The North Tyneside Steam Railway and Stephenson Steam Railway are visitor attractions in North Shields, North East England. The museum and railway workshops share a building on Middle Engine Lane adjacent to the Silverlink Retail Park. The railway is a standard gauge line, running south for from the museum to Percy Main. The railway is operated by the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association (NTSRA). The museum is managed by North East Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council.
The railway runs along the alignment of various former coal wagonways, which were later used by the Tyne and Wear Metro Test Centre; the museum and workshop building used to be the test facility. The museum is dedicated to the railway pioneers George Stephenson and his son Robert, with one of George's early locomotives, Billy, housed in the museum.
History
Horse drawn and rope hauled waggonways
As the early coal seams of the Northumberland Coalfield near the River Tyne were exhausted, waggonways were laid to serve pits sunk further north. Coal would be unloaded into colliers (coal transport ships) via staithes. The first wagonways used wooden waggons on wooden rails drawn by horses. The first traffic began in 1755 on a line from Shiremoor to Hayhole staithes, and was soon followed by more lines. Wooden rails were eventually replaced by wrought iron. Rope haulage was introduced from 1821, with the museum site being at the top of Prospect Hill. By the 1820s coal was coming from pits further to the north in Seghill, Backworth and Cramlington, while a pit at Murton near Shiremoor had also been added. In 1826 it also became the preferred route for coal coming from Fawdon to the west, to make it unnecessary to use keel boats further upriver.
Traffic increased as further pits opened, and the corridor from Middle Engine Lane down to Percy Main became congested as companies either shared lines or built their own within a hundred yards of each other, depending on which was more convenient. Once they crossed the line of the present A193 Wallsend Road, they fanned out to their respective unloading points. In 1839 the Cramlington wagonway built a new line away from the corridor further to the west, while still passing close to it at the Middle Engine Lane and Percy Main ends. By the 1840s, coal was also coming from Blyth and Bedlington on the east coast, although this ceased after improvements to Blyth harbour in the 1880s.
The opening of the route to Blyth also saw passenger services being run to Percy Main from 1841, for connections with the Newcastle and North Shields Railway. These were run by what eventually became the Blyth & Tyne Railway. Passenger services ceased around 1864 when they opened an alternative route further to the east via Monkseaton (now the present Metro route).
Steam locomotive working and Metro test track At its peak, there were four lines on the corridor, with three stationary engines in close proximity to the museum. Having already been in use on other parts of the lines, gradient improvements on the Blyth & Tyne's line allowed it to use steam locomotives throughout from the 1850s. Others persisted with rope haulage, the Seaton Burn Wagonway being the last to convert in 1900.
Coal production began to decline after the First World War causing the Seaton Burn wagonway to close in the 1920s; a new route from the Rising Sun colliery to the west did open in 1939, although this was to replace a line on a different route. In the late 1940s the coal and railway companies were nationalised - the lines on the corridor were now controlled by either the National Coal Board (NCB) or British Rail (BR) (as the eventual owners of the Blyth & Tyne). Rationalisation saw with the Cramlington line to the west closed in the 1950s.
As volumes further declined, the last Percy Main staithes closed in 1971, leading to the closure of the NCB lines, although the BR lines persisted. In 1975, the Seaton Burn wagonway alignment was relaid for use by the Tyne and Wear Metro Test Centre, with a test track running from Middle Engine Lane as far south as the A1058 Coast Road bridges, and north beyond Middle Engine Lane on the Backworth wagonway alignment to West Allotment. The two prototype Metrocars worked out of a two-road maintenance shed constructed in Middle Engine Lane. Once the Metro system opened in 1979, the test centre closed and the track infrastructure was dismantled, leaving only the shed. The last BR line (Percy Main to Backworth) closed in 1983 and the tracks were lifted, ending over 200 years of railway use of the corridor.
Museum and heritage railway
In 1982/4 North Tyneside Council acquired the test sheds as the nucleus for a transport museum. A partnership was formed between Tyne and Wear Museums and the council, to construct a steam hauled passenger railway rather than a static transport museum. The North Tyneside Steam Railway Association formed at the site after the Monkwearmouth Station Museum Association relocated to Middle Engine Lane, bringing with them some items of rolling stock they had been restoring in the Monkwearmouth station's goods shed, which was in a deteriorating condition. From 1987, volunteers under supervision conducted the works necessary to relay a single track from the museum to Percy Main. The line was completed in 1989 and the first passenger trains ran in early 1991.
In 1994, Tyne and Wear Development Corporation and North Tyneside City Challenge made a grant available to North Tyneside Council to extend the workshops, redesign the museum space and construct a new facilities block. In 2003 the facilities block was further modified to improve educational and toilet facilities. In the early 1990s the LNER Class A4 4464 Bittern was displayed at the museum disguised as the Silver Link; the local Silverlink Business Park took its name from that locomotive due to it being at the museum of the time of construction. Bittern was moved to York in 1994 in exchange for loaning a Deltic.
In 2007, the Tyne and Wear Museums and North Tyneside Council's head of cultural services have submitted plans for a feasibility study into developing the museum into a premier North East railway tourist attraction, with period buildings, a link to Percy Main Metro station, and all year round opening.
In 2019, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (now North East Museums) were given a lottery grant provided to redevelop the Stephenson Railway Museum. Among a lot of refurbishment in the museum building, this has also seen the name change from the Stephenson Railway Museum to the Stephenson Steam Railway.
In 2023 the Railway was awarded lottery funding to develop a woodland walk covering a two-acre site.
Operation
Management
The museum is managed by North East Museums on behalf of North Tyneside Council. Volunteers of the North Tyneside Steam Railway Association (NTSRA) operate the railway and assist with the maintenance and conservation of locomotives and rolling stock. The NTSRA is managed by a committee that meets quarterly and has an Annual General Meeting yearly.
Infrastructure The building on Middle Engine Lane serves as the railway workshop and the museum's indoor exhibition space, the workshop being on the left-hand side. The railway yard has three sidings entering the building from the south, the westernmost being for the workshop, while the two others enter the exhibition space allowing operational stock to be put on display.
The running line of the railway consists of a single track line, with two open-air platforms at either end, both with a passing loop. The northern platform, "Middle Engine Lane", is just south of the museum building. The southern platform, "Percy Main", is immediately south of the point where the Metro crosses the railway, paralleling the length of Brunton Street, to which there is pedestrian access for passengers wishing to leave the train there.
Services Entry to the museum is free; rides on the trains requires purchase of a ticket. The museum building also contains a gift shop and toilet facilities, and a cafe which opens on certain event days. The cafe was renovated in Autumn 2017. The museum is only open at certain times of the year, and passenger trains are only run on some of those days.
As of 2018 two main timetables are in operation. Green timetable is used on Sundays/Bank Holidays which runs four round trips - departing at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2.00pm and 3.00pm. The Blue timetable is used on Thursdays during school holidays which runs three round trips - departing at 12.30pm, 1.30pm and 2.30pm. Special event days include a Halloween Special, a 1940s weekend, Beer Festival (Ale by Rail), Winter Warmers and Santa Specials.
Rolling stock
Stock list ImageName/No.BuiltBuilderClass/TypeStatus Steam locomotivesNo.11951Robert Stephenson and HawthornsStatic ExhibitBilly1816George StephensonStatic ExhibitNo.4011950BagnallVictor/Vulcan Operational Ashington No.5 Jackie Milburn1939Peckett and Sons Operational A.No.51883Kitson & Co.Static Exhibit No.691953HunsletHunslet Austerity 0-6-0STUndergoing OverhaulNo. 41953Sentinel Waggon WorksSentinel 0-4-0VBGTUndergoing OverhaulNo. 2 (Pony)1912Hawthorn LeslieHawthorn Leslie 0-4-0STAwaiting Overhaul Diesel locomotivesNo.089151962Horwich WorksBritish Rail Class 08 OperationalNo.030781959Doncaster WorksBritish Rail Class 03 OperationalNo.10 1958Consett Iron CompanyOperational Electric locomotivesTyne and Wear Metrocar 40011975Metro-CammellBritish Rail Class 599Static ExhibitHarton Electric E41912SiemensStatic Exhibit32671904North Eastern RailwayMotor Parcel VanStatic Exhibit Coaches480151955DoncasterMk 1 Second Lavatory Open 330Operational430101954DoncasterMk 1 non-gangwayed Lavatory Composite 313Operational43172Ex-531721954DoncasterMk 1 Brake Second 371Operational WagonsDB 9929931956Metro Cammell24 ton 14 ft 4 wheel Steel Ballast Hopper Dogfish ZFV 1/587OperationalBoldon Colliery No. 103No. 136 Whitburn Colliery19274 wheel 4-plank Open WagonOperational (battery carrier for E4)4 wheel Flat Wagon TTP Cosmetically restored to represent BR Barrier vehicleOperationalZV 7337284 wheel Flat WagonOperationalB 7746581957BR Wolverton12 ton 10 ft 4 wheel Ventilated Van Vanfit VVV 1/208Operational21North Eastern RailwayNCB Lambton Platelayers VanUndergoing RestorationDB 9962971953Head Wrightson50 ton 8 wheel Bogie Flat Salmon YMP 1/642OperationalB 9004021949Derby40 ton 8 wheel Bogie Flatrol LowmacOperational3193920 ton 4 wheel tank wagonOperational41950Charles Roberts20 ton 4 wheel tank wagonOperationalA 577620 ton 4 wheel British Petroleum Ltd tank wagonOperationalB 4157761954Shildon21 ton coal hopper wagonOperational7221958Hurst Nelson21 ton coal hopper wagonOperational65551956Hurst Nelson21 ton coal hopper wagonOperational5 ton Type BD General Goods Container (Diagram 3/050)UnrestoredB 85xxxx12 ton 10f 4 wheel Ventilated Van Shocvan VSV 1/209Unrestored Departmental stockB 9519201953BR Faverdale20 ton 16 ft 4 wheel Brake Van Toad CAP 1/506OperationalDRS 811401957Smith Rodley6 wheel 10 ton Diesel Mechanical CraneStoredDE3210511927StratfordFour-wheel PMVY, converted to Crane RunnerStored
Steam locomotives
Billy Billy was built by George Stephenson in 1816, and was one of the various pioneering designs now known as the Killingworth locomotives, because they were built for use in Killingworth Colliery. It is often referred to as the Killingworth Billy to differentiate it from Puffing Billy, built by William Hedley in 1813 for the Wylam Colliery. Killingworth Billy ran until 1879, and it was presented to the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1881. It is a stationary exhibit, mounted on a short stretch of period track with block-mounted rails, to remain compatible with horse-drawn trains. Horses would have been tripped up by conventional sleepers.
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