of the S&DR was seen as proof of steam railway effectiveness and its anniversary was celebrated in 1875, 1925 and 1975. Much of the original route is now served by the [[Tees Valley Line]], operated by [[Northern (train operating company)|Northern]].

==Genesis==

===Origins===
[[File:Stockton and Darlington seal (en).jpg|thumb|The seal of the Stockton & Darlington Railway]]
Coal from the inland mines in southern [[County Durham]] used to be taken away on [[packhorse]]s and later on horse-drawn carts as the roads were improved. A canal was proposed by [[George Dixon (Cockfield Canal)|George Dixon]] in 1767 and again by [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]] in 1815, but both schemes failed.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=40–41}}<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/railway/stockton/3165797.Efforts_that_kept_the_mines_afloat/ | title=Efforts that kept the mines afloat | publisher=Newsquest (North East) Ltd |newspaper=The Northern Echo | date=16 June 2008 | access-date=12 September 2013}}</ref> The harbour of [[Stockton-on-Tees]] invested considerably during the early 19th century in [[Tees Navigation Company|straightening the Tees]] in order to improve navigation on the river downstream of the town and was subsequently looking for ways to increase trade to recoup those costs.

A few years later, a canal was proposed on a route that bypassed Darlington and Yarm, and a meeting was held in Yarm to oppose the route.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=16}} The Welsh engineer George Overton was consulted, and he advised building a tramroad. Overton carried out a survey{{Sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=45–47}} and planned a route from the Etherley and Witton Collieries to [[Shildon]], and then passing to the north of [[Darlington]] to reach [[Stockton-on-Tees|Stockton]].  The Scottish engineer [[Robert Stevenson (civil engineer)|Robert Stevenson]] <!-- The source names the lighthouse engineer, not the later railway engineer --> was said to favour the railway, and the [[Quaker]] [[Edward Pease (railway pioneer)|Edward Pease]] supported it at a public meeting in Darlington on 13 November 1818, promising a five per cent return on investment.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=16–17}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=55, 63}} Approximately two-thirds of the shares were sold locally, and the rest were bought by Quakers nationally.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=33}}{{efn|In the 19th century members of the Society of Friends travelled to attend regular meetings and came to know Quakers elsewhere, this leading to marriages and business partnerships. The Society of Friends published guidance on conduct that included honesty in business matters, and this gave Quakers the confidence to invest in the dealings of a devout member.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|pp=52, 79–80, 128}}|group=note}}{{efn|"In the mean time, a bill is to be brought into Parliament to carry a rail-way from Bishop Auckland to Darlington and Stockton.  Mr. Stevenson ... has been called ... to give an opinion as to the best line.  The work is estimated at 120,000''l''., a great part of which is already subscribed."{{sfn|Thomson|1819}}|group=note}}  A [[Local and Personal Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom|private bill]] was presented to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] in March 1819, but as the route passed through [[John Scott, 2nd Earl of Eldon|Earl of Eldon]]'s estate and one of the [[William Vane, 1st Duke of Cleveland|Earl of Darlington]]'s fox coverts, it was opposed and defeated by 13 votes.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=17}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Stockton and Darlington Railway Act 1821
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making and maintaining a Railway or Tramroad from the River Tees at Stockton, to Witton Park Colliery, with several Branches therefrom, all in the County of Durham.
| year                  = 1821
| citation              = [[1 & 2 Geo. 4]]. c. xliv
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 19 April 1821
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = {{ubli| [[Stockton and Darlington Railway Act 1849]]}}
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Overton surveyed a new line that avoided Darlington's estate and agreement was reached with Eldon, but another application was deferred early in 1820, as the death of [[King George III]] had made it unlikely a bill would pass that parliamentary year. The promoters lodged a bill on 30 September 1820, the route having changed again as agreement had not been reached with [[Viscount Barrington]] about the line passing over his land.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=64–67}} The railway was unopposed this time, but the bill nearly failed to enter the committee stage as the required four-fifths of shares had not been sold. Pease subscribed £7,000; from that time he had considerable influence over the railway and it became known as "the Quaker line". The '''{{visible anchor|Stockton and Darlington Railway Act 1821}}''' ([[1 & 2 Geo. 4]]. c. xliv), which received [[royal assent]] on 19 April 1821, allowed for a railway that could be used by anyone with suitably built vehicles on payment of a toll, that was closed at night, and with which land owners within {{convert|5|mi|0}} could build branches and make junctions;{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=70}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=37}} no mention was made of steam locomotives.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=19}} This new railway initiated the construction of more railway lines, causing significant developments in railway mapping and cartography, iron and steel manufacturing, as well as in any industries requiring more efficient transportation.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Challis | first1 = David Milbank | last2 = Rush | first2 = Andy | year = 2009 | title = The Railways Of Britain: An Unstudied Map Corpus | journal = Imago Mundi | volume = 61 | issue = 2| pages = 186–214 | doi=10.1080/03085690902923614| s2cid = 128691305 }}</ref>

===George Stephenson===
[[File:First Iron railway bridge (en).jpg|thumb|left|[[Gaunless Bridge|Stephenson's iron bridge]] across the Gaunless]]
Concerned about Overton's competence, Pease asked [[George Stephenson]], an experienced enginewright of the collieries of Killingworth, to meet him in Darlington.{{efn|{{harvtxt|Smiles|1904|p=150}} indicates that Stephenson visited Pease uninvited, but [[Nicholas Wood]], who had accompanied Stephenson, stated shortly after Stephenson's death that the meeting was by appointment.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=65}}|group=note}} On 12 May 1821 the shareholders appointed Thomas Meynell as chairman and [[Jonathan Backhouse (1779–1842)|Jonathan Backhouse]] as treasurer; a majority of the managing committee, which included [[Thomas Richardson (Middlesbrough)|Thomas Richardson]], Edward Pease and his son [[Joseph Pease (railway pioneer)|Joseph Pease]], were Quakers. The committee designed a seal, showing waggons being pulled by a horse, and adopted the Latin motto ''{{lang|la|Periculum privatum utilitas publica}}'' ("At private risk for public service").{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=73}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=184}} By 23 July 1821 it had decided that the line would be a railway with edge rails, rather than a [[plateway]], and appointed Stephenson to make a fresh survey of the line.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=74}} Stephenson recommended using malleable iron rails, even though he owned a share of the patent for the alternative cast iron rails, and both types were used.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=74}}{{efn|Malleable iron rails cost £12 10s{{efn|name="old money"|Before decimal currency was introduced there were 12 [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|old pence]] (d) in a [[Shilling (British coin)|shilling]] (s) and 20s in a pound (£). One penny in 1825 was worth the same in {{Inflation-year|UK}} as approximately {{#expr:{{Inflation|UK|0.0041666|1825|r=2}}*100}}p, and 1s about £{{#expr:{{Inflation|UK|0.05|1825|r=2}}}}.{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}|group=note}} and cast iron rails £6 15s per ton, but malleable iron rails could be less than half the weight for the same strength.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=74}}|group=note}} Stephenson was assisted by his 18-year-old son [[Robert Stephenson|Robert]] during the survey,{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=76}} and by the end of 1821 had reported that a usable line could be built within the bounds of the act of Parliament, but another route would be shorter by {{convert|3|mi|0}} and avoid deep cuttings and tunnels.{{Sfn|Allen|1974|p=20}} Overton had kept himself available, but had no further involvement and the shareholders elected Stephenson Engineer on 22 January 1822, with a salary of £660 per year.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=79–80}} On 23 May 1822 a ceremony in Stockton celebrated the laying of the first track at St John's Well, the rails {{Track gauge|4ft8in|lk=on}} apart,{{efn|group=note|{{harvtxt|Smiles|1904|p=160}} states that early tramroads had rails {{Track gauge|4ft8in}} apart, but {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=82–83}} challenges this, stating that the most common gauge of the early tramroads and [[waggonway]]s was about {{Track gauge|4ft}}, and some, such as the [[Wylam waggonway]], had the rails {{Track gauge|5ft}} apart. The gauge of the S&DR was given in early documents as {{Track gauge|4ft8in}}, but the distance between the rails was later measured as {{Track gauge|4ft8.5in}}, and this became the [[standard gauge]] used by 60 per cent of railways worldwide. The difference of {{convert|1/2|in|mm}} is a mystery.<ref>{{cite book|last=Davis|first=Hunter|title=George Stephenson: A Biographical Study of the Father of Railways|year=1975|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson|isbn=0-297-76934-0|page=75}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive/robert-stephenson/|title=Robert Stephenson (1803–1859)|publisher=Network Rail|access-date=25 March 2014|archive-date=26 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226231103/http://www.networkrail.co.uk/VirtualArchive/robert-stephenson/|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} the same [[track gauge|gauge]] used by Stephenson on his [[Killingworth Railway]].{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=20}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Stockton and Darlington Railway Act 1823
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to enable the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company to vary and alter the Line of their Railway, and also the Line or Lines of some of the Branches therefrom, and to make, an additional Branch therefrom, and for altering and enlarging the Powers of the Act passed for making and maintaining the said Railway.
| year                  = 1823
| citation              = [[4 Geo. 4]]. c. xxxiii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 23 May 1823
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Stockton and Darlington Railway (Consolidation of Acts, Increase of Capital and Purchase of Middlesbrough Dock) Act 1849
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Geo4/4/33/pdfs/ukla_18230033_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
Stephenson advocated the use of steam locomotives on the line.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=19}} Pease visited Killingworth in mid-1822{{sfn|Smiles|1904|p=154}} and the directors visited [[Hetton colliery railway]], on which Stephenson had introduced steam locomotives.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=83}} A new bill was presented, requesting Stephenson's deviations from the original route and the use of "loco-motives or moveable engines", and this received royal assent on 23 May 1823 as the '''{{visible anchor|Stockton and Darlington Railway Act 1823}}''' ([[4 Geo. 4]]. c. xxxiii).{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=85–86}} The line included embankments up to {{convert|48|ft}} high, and Stephenson designed [[Gaunless Bridge|an iron truss bridge]] to cross the [[River Gaunless]]. The [[Skerne Bridge]] over the [[River Skerne]] was designed by the Durham architect [[Ignatius Bonomi]].{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=75}}{{efn|The Skerne bridge was shown on the reverse of the Series E [[Banknotes of the pound sterling|five-pound note]] that featured George Stephenson, issued by the [[Bank of England]] between 1990 and 2003.<ref>{{cite report | url=http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/withdrawnrefguide.pdf | title=Withdrawn Banknotes Reference Guide | page=27 | publisher=Bank of England | access-date=12 September 2015 | archive-date=29 March 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329073154/http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Documents/withdrawnrefguide.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref> {{harvtxt|Allen|1974|p=22}} and {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=93–95}} state that Bonomi was directly appointed by the directors after Stephenson had ignored suggestions to consult him, but {{harvtxt|Rolt|1984|p=75}} does not mention this.|group=note}}

In 1823, Stephenson and Pease opened [[Robert Stephenson and Company]], a [[locomotive]] works at Forth Street, Newcastle, from which the following year the S&DR ordered two steam locomotives and two stationary engines.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=95–96}} On 16 September 1825, with the stationary engines in place, the first locomotive, ''[[Locomotion No. 1]]'', left the works, and the following day it was advertised that the railway would open on 27 September 1825.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=105}}

===Opening===
[[File:The Opening of the S&DR (crop).jpg|thumb|The opening procession of the Stockton and Darlington Railway crosses the Skerne bridge]]
The cost of building the railway had greatly exceeded the estimates. By September 1825, the company had borrowed £60,000 in short-term loans and needed to start earning an income to ward off its creditors. A railway coach, named ''Experiment'',{{efn|{{harvtxt|Smiles|1904|p=166}} has an image of this railway coach and describes it as "a somewhat uncouth machine", even though the ''[[Illustrated London News]]'' had discounted in 1875 an earlier publication of Smiles' image, stating that coach used on the opening day was a similar to a road coach.<ref>{{cite news | title=Railway Jubilee at Darlington | work=Illustrated London News | date=2 October 1875 | pages=342 }}</ref> {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=109–110}} describes the coach as having a table, cushioned seats and carpets, and criticises the Smiles image for the lack of roof seats, having the wheels outside the coach frame and says that the drawing in Smiles does not look like a vehicle that was built for £80 (approximately £{{inflation|UK|80|1825|r=-2}} in {{Inflation-year|UK}}).{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}|group=note}} arrived on the evening of 26 September 1825 and was attached to ''Locomotion No. 1'', which had been placed on the rails for the first time at [[Heighington railway station|Aycliffe Lane station]] following the completion of its journey by road from Newcastle earlier that same day. Pease, Stephenson and other members of the committee then made an experimental journey to Darlington before taking the locomotive and coach to Shildon in preparation for the opening day, with James Stephenson, George's elder brother, at the controls.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=105–106}} On 27 September, between 7&nbsp;am and 8&nbsp;am, 12 waggons of coal{{efn|These waggons (known as wagons after about 1830)<ref>{{cite book|last=Jackson|first=Alan Arthur|title=The Railway Dictionary: An A-Z of Railway Terminology|page=322|year=1992|publisher=Alan Sutton|isbn=978-0-7509-0038-6}}</ref> were designed to carry a Newcastle chaldron (pronounced chalder in Newcastle) of coal, about {{convert|53|long cwt|abbr=on}}. This differed from the London chaldron, which was 36 [[bushel]]s or {{convert|25+1/2|long cwt|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book|last=Griffiths|first=Bill|title=A Dictionary of North East Dialect|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frq_6tAVRdYC&pg=PA30|year=2005|publisher=Northumbria University Press|isbn=978-1-904794-16-5|page=30}}</ref>{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=120}}|group=note}} were drawn up Etherley North Bank by a rope attached to the stationary engine at the top, and then let down the South Bank to [[St Helen Auckland|St Helen's Auckland]]. A waggon of flour bags was attached and [[Horsecar|horses hauled]] the train across the Gaunless Bridge to the bottom of [[Brusselton Incline|Brusselton West Bank]], where thousands watched the second stationary engine draw the train up the incline. The train was let down the East Bank to Mason's Arms Crossing at Shildon Lane End, where ''Locomotion No. 1'', ''Experiment'' and 21 new coal waggons fitted with seats were waiting.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=109–110}}

The directors had allowed room for 300 passengers, but the train left carrying between 450 and 600 people, most travelling in empty waggons but some on top of waggons full of coal. Brakesmen were placed between the waggons, and the train set off, led by a man on horseback with a flag. It picked up speed on the gentle downward slope and reached {{convert|10|to|12|mph}}, leaving behind men on [[field hunters]] (horses) who had tried to keep up with the procession. The train stopped when the waggon carrying the company surveyors and engineers lost a wheel; the waggon was left behind and the train continued. The train stopped again, this time for 35 minutes to repair the locomotive and the train set off again, reaching {{convert|15|mph|abbr=on}} before it was welcomed by an estimated 10,000 people as it came to a stop at the Darlington branch junction. Eight and a half miles ({{convert|8+1/2|mi|disp=output only|0}}) had been covered in two hours, and subtracting the 55 minutes accounted by the two stops, it had travelled at an average speed of {{convert|8|mph|abbr=on}}. Six waggons of coal were distributed to the poor, workers stopped for refreshments and many of the passengers from Brusselton alighted at Darlington, to be replaced by others.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=110–112}}{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=85}}

Two waggons for the Yarm Band were attached, and at 12:30&nbsp;pm the locomotive started for Stockton, now hauling 31 vehicles with 550 passengers. On the {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} of nearly level track east of Darlington the train struggled to reach more than {{convert|4|mph|abbr=on}}. At [[Eaglescliffe]] near Yarm crowds waited for the train to cross the Stockton to Yarm turnpike. Approaching Stockton, running alongside the turnpike as it skirted the western edge of [[Preston Park, Stockton-on-Tees|Preston Park]], it gained speed and reached {{convert|15|mph|abbr=on}} again, before a man clinging to the outside of a waggon fell off and his foot was crushed by the following vehicle. As work on the final section of track to Stockton's quayside was still ongoing, the train halted at the temporary passenger terminus at St John's Well 3 hours, 7 minutes after leaving Darlington. The opening ceremony was considered a success and that evening 102 people sat down to a celebratory dinner at the Town Hall.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=112–114}}

===Early operations===
The railway that opened in September 1825 was {{convert|25|mi}} long and ran from Phoenix Pit, Old Etherley Colliery, to Cottage Row, Stockton; there was also a {{convert|1/2|mi|m}} branch to the depot at Darlington, {{Convert|1/2|mi|m}} of the Hagger Leases branch, and a {{convert|3/4|mi|m}} branch to Yarm.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=106}} Most of the track used {{convert|28|lb/yd|1}} malleable iron rails, and {{convert|4|mi}} of {{convert|57+1/2|lb/yd|1|abbr=on}} cast iron rails were used for junctions.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=89–90}} The line was single track with four passing loops each mile;{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=27}} square sleepers supported each rail separately so that horses could walk between them.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|p=75}} Stone was used for the sleepers to the west of Darlington and oak to the east; Stephenson would have preferred all of them to have been stone, but the transport cost was too high as they were quarried in the Auckland area.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=91}} The railway opened with the company owing money and unable to raise further loans; Pease advanced money twice early in 1826 so the workers could be paid. By August 1827 the company had paid its debts and was able to raise more money; that month the Black Boy branch opened and construction began on the Croft and Hagger Leases branches. During 1827 shares rose from £120 at the start to £160 at the end.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=138–140}}

[[File:Stockton & Darlington Railway with today's lines.svg|right|thumb|500px|The route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1827, shown in black, with today's railway lines shown in red]]

The line was initially used to carry coal to Darlington and Stockton, carrying 10,000&nbsp;tons{{efn|An imperial or [[long ton]] is the same as {{Convert|1|long ton|sigfig=4|abbr=values|disp=output only}} [[metric tonnes]] and {{Convert|1|long ton|short ton|sigfig=4|abbr=values|disp=output number only}} [[short tons]], the US customary unit.|group=note}} in the first three months and earning nearly £2,000. In Stockton, the price of coal dropped from 18 to 12 [[Shilling (British coin)|shillings]], and by the beginning of 1827 was 8 shillings 6 [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|pence]] (8s 6d).{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=117, 119}}{{efn|name="old money"|group=note}} At first, the drivers had been paid a daily wage, but after February 1826 they were paid {{fract|1|4}}d per ton per mile; from this they had to pay assistants and fireman and to buy coal for the locomotive.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=132}} The 1821 act of Parliament had received opposition from the owners of collieries on the [[River Wear]] who supplied London and feared competition, and it had been necessary to restrict the rate for transporting coal destined for ships to {{fract|1|2}}d per ton per mile, which had been assumed would make the business uneconomic. There was interest from London for 100,000&nbsp;tons a year, so the company began investigations in September 1825. In January 1826, the first staith{{efn|group=note|A [[staith]] is an elevated platform used to transfer minerals such as coal from railway waggons onto ships.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/29765/pg29765.html|work=Webster's Unabridged Dictionary|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]|title=staith|access-date=8 March 2014}}</ref>}} opened at Stockton, designed so waggons over a ship's hold could discharge coal from the bottom.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=120–121}} About 18,500 tons of coal was transported to ships in the year ending June 1827, and this increased to over 52,000 tons the following year, 44.5% of the total carried.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=136}}

The locomotives were unreliable at first. Soon after opening, ''Locomotion No. 1'' broke a wheel, and it was not ready for traffic until 12 or 13 October; ''Hope'', the second locomotive, arrived in November 1825 but needed a week to ready it for the line&nbsp;– the cast-iron wheels were a source of trouble.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=118–119, 142}} Two more locomotives of a similar design arrived in 1826; that August, 16s 9d was spent on ale to motivate the men maintaining the engines.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=118–119, 142}} By the end of 1827, the company had also bought ''Chittaprat'' from Robert Wilson and ''Experiment'' from Stephenson. [[Timothy Hackworth]], locomotive superintendent, used the boiler from the unsuccessful ''Chittaprat'' to build the ''Royal George'' in the works at Shildon; it started work at the end of November.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=116, 142–143}} John Wesley Hackworth later published an account{{efn|In an appendix in {{cite book|title=A Chapter in the History of Railway Locomotion, with Memoir of Timothy Hackworth, etc|year=1892|page=25}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=141}} John Wesley Hackworth was a descendant of Timothy.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=61}}|group = note}} stating that locomotives would have been abandoned were it not for the fact that Pease and Thomas Richardson were partners with Stephenson in the Newcastle works, and that when Timothy Hackworth was commissioned to rebuild ''Chittaprat'' it was "as a last experiment" to "make an engine in his own way".{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=61}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=142}} Both Tomlinson and Rolt{{efn|Compare {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|pp=141–142}} and {{harvtxt|Rolt|1984|p=143}}|group=note}} state this claim was unfounded and the company had shown earlier that locomotives were superior to horses, Tomlinson showing that coal was being moved using locomotives at half the cost of horses. Robert Young{{efn|In {{cite book|title=Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive|last=Young|first=Robert|year=1923|postscript=none}}, cited by Kirby.|group = note}} states that the company was unsure as to the real costs as they reported to shareholders in 1828 that the saving using locomotives was 30 per cent. Young also showed that Pease and Richardson were both concerned about their investment in the Newcastle works and Pease unsuccessfully tried to sell his share to George Stephenson.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|pp=61–63}}

New locomotives were ordered from Stephenson's, but the first was too heavy when it arrived in February 1828. It was rebuilt with six wheels and hailed as a great improvement, Hackworth being told to convert the remaining locomotives as soon as possible. In 1828, two locomotive boilers exploded within four months, both killing the driver and both due to the safety valves being left fixed down while the engine was stationary.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=146–148}} Horses were also used on the line, and they could haul up to four waggons. The [[dandy waggon]] was introduced in mid-1828; it was a small cart at the end of the train that carried the horse downhill, allowing it to rest while the train descended under gravity. The S&DR made their use compulsory from November 1828.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=27}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=154–156}}
[[File:Stockton & Darlington Railway Union Coach.jpg|thumb|left|The Union coach as shown in an advertisement]]
Passenger traffic started on 10 October 1825, after the required licence was purchased, using the ''Experiment'' coach hauled by a horse. The coach was initially timetabled to travel from Stockton to Darlington in two hours, with a fare of 1s, and made a return journey four days a week and a one-way journey on Tuesdays and Saturdays. In April 1826, the operation of the coach was contracted for £200 a year; by then the timetabled journey time had been reduced to 1 hour 15 minutes, and passengers were allowed to travel on the outside for 9d. A more comfortable coach, ''Express'', started the same month and charged 1s 6d for travel inside.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=122–126}} Innkeepers began running coaches, two to Shildon from July, and the ''Union'', which served the Yarm branch from 16 October.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=126–127}} There were no stations:{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=117}} in Darlington the coaches picked up passengers near the north road crossing, whereas in Stockton they picked up at different places on the quay.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=130}} Between 30,000 and 40,000 passengers were carried between July 1826 and June 1827.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=131}}

==Founding of Middlesbrough==
The export of coal had become the railway's main business, but the staiths at Stockton had inadequate storage and the size of ships was limited by the depth of the Tees. A branch from Stockton to Haverton, on the north bank of the Tees, was proposed in 1826, and the engineer Thomas Storey proposed a shorter and cheaper line to [[Middlesbrough]], south of the Tees in July 1827. Later approved by George Stephenson, this plan was ratified by the shareholders on 26 October.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=30}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=166–167}} The [[Tees Navigation Company]] was about to improve the river and proposed that the railway delay application to Parliament, but, despite opposition, at a meeting in January 1828 it was decided to proceed.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=30}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=169}} A more direct northerly route from Auckland to the Tees had been considered since 1819, and the Tees and Weardale Railway had applied unsuccessfully to Parliament for permission for such a line in 1823, 1824 and 1825.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=30}}{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=128}} This now became a {{convert|11+1/2|mi|adj=on}} line linking Simpasture on the S&DR's line near today's [[Newton Aycliffe railway station|Newton Aycliffe station]] with Haverton and Stockton, via a route that was {{convert|6|mi|0}} shorter than via the route of the S&DR, and named the [[Clarence Railway]] in honour of the Duke of Clarence, later [[King William IV]]. 

Meetings held in Stockton in early 1828 supported the Tees Navigation and the Clarence Railway,{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=30–31}} but the S&DR received permission for its branch on 23 May 1828 after promising to complete the Hagger Leases Branch and to build a bridge across the Tees at least {{convert|72|ft}} wide and {{convert|19|ft}} above low water, so as not to affect shipping.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=172–173}} Two members of the management committee resigned, as they felt that Stockton would be adversely affected by the line, and Meynell, the S&DR chairman, stepped down from leadership.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=75}} The Clarence Railway was approved a few days later, with the same gauge as the S&DR.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=175}} The route of the Clarence Railway was afterwards amended to reach Samphire Batts, later known as [[Port Clarence]],{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=179–180, 239}} and traffic started in August 1833; by the middle of 1834 Port Clarence had opened and {{convert|28|mi}} of line was in use.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=42}} The S&DR charged the {{fract|2|1|4}}d per ton per mile landsale rate for coal it carried the {{convert|10|mi}} from the collieries to Simpasture for forwarding to Port Clarence, rather than the lower shipping rate.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=237}} By July 1834, the [[Exchequer Bill Loan Commission|Exchequer Loan Commissioners]] had taken control of the Clarence Railway.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=42}}
[[File:S&DR Tees Suspension Bridge, 1830.jpg|thumb|left|The suspension bridge over the Tees]]
The Croft branch opened in October 1829.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=122, 124}} Construction of the suspension bridge across the Tees started in July 1829, but was suspended in October after the Tees Navigation Company pointed out the S&DR had no permission to cross the Old Channel of the Tees. The S&DR prepared to return to Parliament but withdrew after a design for a drawbridge was agreed with the Navigation Company.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=182–185}} The line to Middlesbrough was laid with malleable iron rails weighing {{convert|33|lb/yd|abbr=on}}, resting on oak blocks.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=188}} The suspension bridge had been designed to carry 150 tons, but the cast iron retaining plates split when it was tested with just 66 tons and loaded trains had to cross with the waggons split into groups of four linked by a {{convert|9|yd|m|adj=mid|-long}} chain.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=187}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=74}} For the opening ceremony on 27 December 1830, ''Globe'', a new locomotive designed by Hackworth for passenger trains, hauled people in carriages and waggons fitted with seats across the bridge to the staiths at Port Darlington, which had berths for six ships.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=187–190}} Stockton continued to be served by a station on the line to the quay until 1848, when it was replaced by a station on the Middlesbrough line on the other side of the Tees.{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=449}} Before May 1829, Thomas Richardson had bought about {{convert|500|acre}} near Port Darlington, and with Joseph and Edward Pease and others he formed the Owners of the Middlesbrough Estate to develop it.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=190}}<ref>{{cite book|editor=Reid, H.G.|title=Middlesbrough and Its Jubilee: A History of the Iron and Steel Industries, with Biographies of Pioneers&nbsp;... |url=http://archive.org/stream/middlesbroughan00reidgoog#page/n31/mode/2up|year=1881|publisher=The Gazette|page=11}}</ref> Middlesbrough had only a few houses before the coming of the railway,{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=118}} but a year later had a population of over 2,000 and at the 2011 census had over 138,000 people.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/?articleid=3995 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230231647/http://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/?articleid=3995 | url-status=dead | archive-date=30 December 2013 | title=Census 2011 | publisher=Middlesbrough Council | access-date=27 December 2013 }}</ref><ref name=GazDock>{{cite news|url=http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2011/11/middlesbrough-dock-1839-1980.html|title=Middlesbrough Dock 1839–1980|author=Delplanque, Paul|newspaper=[[Middlesbrough Gazette]]|date=17 November 2011|access-date=24 March 2013|archive-date=9 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409123451/http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2011/11/middlesbrough-dock-1839-1980.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Railway improvements==
[[File:S&DR railway office.jpg|thumb|S&DR offices in Darlington]]
In 1830, the company opened new offices at the corner of Northgate and Union Street in Darlington.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=189}} Between 1831 and 1832 a second track was laid between Stockton and the foot of Brusselton Bank. Workshops were built at Shildon for the maintenance and construction of locomotives.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=235–236}} In 1830 approximately 50 horses shared the traffic with 19 locomotives, but travelled at different speeds, so to help regulate traffic horse-drawn trains were required to operate in groups of four or five. This had led to horses, startled by a passing locomotive and coming off their dandy cart, being run down by the following train. On one occasion a driver fell asleep in the dandy cart of the preceding train and his horse, no longer being led, came to a stop and was run down by a locomotive. The rule book stated that locomotive-hauled trains had precedence over horse-drawn trains, but some horse drivers refused to give way and on one occasion a locomotive had to follow a horse-drawn train for over {{convert|2|mi|0}}.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=383–384}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|pp=91–94}} The committee decided in 1828 to replace horses with locomotives on the main line, starting with the coal trains, but there was resistance from some colliery owners. 

After the S&DR bought out the coach companies in August 1832, a mixed passenger and small goods service began between Stockton and Darlington on 7 September 1833, travelling at {{convert|12|–|14|mph}}; locomotive-hauled services began to Shildon in December 1833 and to Middlesbrough on 7 April 1834.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=384–385}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=68}} The company had returned the five per cent dividend that had been promised by Edward Pease, and this had increased to eight per cent by the time he retired in 1832.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|pp=87–88}} When the treasurer Jonathan Backhouse retired in 1833 to become a Quaker minister, he was replaced by Joseph Pease.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=80}}

==The way north==

===Great North of England Railway===
[[File:North entrance of Shildon Tunnel (en).jpg|thumb|The north entrance to [[Shildon Tunnel]], which opened in 1842]]
On 13 October 1835, the [[York and North Midland Railway]] (Y&NMR) was formed to connect [[York]] to London by a line to a junction with the planned [[North Midland Railway]].{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=59}} Representatives of the Y&NMR and S&DR met two weeks later and formed the [[Great North of England Railway]] (GNER),{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=64}} a line from York to Newcastle that used the route of the {{convert|1+1/2|mi|adj=on}} Croft branch at Darlington.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=278}} The railway was to be built in sections, and to allow both to open at the same time permission for the more difficult line through the hills from Darlington to Newcastle was to be sought in 1836 and a bill for the easier line south of Darlington to York presented the following year. Pease specified a formation wide enough for four tracks, so freight could be carried at {{convert|30|mph}} and passengers at {{convert|60|mph|abbr=on}}, and George Stephenson had drawn up detailed plans by November.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=64–65}} 

The act of Parliament for the {{convert|34+1/2|mi}} from Newcastle to Darlington, the [[Great North of England Railway Act 1836]] ([[6 & 7 Will. 4]]. c. cv) was given [[royal assent]] on 4 July 1836, but little work had been done by the time the {{convert|43|mi}} from Croft to York received permission on 12 July the following year. In August a general meeting decided to start work on the southern section, but construction was delayed, and after several bridges collapsed the engineer Thomas Storey was replaced by Robert Stephenson.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=93–94}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=67–69}} The S&DR sold its Croft branch to the GNER,{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=414}} and the railway opened for coal traffic on 4 January 1841 using S&DR locomotives. The railway opened to passengers with its own locomotives on 30 March.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=93–94}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=67–69}}

Between November 1841 and February 1842, the S&DR introduced a service between Darlington and Coxhoe, on the Clarence Railway, where an omnibus took passengers the {{convert|3+1/2|mi}} to the [[Durham & Sunderland Railway]] at Shincliffe.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=165}} Early in 1842, the nominally independent Shildon Tunnel Company opened its {{convert|1225|yd|adj=on}} tunnel through the hills at Shildon to the Wear basin and after laying {{convert|2|mi}} of track to [[South Church railway station|South Church station]], south of [[Bishop Auckland]], opened in May 1842.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=435–437}} In 1846, the S&DR installed [[Alexander Bain (inventor)|Alexander Bain]]'s "I and V" electric telegraph to regulate the passage of trains through the tunnel.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Mackay|editor-first=A N |title=A History of North Eastern Railway Signalling|publisher=North Eastern Railway Association|year=2016|isbn=9781873513996|pages=52–53}}</ref> The SD&R provided a {{fract|3|1|4}} hour service between Darlington and Newcastle, with a four-horse omnibus from South Church to Rainton Meadows on the [[Durham Junction Railway]], from where trains ran to [[Gateshead]], on the south side of the [[River Tyne]] near Newcastle.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=74}}

===Railway operations in the 1830s===
By 1839, the track had been upgraded with rails weighing {{convert|64|lb/yd|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=415}} The railway had about 30 steam locomotives, most of them [[0-6-0|six coupled]],{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=419}} that ran with four-wheeled tenders with two water butts, each capable of holding {{convert|600|impgal}} of water.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=422}} The line descended from Shildon to Stockton, assisting the trains that carried coal to the docks at a maximum speed of {{convert|6|mph|abbr=on}}; the drivers were fined if caught travelling faster than {{convert|8|mph|abbr=on}},{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|pp=415, 422}} and one was dismissed for completing the forty-mile return journey in {{fract|4|1|2}}&nbsp;hours.{{sfn|Rolt|1984|pp=136–137}} On average there were about 40 coal trains a day, hauling 28 waggons with a weight of 116 tons.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=423}} There were about 5,000 privately owned waggons, and at any one time about 1,000 stood at Shildon depot.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|pp=417–418}}
[[File:Alfred Kitching Darlington, Stockton and Darlington Railway Company (Ans 05373-0882).jpg|thumb|left|One of several [[0-6-0|six coupled]] steam locomotives operated by the railway]]
The railway had modern passenger locomotives, some with four wheels.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|pp=421–422}} There were passenger stations at Stockton, Middlesbrough, Darlington, Shildon and West Auckland, and trains also stopped at Middlesbrough Junction, Yarm Junction, Fighting Cocks and Heighington.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=416}} Some of the modified road coaches were still in use, but there were also modern railway carriages, some first class with three compartments each seating eight passengers, and second class carriages that seated up to 40.{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=416}}{{efn|Passenger accommodation was sometimes classified as ''inside'' and ''outside'' following the practice on stage-coaches; express trains with premium fares were known as first-class trains. The S&DR introduced third class accommodation on some trains in 1835 as people unable to afford a second class ticket had been walking along the tracks.{{sfn|Lee|1946|p=9}}|group=note}} Luggage and sometimes the guard travelled on the carriage roof;{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=423}} a passenger travelling third class suffered serious injuries after falling from the roof in 1840.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=400}} Passenger trains averaged {{convert|22|–|25|mph|abbr=on}}, and a speed of {{convert|42|mph|abbr=on}} was recorded. Over 200,000 passengers were carried in the year to 1 October 1838,{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=419}} and in 1839 there were twelve trains each day between Middlesbrough and Stockton, six trains between Stockton and Darlington, and three between Darlington and Shildon, where a carriage was fitted with [[William John Macquorn Rankine|Rankine]]'s self-acting brake, taken over the [[Brussleton Incline]]s, and then drawn by a horse to [[St Helen Auckland]].{{sfn|Whishaw|1842|p=418}} The [[Bradshaw's Guide|Bradshaw's railway guide]] for March 1843, after South Church opened, shows five services a day between Darlington and South Church via Shildon, with three between Shildon and St Helens. Also listed were six trains between Stockton and [[Hartlepool]] via [[Seaton Carew|Seaton]]<ref>[[:File:Bradshaw's Monthly (XVI).djvu|Bradshaw's Monthly General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide]] March 1843 p. 16</ref> over the Clarence Railway and the [[Stockton and Hartlepool Railway]] that had opened in 1841.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=146–147}}

By this time, Port Darlington had become overwhelmed by the volume of imports and exports and work started in 1839 on Middlesbrough Dock, which had been laid out by [[William Cubitt]], capable of holding 150 ships, and built by resident [[civil engineer]] [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]].<ref name="GazDock" /> The suspension bridge across the Tees was replaced by a cast iron bridge on masonry piers in 1841.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=118–119}} After three years and an expenditure of £122,000 (equivalent to £9.65m at 2011 prices), the formal opening of the new dock took place on 12 May 1842.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=437}}<ref name="GazDock" /> The S&DR provided most of the finance, and the dock was absorbed by the company in 1849.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=508}}

===Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway===
[[File:Timber Viaduct on the Darlington & Newcastle Railway.png|thumb|The N&DJR crossed the Sherburn with a timber viaduct.]]
The GNER had authority for a railway from York to Newcastle; it opened to Darlington in 1841 having spent all of its authorised capital and could not start work on the extension to Newcastle. At the time Parliament was considering the route of a railway between England and Scotland and favoured a railway via the west coast. Railway financier [[George Hudson]] chaired a meeting of representatives of north-eastern railways that wished a railway to be built via the east coast.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=67, 71}} In the 1830s a number of railways had opened in the area between Darlington and Newcastle, and Robert Stephenson was engaged to select a route using these railways as much as possible. The [[Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway]] (N&DJR) differed slightly from the GNER route in the southern section before joining the Durham Junction Railway at [[Rainton]] and using the [[Pontop and South Shields Railway]] from Washington to Brockley Whins, where a new curve onto the [[Brandling Junction Railway]] allowed direct access to Gateshead. This required the construction of {{convert|25+1/2|mi}} of new line, {{convert|9|mi}} less than the GNER route, but trains would need to travel {{convert|7+1/2|mi}} further.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=71–72}}

This route ran parallel to S&DR lines for {{convert|5|mi}} and Pease argued that it should run over these as it would add only {{convert|1+1/2|mi}}.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=71–72}} The bill was presented unchanged to Parliament in 1842, and was opposed by the S&DR. Despite this, the [[Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway Act 1842]] ([[5 & 6 Vict.]] c. lxxx) received royal assent on 18 June 1842, and a second act of Parliament the following year, the [[Great North of England Railway Act 1843]] ([[6 & 7 Vict.]] c. viii), secured the deviations from the GNER route in the south recommended by Stephenson.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=74}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=439}} After the opening celebration on 18 June 1844, through services ran from London to Gateshead the following day.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=76–78}}

The N&DJR made an offer to lease the GNER and buy it within five years, and GNER shares increased in value by 44 per cent as the N&DJR took over on 1 July 1845; the N&DJR became part of the larger [[York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway]] (YN&BR) in 1847.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=90}}

==Wear Valley Railway==<!-- Redirects from this railway company names link here-->
[[File:Wear Valley Railway.svg|thumb|300px|The Wear Valley Railway in 1847]]
[[File:Stockton and Darlington Railway 1858.jpg|thumb|Preferential share certificate of the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, issued 24. September 1858]]
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway Act 1837
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for incorporating certain Persons for the making and maintaining a Railway from near the Black Boy Branch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in the Township of Saint Andrew Auckland to or near to Wilton Park Colliery, with a Branch therefrom, all in the County of Durham, to be called "The Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway."
| year                  = 1837
| citation              = [[7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict.]] c. cxxii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 15 July 1837
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The [[Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway]] (BA&WR) received permission in the '''{{visible anchor|Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway Act 1837}}''' ([[7 Will. 4 & 1 Vict.]] c. cxxii) of July 1837 to build an {{convert|8+1/4|mi|adj=on}} line from South Church to {{rws|Crook}}. The line opened on 8 November 1843 with a station at {{rws|Bishop Auckland}}.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=173–174}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=298}}

The [[Stanhope and Tyne Railway]], a {{convert|33+3/4|mi|adj=on}} line between [[South Shields]] and Stanhope had opened in 1834.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=188}} Steam locomotives worked the section east of Annfield, and in the western section inclines were worked by stationary engines or gravity, with horses hauling waggons over level track.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=188–190}} The lime kilns and the line between Stanhope and Carrhouse closed in 1840, and with the Stanhope to Annfield section losing money, the insolvent railway company was dissolved on 5 February 1841. The northern section became the [[Pontop and South Shields Railway]] and the southern section from Stanhope to Carrhouse was bought by the newly formed [[Derwent Iron Company]] at Consett,{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=75}}<ref name="RAIL 663">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/DisplayCatalogueDetails.asp?CATID=11638&CATLN=3&FullDetails=True| title = Stanhope and Tyne Railroad Company (RAIL 663)| publisher = [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]}}</ref> renamed the [[Wear and Derwent Railway]], and used to transport limestone from quarries in the Stanhope area to its works at Consett.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=174–175}} The [[Weardale Extension Railway]] ran from Waskerley on the Wear and Derwent to Crook on the BA&WR and included the Sunniside Incline worked by a stationary engine. Sponsored by the Derwent Iron Company, the {{convert|10|mi|adj=on}} line was built by the S&DR and opened on 16 May 1845.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=175–176}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=474}} 

A passenger service started to Hownes Gill and Stanhope (Crawley) on 1 September 1845; the Stanhope service was withdrawn at the end of 1846.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=191}} Travelling north from Crook the carriages and waggons were drawn up the Sunniside Incline, a locomotive hauled the mixed train to Waskerley Park Junction, then they were let down Nanny Mayor's Incline and a locomotive took them forward. When returning, regulations required that the carriages run loose down the Sunniside Incline and they were let to run into Crook station, controlled by the guard using the carriage brakes.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=529–530}} Later, a {{convert|730|ft}} viaduct replaced the two inclines at Hownes Gill ravine on 1 July 1858.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=191–192}} A deviation replacing Nanny's Mayor's Incline, as well as a curve that allowed trains from Crook direct access to Rowley, was opened for freight on 23 May 1859 and for passenger traffic on 4 July 1859.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=177}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Wear Valley Railway Act 1845
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for making a Railway, to be called "The Wear Valley Railway," from and out of the Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway to Frosterley, with a Branch terminating at or near Bishopley Crag in Stanhope in Weardale, all in the County of Durham.
| year                  = 1845
| citation              = [[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. clii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 31 July 1845 
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://books.google.com/books?id=SU0wAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA1
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The [[Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway]], a short extension to Redcar, received permission on 21 July 1845 in the [[Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway Act 1845]] ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. cxxvii). The line branched off before the Middlesbrough terminus, which was closed and a new through station opened with the line on 4 June 1846.{{sfn|Awdry|1990|p=148}}{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=449}} Also authorised in July 1845, by the '''{{visible anchor|Wear Valley Railway Act 1845}}''' ([[8 & 9 Vict.]] c. clii), was the Wear Valley Railway, a {{convert|12|mi|adj=on}} line{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=463}} from the Bishop Auckland and Weardale line to {{rws|Frosterley}}. The line opened on 3 August 1847, and the act also gave the S&DR permission for the Bishopley branch, over which 500,000 tons of limestone travelled in 1868. The line was extended in 1862 from Frosterley to {{rws|Stanhope}}.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=183}}

Just before the line opened on 22 July 1847, the Wear Valley Railway absorbed the Shildon Tunnel, Bishop Auckland and Weardale Railway, Weardale Extension Railway, and Wear and Derwent Railway{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=122}} and then the S&DR leased the Wear Valley Railway and Middlesbrough and Redcar Railways for 999 years. This required a payment of £47,000 each year, exceeding the SD&R's net revenue;{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=507–508}} traffic from the Derwent Iron Company was reduced during a period of financial difficulty and the Black Boy colliery switched to sending its coal to Hartlepool.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=139}} No dividend was paid in 1848 and the next few years;{{sfn|Kirby|2002|loc=Appendix 1}} lease payments were made out of reserves.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=507–508}} The S&DR announced a bill in November 1848 to permit a lease by and amalgamation with the YN&BR, but this was withdrawn after the YN&BR share price crashed and its chairman Hudson resigned after questions were raised about his share dealings.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=488, 493–494, 497–498}} In 1850 the S&DR had share capital of £250,000 but owed £650,000, most of this without the authority of Parliament until 1849; the debt was converted into shares in 1851.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=508–509}}

==Cleveland iron ore==
[[File:Railways in Cleveland 1863.jpg|thumb|left|The railways in Cleveland in 1863, the Cleveland Railway shown in red]]
In mid-1850, [[Henry Bolckow]] and [[John Vaughan (Ironmaster)|John Vaughan]] discovered a seam of [[iron ore]] at [[Eston]]. They opened a mine, laid a branch line to the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway and started hauling ironstone over the S&DR to their [[blast furnace]]s west of Bishop Auckland. By 1851, Derwent Iron had opened a mine in the area and began moving ironstone {{convert|54|mi}} to Consett,{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=113}} and the S&DR had paid the arrears on its debt and was able to pay a dividend the following year, albeit only 4 per cent; between 1849 and 1853 the traffic more than doubled.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|loc=pp. 152–153 and appendix 1}}{{efn|In the year ending June 1849, they carried 21 million ton miles, which rose to 48&nbsp;million in the year ending December 1853. Ironstone shipments increased from 28,000 tons in the six months before December 1849 to 231,000 tons in the six months before December 1852.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|p=153}}|group=note}}

In 1852, the [[Leeds Northern Railway]] (LNR) built a line from [[Northallerton]] to a junction with the Stockton to Hartlepool line and a section of the route ran parallel to the S&DR alongside the Yarm to Stockton Road. The S&DR was originally on the east side of the road, but the LNR built its line with four tracks on the other side of the road, leasing two to the S&DR for a rental of 1 shilling a year. On 25 January 1853, the LNR and SD&R opened a joint station at {{rws|Eaglescliffe}} with an island platform between the tracks, and one side was used by S&DR trains and the other by the LNR. Rather than allow trains to approach the platform line from either direction, the [[Board of Trade]] inspecting officer ruled that trains approaching on a line without a platform must first pass through and then reverse into the platform line.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=126–127}}

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway Act 1852
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = 
| year                  = 1852
| citation              = [[15 & 16 Vict.]] c. lxxiii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 17 June 1852
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/15-16/73/pdfs/ukla_18520073_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
The Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway, with two branches into the iron-rich hills, was approved by Parliament in the '''{{visible anchor|Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway Act 1852}}''' ([[15 & 16 Vict.]] c. lxxiii) on 17 June 1852; Pease had to guarantee dividends to raise the finance needed. The {{convert|9+1/2|mi|adj=on}} single-track railway was worked by the S&DR, and opened to minerals on 11 November 1853 and passengers on 25 February 1854. With [[electric telegraph]] installed between stations, passenger trains were not permitted to leave a station until confirmation had been received that the line was clear.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=113}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=532–533}}

{{anchor|Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = 
| year                  = 1858
| citation              = [[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. cxvi
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = 
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
By 1857, a blast furnace had opened close to the Durham coalfield on the north side of the Tees. Backed by the rival [[West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway]], the Durham and Cleveland Union Railway proposed a line from the mines in [[Skinningrove]] and [[Staithes]], via Guisborough and a bridge over the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway to a jetty at [[Cargo Fleet]], from where a ferry would carry the ore across the Tees to the blast furnaces. When the proposal was before Parliament the S&DR suggested that their Middlesbrough and Redcar could be extended to [[Saltburn-by-the-Sea|Saltburn]], and the Tees crossed by a swing bridge. The [[Cleveland Railway (England)|Cleveland Railway]] received permission for a line from Skinningrove as far as Guisborough, and the S&DR permission for an extension to Saltburn and a branch to a mine at Skelton. This '''Stockton and Darlington Railway Amalgamation Act 1858''' ([[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. cxvi) also authorised the merger of the S&DR with the railways it held on lease.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=114–115}}

An application to Parliament for a jetty in the following year was unsuccessful,{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=115}} but in 1860 the Upsall, Normanby and Ormesby Railway received permission for a line with access to the river, the S&DR claim of exclusive rights to the foreshore having been rejected.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=572}} The jetty was also opposed by the Tees Conservancy Commissioners and they moored barges along the foreshore to obstruct construction. In what became known as the Battle of the Tees, a fight broke out when a steam tug sent by the commissioners interrupted men moving the barges. The barges were successfully moved, but a more serious fight developed the following night when three of the commissioners' steam tugs arrived. The police then kept watch on the works until they were finished.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=116–117}}

[[Henry Pease (MP)|Henry Pease]], a S&DR director and Quaker, visited his brother Joseph in mid-1859 at his house by the sea at [[Marske-by-the-Sea]]. Returning late for dinner, he explained he had walked to Saltburn, then a group of fisherman's cottages, where he had had a "sort of prophetic vision" of a town with gardens. With other S&DR directors he planned the town, with gardens and [[Zetland Hotel]] by the station, and bought a house at 5 Britannia Terrace, where he stayed for a few weeks every summer.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/blogs/staff/echomemories/8895620.Saltburn_150_Pt_V__The_founder_s_memories/|publisher=Newsquest (North East) Ltd|newspaper=The Northern Echo|title=Saltburn 150 Pt V: The founder's memories|author=Lloyd, Chris|date=8 March 2011|access-date=1 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106034418/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/blogs/staff/echomemories/8895620.Saltburn_150_Pt_V__The_founder_s_memories/|archive-date=6 January 2014}}</ref> The extension opened in 1861, a station on the through line replacing the terminus at Redcar.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=115}}{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=450}}

==Over Stainmore==
{{Main|South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway|Eden Valley Railway}}
A railway to serve [[Barnard Castle]], from the S&DR at a junction near North Road station and along the River Tees, was proposed in 1852; this route bypassed as far as possible the Duke of Cleveland's estate, as he had opposed an earlier railway. An application that year failed, but the [[Darlington and Barnard Castle Railway Act 1854]] ([[17 & 18 Vict.]] c. cxv) was given royal assent on 3 July 1854 and the {{convert|15+1/4|mi|adj=on}} railway opened on 8 July 1856.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=523–525}}
[[File:Tees Railway Viaduct (SD&LUR, en).jpg|thumb|left|The SD&LUR viaduct over the Tees Valley in 1858]]

Cleveland iron ore is high in [[phosphorus]] and needs to be mixed with purer ores, such as those on the west coast in [[Cumberland]] and [[Lancashire]].{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=119–120}} In the early 1850s, this ore was travelling the long way round over the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway to the Barrow-in-Furness area, and Durham coke was returning.{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=10–11}} Both the [[South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway]] (SD&LUR) and the [[Eden Valley Railway]] (EVR) companies were formed on 20 September 1856. Taking advantage of the new railway at Barnard Castle, the SD&LUR crossed the [[Pennines]] via [[Kirkby Stephen]] to meet the [[West Coast Main Line]] (WCML) at [[Tebay]], on the section then controlled by the [[Lancaster and Carlisle Railway]], and also linked Barnard Castle with West Auckland. The EVR was a branch from Kirkby Stephen to the WCML near [[Penrith, Cumbria|Penrith]] via [[Appleby-in-Westmorland|Appleby]]. The routes were surveyed by [[Thomas Bouch]] and SD&LUR received permission on 13 July 1857. The EVR route followed the east bank of the [[River Eden, Cumbria|River Eden]], a mile longer than a more expensive route on the west bank, and the [[Eden Valley Railway Act 1858]] ([[21 & 22 Vict.]] c. xiv) received royal assent on 21 May 1858.{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=10–11}}

Bouch had laid out an economical route that followed the contours and avoided tunnels, but there were formidable gradients up to the {{convert|1370|ft|m|adj=mid|-high}} [[Stainmore Summit]]. Land for two tracks was purchased, and a single track line was laid; valleys were crossed by viaducts, three made from wrought iron, including the [[Belah Viaduct]], {{convert|1040|ft}} long and {{convert|196|ft}} high.{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=75–76}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=121–122}} A new station was built to replace the terminus at Barnard Castle.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=76}} A mineral train ran between Barnard Castle and Barras on 26 March 1861, and mineral traffic worked through to Tebay from 4 July 1861. There was an opening ceremony on 7 August 1861 and the SD&LUR west of Barnard Castle opened to passengers the following day.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=148}} Two {{whyte|4-4-0}} locomotives with enclosed cabs had been built for the line in 1860 by Stephenson and Co,{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=163–164}} and the S&DR worked traffic from the start: two return services a day were provided for passengers. The EVR opened to mineral traffic on 8 April 1862 and passengers on 9 June 1862, to the south-facing junction at Clifton (later {{rws|Clifton and Lowther}}). The S&DR had presented a bill in 1861 to provide better connections for passengers on the WCML by extending the line up to {{rws|Penrith}}, and to link up with the [[Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway]] to provide access for mineral traffic to Cumberland. The L&CR agreed to allow the S&DR running rights over its line and services were extended to Penrith from 1 August 1863.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=148}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=595–596}}

==Progress and amalgamation==

[[File:Stockton & Darlington Railway - Christmas Day 1856 timetable.jpg|thumb|Christmas Day timetable for 1856]]

In 1854, there were five or six trains a day between Darlington and Redcar and three a day between Darlington and Frosterley. Travelling at average speeds of {{convert|19|–|24|mph}}, passengers were charged from 1d per mile for third class to 2.2d per mile for first.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=544}} Horses were still used on trains in the mid-1850s: a horse-drawn coach was still independently operated between Middlesbrough and Stockton in 1854 on Sundays, as the only S&DR services that run on that day were the mail trains,{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=529}} and locomotives replaced horses on passenger trains to West Auckland in 1856.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=122}}{{efn|{{harvtxt|Kirby|2002|pp=94–95}} states that these were the last horses to be used on the line, but {{harvtxt|Allen|1974|p=112}} states that a horse-drawn four compartment railway carriage operated between Stockton and Middlesbrough until 1864; {{harvtxt|Tomlinson|1915|p=529}} is unclear.|group=note}} The S&DR opened a [[Hopetown Carriage Works|carriage works]] south of Darlington North Road station in 1853<ref>{{NHLE|num=1121229|access-date=14 January 2014}}</ref> and later it built a [[Darlington Works|locomotive works]] nearby to replace its works at Shildon. Designed by [[William Bouch]], who had taken over from Hackworth as Locomotive Supervisor in 1840, it completed its first locomotive in 1864.{{sfn|Hoole|1974b|p=8}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rcts.org.uk/branches/north_east/page.htm?id=Darlington%20North%20Road%20Locomotive%20Works | title=Darlington North Road Locomotive Works | publisher=RCTS | date=24 August 2012 | access-date=14 January 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140115121551/https://www.rcts.org.uk/branches/north_east/page.htm?id=Darlington%20North%20Road%20Locomotive%20Works | archive-date=15 January 2014 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 1858 the Brusselton Inclines were bypassed by a line from the north end of Shildon Tunnel; the same year a passenger service started on the Hagger Leases branch and a mineral line opened from Crook via two inclines to Waterhouse. The section of the SD&LUR between West Auckland and Barnard Castle opened for minerals in July 1863 and passengers on 1 August 1863, together with a direct line from Bishop Auckland to West Auckland. Stations at Evenwood and Cockfield replaced stations on the Hagger Leases branch.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=148}}{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=122–123, 177, 182–183}}

[[File:North Eastern Railway seal (en).jpg|thumb|The seal of the North Eastern Railway]]

In 1859, a company had been formed to link the [[Newcastle and Carlisle Railway]] with the SD&R via the Derwent Valley; by 1860 this had grown into the Newcastle, Derwent and Weardale Railway, which now bypassed the SD&R and linked with the SD&LUR, and the [[North British Railway|North British]] and [[London and North Western Railway|London and North Western]] (LNWR) railways were providing two-thirds of the capital. The LNWR proposed to build warehouses in Hartlepool and buy shares in the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=125–126}} The [[North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)|North Eastern Railway]] (NER), formed in 1854 by amalgamation, at the time was the largest railway company in the country and controlled the [[East Coast Main Line]] from [[Knottingley]], south of York, through Darlington to [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]].{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=105–107}} When they approached the S&DR with a proposal to merge, the directors deciding they preferred a merger with the NER than eventually becoming part of the LNWR, entered negotiations.{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=127}} Opposed by the NER, the Newcastle, Derwent and Weardale Railway bill was approved by the House of Commons in 1861, but the line was eventually rejected by the House of Lords.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=125–129}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=594}} The SD&LUR and EVR were absorbed by the S&DR on 30 June 1862.{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=148–149}}

With {{convert|200|rtmi|rtkm|abbr=out}} of line and about 160 locomotives,{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=167}} the Stockton and Darlington Railway became part of the North Eastern Railway on 13 July 1863. Due to a clause in the [[North Eastern and Stockton and Darlington Railways Amalgamation Act 1863]] ([[26 & 27 Vict.]] c. cxxii) the railway was managed as the independent Darlington Section until 1876, when the lines became the NER's Central Division.{{sfn|Hoole|1974b|p=9}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=133}} After the restoration of the dividend in 1851, by the end of 1854 payments had recovered to 8 per cent and then had not dropped below {{fract|7|1|2}} per cent.{{sfn|Kirby|2002|loc=Appendix 1}}

==Later history==
The NER had built a branch in the late 1850s from Durham to Bishop Auckland, but used a separate station in the town until December 1867, when all services began to use the S&DR station. The Sunniside Incline was replaced by a deviation, albeit with gradients of 1 in 51 and 1 in 52, which opened for mineral traffic on 10 April 1867 and for passengers on 2 March 1868;{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=176}} after 1868 trains on this line were extended to serve Benfieldside station (later known as Blackhill and then [[Consett railway station|Consett]]).{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=174, 191–192}} In Cleveland, a branch from Nunthorpe to Battersby opened on 1 June 1864; passengers were carried from 1 April 1868.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=90–91}} A branch from Barnard Castle to [[Middleton-in-Teesdale railway station|Middleton-in-Teesdale]] opened on 12 May 1868.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=136, 137}}

The locomotive works at Darlington operated independently under Bouch until 1875, the locomotives having been renumbered by the NER a few years earlier. A variety of locomotives were used, the most common type were the {{whyte|0-6-0}}s used on mineral trains. Later locomotives were of the [[NER 1001 Class|Stephenson long boilered]] type. Most passenger locomotives were {{whyte|2-4-0}}s, though some were {{whyte|2-2-2}}s. Bouch designed two {{whyte|4-4-0}} locomotives for the line over Stainmore in 1860, and another fourteen with this wheel arrangement had been built by 1874.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=187–189}}{{sfn|Walton|1992|pp=163, 166–167}} S&DR services and those on the ECML called at different stations in Darlington until 1887, when S&DR trains were diverted through a rebuilt Darlington Bank Top station, rejoining the route to Stockton from a junction south of Darlington and a new line to Oak Tree Junction.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=125}}{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|pp=699–701}} An extension from Stanhope to {{rws|Wearhead}} opened in 1895,{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|pp=183–184}} and the line over Stainmore to Tebay was doubled by the end of the century.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=78}}
[[File:S&DR as part of NER in 1904 (en).jpg|thumb|800px|center|The former S&DR, shown in red, as part of the larger NER network of 1904]]
From 1913 former S&DR lines were electrified with 1,500&nbsp;VDC [[overhead line]]s and [[British Rail Class EF1|electric locomotives]] hauled coal trains between Shildon and [[Erimus Marshalling Yard]], which had opened in 1908 between Middlesbrough and Thornaby. The trains took the former S&DR line from Shildon to Simpasture Junction, joining the former Clarence Railway line to Carlton, where a later line allowed access to the Stockton to Middlesbrough extension. The locomotives operated for 20 years, but then coal traffic had reduced, which made it uneconomical to maintain the electrification system.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=204–205}}

As a result of the [[Railways Act 1921]], on 1 January 1923 the North Eastern Railway became the North Eastern area of the [[London and North Eastern Railway]] (LNER).{{sfn|Hedges|1981|pp=88, 113–114}}{{sfn|Allen|1974|p=234}} The passenger service was withdrawn north of Tow Law on 1 May 1939.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=177}} Britain's railways were nationalised on 1 January 1948 and the lines were placed under the control of [[British Railways]].{{sfn|Hedges|1981|pp=88, 113–114}} In the early 1950s control was split between the North Eastern and London Midland regions with Kirkby Stephen as the boundary.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=189}} Local passenger trains were withdrawn between Kirkby Stephen and Tebay on 1 December 1952.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=150}} The service along Weardale was withdrawn on 29 June 1953{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=184}} and services north of Crook on 11 June 1956.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=177}}
[[File:Thornaby Station, with Down freight and a Diesel light-engine geograph-2355852-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|right|A diesel locomotive stands at Thornaby station in 1961]]
The [[1955 Modernisation Plan]], known formally as the "Modernisation and Re-Equipment of the British Railways", was published in December 1954. With the aim of increasing speed and reliability steam trains were replaced with electric and diesel traction.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=23| title=Modernisation and Re-Equipment of British Rail| author=British Transport Commission| publisher=(Originally published by the British Transport Commission) |year=1954| work=The Railways Archive| access-date=25 November 2006}}</ref> From 1954 [[diesel multiple unit]]s took over passenger services in the north east except those on the ECML,{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=219}} and were introduced to the line over Stainmore in February 1958.{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=189}} The passenger service was withdrawn between Barnard Castle and Penrith on 20 January 1962,{{sfn|Walton|1992|p=192}} and between Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle on 12 June 1962.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=137}}

In 1963, [[Richard Beeching]] published his report ''The Reshaping of British Railways'', which recommended closing the network's least used stations and lines. This included the remaining former S&DR lines except for the line between Darlington and Saltburn via Stockton and Middlesbrough.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=13 |last=Beeching |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Beeching |title= The Reshaping of British Railways|publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]] | year=1963 |format=PDF|access-date=4 January 2014|page=103}}<br />{{cite web |url= http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=35 |last=Beeching |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Beeching |title= The Reshaping of British Railways (maps)|publisher=[[Office of Public Sector Information|HMSO]] | year=1963 | format=PDF|access-date=4 January 2014|at=map 9}}</ref> Passenger service between Nunthorpe and Guisborough was withdrawn in 1964; the service between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe was retained.{{sfn|Cobb|2006|pp=449–450}} The line between Darlington and Barnard Castle and the branch to Middleton-in-Teesdale were closed to passengers on 30 November 1964.{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=136}} Trains were withdrawn north of Bishop Auckland on 8 March 1965,{{sfn|Hoole|1974a|p=177}} but the passenger service to Bishop Auckland was saved because of [[regional development]] concerns.<ref>{{cite book|last=Loft|first=Charles|title=Government, the Railways and the Modernization of Britain: Beeching's Last Trains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxqDrgs6OGkC&pg=PA96|date=15 October 2004|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-203-64305-1|page=96}}</ref>

==Locomotives==
{{main|Locomotives of the Stockton and Darlington Railway}}

==Accidents and incidents==
*On 5 March 1827, an unnamed woman described as "a blind American beggar" was fatally injured by a train on the railway. This was the first recorded death due to a railway locomotive, coming three years before the more widely reported death of [[William Huskisson]] at the [[Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway]].<ref name="Walker statue">{{Cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/conservation/reveal/gallery/sculpture/findoutmore/huskisson_statue.aspx|title=Huskisson Statue|work=National Conservation Centre|publisher=National Museums Liverpool|access-date=28 November 2010|location=Liverpool|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009213904/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/conservation/reveal/gallery/sculpture/findoutmore/huskisson_statue.aspx|archive-date=9 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*On 19 March 1828, the boiler of locomotive No. 5 exploded at Simpasture Junction. One of the two firemen was killed, the other severely scalded. The driver ([[George Stephenson]]'s older brother) was unharmed.{{sfn|Hewison|1983|p=26}}
*On 1 July 1828, the boiler of ''[[Locomotion No. 1]]'' exploded at {{rws|Aycliffe Lane}} station, killing the driver.{{sfn|Hewison|1983|p=26}}
*On 4 April 1865 at Hartburn (Stockton), the 3:55 pm passenger train from Darlington to Saltburn collided with some chaldron wagons which had become detached from a Shildon to Middlesbrough coal train. Though this was not a serious accident it was to result in the S&DR adopting the [[Signalling block system|block system]], well before their colleagues at the NER headquarters in York felt this to be necessary. At a conference the next day attended by several company officials including Thomas MacNay and William Bouch it was noted that one of the options to achieve greater security was "to adopt the 'block' system of telegraph at intervals of 2 or 3 miles; that is not to allow an engine to pass any of such stations until it has been signalled that the previous train was past the station to which it was approaching."<ref>The National Archives: RAIL 667/212 Stockton & Darlington Railway, Meeting Minutes taken by T MacNay.</ref>

==Anniversary celebrations==
[[File:Exhibition of the Locomotives (ILN, en).jpg|thumb|The ''Exhibition of the Locomotives'' as shown in the [[Illustrated London News]] in 1875]]
The Stockton and Darlington was not the first railway and a train had previously carried passengers, but its opening in 1825 was seen as proof of the effectiveness of steam railways as a means of public transport.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=114}}{{efn|The [[Surrey Iron Railway]] was the first public railway in 1801, a locomotive hauled a coach in [[Merthyr Tydfil]] in 1804 and they were being used commercially by the [[Middleton Railway|Middleton Colliery]] in 1812; passengers were carried on the [[Kilmarnock & Troon Railway]] in 1818.{{sfn|Tomlinson|1915|p=114}}{{sfn|Kirby|2002|pp=1, 189}}|group=note}} A jubilee was held on 27 and 28 September 1875 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the world's first steam operated public railway: the Darlington North Road workshops housed a locomotive exhibition, a statue of Joseph Pease was unveiled in Darlington, his portrait presented to the Darlington Corporation and a banquet held.{{sfn|Allen|1974|pp=157–158}} Fifty years later centenary celebrations were held in July to allow guests from foreign countries visiting the International Railway Congress to take part. An exhibition of rolling stock at the new [[Faverdale#Faverdale Wagon Works|Faverdale Wagon Works]] in Darlington was opened by the Duke and Duchess of York (later [[King George VI]] and [[the Queen Mother]]).{{sfn|Hoole|1974b|pp=12–13}} The following day the royal couple watched as procession of locomotives passed between Stockton and Oak Tree Junction, starting with a [[Hetton colliery railway|Hetton Colliery]] locomotive that had been built in 1822 and finishing with a replica train of ten chaldron waggons and "the company's coach" hauled by ''Locomotive No.1'' propelled by a petrol engine in a specially built tender.{{sfn|Hoole|1974b|pp=42–48}}

[[File:Locomotion No 1 at Shildon.jpg|thumb|''Locomotion No 1'' at Shildon, 1975]]
A festival was held in [[Belle Vue, Manchester]] on 27 September 1925, a Sunday to allow railwaymen to attend, where a pageant showed how transport had changed through time, beginning with a group of ancient Britons dragging a log with their belongings on top and ending with [[Stephenson's Rocket]]; another procession included ''Locomotion No.1'', propelled by its tender, and more modern locomotives.<ref>{{cite news | title= Railway Pageant: Centenary display in Manchester | newspaper=The Times |location=London | date=28 September 1925 | page=11|issue=44078}}</ref>{{sfn|Cook|1975|p=11}} On 31 August 1975, to celebrate the 150th anniversary, a cavalcade was held between Shildon and Heighington, where a replica of ''Locomotion'' headed a procession of locomotives, which was completed by the [[British Rail Class 252|prototype high-speed train]].{{sfn|Cook|1975|pp=5–7}} In the same year the [[National Railway Museum]] opened in York, combining exhibits from the former LNER museum in York, which had opened after the 1875 festivities, and from the National Transport Museum at [[Clapham]].{{sfn|Hoole|1974b|pp=12–13}}<ref>{{cite news | title= Future care of railways' past secured |author=Kershaw, Roland| newspaper=The Times |location=London | date=27 September 1975 | page=14|issue=59512}}</ref> The replica made a three-day journey from Darlington to Stockton for the railway's 200th anniversary in 2025.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stockton and Darlington Railway 200: Locomotion No 1 replica anniversary starts trip |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5q6kn5gkko |access-date=27 September 2025 |work=BBC |date=26 September 2025}}</ref>

==Legacy==
===Heritage===
[[File:Skerne Railway Bridge South Side May 2021.jpg|thumb|Skerne Bridge]]
At {{rws|North Road}}, the station buildings and goods shed are [[Grade II* listed]]<ref>{{NHLE|num=1121262|access-date=1 January 2014|fewer-links=yes}}<br/>{{NHLE|num=1322962|access-date=1 January 2014|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> as the [[Head of Steam]] museum.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.darlington.gov.uk/Leisure/headofsteam/headofsteam.htm | title=Head of Steam | publisher=Darlington Borough Council | access-date=1 January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=WATCH: Locomotion No 1 arrives in Shildon |url=https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/19142486.watch-locomotion-no-1-finally-leaves-darlington-160-years/ |website=The Northern Echo |date=7 March 2021 |access-date=15 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Nearby, the former carriage works are now used as workshops for steam locomotives.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nelpg.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37:history&catid=20:hopetown&Itemid=40 | title=Hopetown Carriage Works: History | publisher=North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group | access-date=1 January 2014}}</ref> A little further east is [[Skerne Bridge]], the oldest railway bridge in continuous use in the world. At Shildon is the [[Locomotion Museum]], part of the [[National Railway Museum]] group, which contains heritage railway vehicles, including ''Locomotion No. 1''. The site includes Timothy Hackworth's house, the [[Shildon railway works|Soho Workshop]] and a former coal drops,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/VisitShildon/museumareas/collectionbuilding.aspx | title=NRM Shildon: Collection building | publisher=National Railway Museum | access-date=1 January 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191510/http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/VisitShildon/museumareas/collectionbuilding.aspx | archive-date=2 January 2014 | df=dmy-all }}<br/>{{cite web | url=http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/VisitShildon/museummap.aspx | title=NRM Shildon: Museum map | publisher=National Railway Museum | access-date=1 January 2014 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102195844/http://www.nrm.org.uk/PlanaVisit/VisitShildon/museummap.aspx | archive-date=2 January 2014 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> which are listed buildings.<ref>{{NHLE|num=1310628|access-date=1 January 2014|fewer-links=yes}}<br/>{{NHLE|num=1160335|access-date=1 January 2014|fewer-links=yes}}<br/>{{NHLE|num=1160320|access-date=1 January 2014|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The heritage [[Weardale Railway]] runs special services over its line from Bishop Auckland to Eastgate-in-Weardale.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weardale-railway.org.uk/| title=The Weardale Railway Project |publisher=Weardale Railway |access-date=1 January 2014}}</ref>

On 14 June 2007, during excavations for road building, some of the original stone sleepers used by the railway in 1825 were discovered intact near Lingfield Point. The stones each weigh about {{convert|75|lb|kg}} and have bolt holes for the chairs that secured the rail. Officials involved in the road project hope to preserve the stones along a new bicycle path.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1471179.mostviewed.uncovered_sleeping_giants_of_first_railway.php|publisher=Newsquest (North East) Ltd |newspaper=[[The Northern Echo]]|title=Uncovered: sleeping giants of first railway|date=14 June 2007|access-date=14 June 2007}}</ref>
===Modern services===
The current [[Tees Valley Line]] uses most of the former Stockton and Darlington Railway between Bishop Auckland and Saltburn.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46418.aspx |title=Named railway lines|publisher=National Rail|access-date=31 December 2013}}</ref> From Bishop Auckland the non-electrified line is single track to Shildon, double track to Heighington, and single track to the junction with the East Coast Main Line north of Darlington. This section is a [[Community rail|Community Rail service]] called the Bishop line, and is sometimes known as the Heritage Line because of its links with the S&DR.{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|pp=53–54}} South of Darlington, trains take the 1887 line before joining the original 1825 route to Stockton at the site of Oak Tree Junction.{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=448}} The line is {{convert|8|mi|0}} to Eaglescliffe South Junction,{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|pp=68–69}} where the 1853 Leeds Northern route is taken through Eaglescliffe station to Stockton Cut Junction.{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=449}}{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|p=60}} The non-electrified line then follows the S&DR route for {{convert|19|mi}} to Saltburn, except for later deviations at Thornaby (1908) and Redcar (1978).{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|pp=71–73}}{{sfn|Cobb|2006|pp=449–450}} The former Middlesbrough & Guisborough Railway line is open between Guisborough Junction and Nunthorpe as part of the Community Rail [[Esk Valley Line]] to Whitby.{{sfn|Cobb|2006|p=449}}{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|pp=57–58}}

[[File:Redcar East railway station MMB 02 142066.jpg|thumb|left|Northern Rail diesel multiple unit on the Tees Valley Line at Redcar East]]
{{As of|2016|7}} a two train per hour off-peak service is provided by [[Northern (train operating company)|Northern]] between Saltburn and Darlington, and ten trains a day continue to Bishop Auckland. One train per hour leaves Middlesbrough going south to [[Manchester Airport station|Manchester Airport]] via Yarm and another travels north to Newcastle via Sunderland. There are eighteen trains a day between Middlesbrough and Nunthorpe, and four of these continue to Whitby.{{sfn|Network Rail|2012|pp=53–54, 73}}<ref>{{NRtimes|May 2015|44}}<br />{{NRtimes|May 2015|45}}</ref> Tees Valley Unlimited, the [[local enterprise partnership]], published {{as of|2013|12|alt=in December 2013}} its ambition to improve passenger services,{{sfn|Tees Valley Unlimited|2013|pp=1–2}} with the priority of an all day two trains an hour service over the Darlington to Saltburn and Nunthorpe to Hartlepool routes using new trains; additional platforms are needed at Darlington station to allow this service frequency.{{sfn|Tees Valley Unlimited|2013|pp=7–8}} A station serving [[James Cook University Hospital]] opened in May 2014.<ref>{{cite news|title=Middlesbrough James Cook Hospital railway station opens|work=BBC News|date=18 May 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-27460507|access-date=26 September 2014}}</ref> A Hitachi train plant opened in September 2015 at Newton Aycliffe to build trains for the [[Intercity Express Programme]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-34130229 | title=Newton Aycliffe's Hitachi train plant opens | publisher=BBC |work=BBC News Tees | date=3 September 2015 | access-date=12 September 2015}}</ref>

==Notes and references==

===Notes===
{{Notelist|group=note}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Cecil J. |title=The North Eastern Railway |year=1974 |orig-year=1964 |publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing|Ian Allan]]|isbn=0-7110-0495-1}}
*{{cite book |last=Awdry| first=Christopher|title=Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies|year=1990|publisher=[[Patrick Stephens]]|isbn=1-85260-049-7}}<!--
*{{cite book |last=Butt |first=R.V.J. |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |year=1995 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1}}-->
*{{cite book|last=Cobb | first=Colonel M.H.|title=The Railways of Great Britain: A Historical Atlas|year=2006 |publisher=Ian Allan|isbn=978-0-7110-3236-1}}
*{{cite book|title=Cavalcade Reflections: Official British Rail Eastern Region Souvenir|date=September 1975|publisher=British Rail|editor-last=Cook|editor-first=C.W.F.|isbn=0-7003-0029-5}}
*{{cite book|editor=Hedges, Martin|title=150 years of British Railways|year=1981|publisher=Hamlyn|isbn=0-600-37655-9|ref={{harvid|Hedges|1981}}}}
*{{cite book |first=Christian H. |last=Hewison |title=Locomotive Boiler Explosions |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |year=1983 |isbn= 0-7153-8305-1 }}
*{{cite book|last=Hoole|first=K.|title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: Volume IV The North East|year=1974a|publisher=David & Charles|isbn=0-7153-6439-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Hoole|first=K.|title=Stockton and Darlington Railway: Anniversary Celebrations of the World's first steam worked public railway|year=1974b|publisher=Dalesman|isbn=0-85206-254-0}}
<!--*{{cite book|last=Jowett|first=Alan|title=Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain & Ireland|publisher=Patrick Stephens|year=1989|isbn=1-85260-086-1}}-->
*{{cite book|last=Kirby|first=Maurice W.|title=The Origins of Railway Enterprise: The Stockton and Darlington Railway 1821–1863 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xVY1VL-rA1gC |date=4 July 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89280-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Lee|first=Charles Edward|title=Passenger Class Distinctions|year=1946|publisher=Railway Gazette|oclc=12040938}}
*{{cite book|title=George and Robert Stephenson: The Railway Revolution|last=Rolt|first=L.T.C.|publisher=Penguin|year=1984|isbn=0-14-007646-8}}
*{{cite book |url=http://archive.org/stream/livesengineersg00smilgoog#page/n8/mode/2up<!--http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27710/27710-h/27710-h.htm#page123--> |title=Lives of the Engineers. The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson| last=Smiles|first=Samuel|author-link=Samuel Smiles |year=1904|publisher=John Murray|oclc=220796785}}
*{{cite news|editor-last=Thomson|editor-first=Thomas|editor-link=Thomas Thomson (chemist)|title=Durham Coal Field|date=March 1819|publisher=Baldwin, Cradock and Joy|place=London|work=[[Annals of Philosophy]]|volume=XIII|page=223|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15877769|access-date=25 July 2015}}
*{{cite book| title=The North Eastern Railway: Its rise and development |first=William Weaver |author-link=William Weaver Tomlinson |last=Tomlinson |url=http://archive.org/details/northeasternrail00tomlrich |year=1915 |publisher=Andrew Reid and Company|oclc=504251788}}
*{{cite book | last = Walton | first = Peter | title = The Stainmore and Eden Valley Railways | year = 1992 | publisher = Oxford Publishing | isbn = 0-86093-306-7 }}
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/railwaysgreatbr00whisgoog|title=The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Practically Described and Illustrated|first=Francis|last=Whishaw|author-link=Francis Whishaw|edition=2nd|location=London|publisher=John Weale|year=1842|oclc=833076248}}
*{{cite book|title=Route Specifications – London North Eastern|year=2012|publisher=Network Rail|access-date=28 September 2013 |url=http://www.networkrail.co.uk/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=30064784458 |ref={{Harvid|Network Rail|2012}}}}
*{{cite book | url=http://www.teesvalleyunlimited.gov.uk/media/217944/tees_valley_rail_2013.pdf.pdf<!-- It really is at .pdf.pdf --> | title=Tees Valley Unlimited Progress Report December 2013 | publisher=Tees Valley Unlimited | access-date=31 December 2013 | ref={{harvid|Tees Valley Unlimited|2013}} | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004144713/https://www.teesvalleyunlimited.gov.uk/media/217944/tees_valley_rail_2013.pdf.pdf | archive-date=4 October 2015 | df=dmy-all }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Jeans|first=James Stephen|date=1875|title=Jubilee Memorial of the Railway System: A History of the Stockton and Darlington Railway
    |publisher=Longmans, Green, and co. |url=https://archive.org/details/jubileememorial02jeangoog|oclc=2295793}}
*{{cite book|last=Ransom|first=Philip John Greer|title=The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved|year=1990|publisher=Heinemann|isbn=978-0-434-98083-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Stockton and Darlington Railway}}
*[https://www.networkrail.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/George-Stephenson-original-report-on-the-Stockton-and-Darlington-railway.pdf Original report by George Stephenson on the proposal to construct the railway] (Network Rail)
*[http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/railway/stockton/ The History of the Stockton and Darlington Railway] (North East History)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140225213131/http://www.moorerail.com/stockton/default.asp The Stockton and Darlington Railway]
*[http://www.bishopline.org The Bishop Line to Bishop Auckland]
* {{cite Wikisource |wslink=Bradshaw's Monthly Railway and Steam Navigation Guide (XVI)/Stockton and Darlington |title=March 1843 Timetable |publisher=[[Bradshaw's Guide]]s }}
*[https://www.darlington.gov.uk/environment-and-planning/planning/conservation/stockton-darlington-railway-historic-environment-audit/ Historic Environment Audit October 2016 (2019 revision)]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Stockton and Darlington Railway| ]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1821]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1825]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1863]]
[[Category:Early British railway companies]]
[[Category:History of County Durham]]
[[Category:Rail transport in County Durham]]
[[Category:Transport in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees]]
[[Category:North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Rail transport in Darlington]]
[[Category:Horse-drawn railways]]
[[Category:Standard gauge railways in England]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1821]]
[[Category:Stockton-on-Tees]]
[[Category:4 ft 8 in gauge railways]]
[[Category:George Stephenson]]
[[Category:British companies disestablished in 1863]]
[[Category:1863 mergers and acquisitions]]