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The Leamside Line (originally part of the Durham Junction Railway) is a railway line in the North East of England, branching off from the main East Coast Main Line (ECML) at Tursdale in County Durham, and continuing north through Washington and Wardley, finally joining the Newcastle upon Tyne to Sunderland line at Pelaw. It is currently out of use, having been mothballed by British Rail in 1991 after the closure of the Freightliner freight terminal at Follingsby, near Washington, which was the recipient of most of the line's traffic in its last years. A short section of the line from Pelaw Junction remained in operation for a number of years, serving the open-cast coal mine at Wardley, but this too has now closed. ==History== |} The first section of the line was opened by the Durham Junction Railway on 24 August 1838 between Washington, on the Stanhope & Tyne Railway, and Rainton Meadows. The Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway bought the railway in 1843 and used it as part of its route between Darlington and Newcastle from 18 June 1844. Trains traveled via until the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, the successor of the Newcastle & Darlington Junction, opened the direct line between Washington and Pelaw on 1 September 1849. The stone arch Victoria Viaduct over the river Wear is inspired by the design of the Alcántara Bridge in Spain, with The rails pass over the valley, carried on four arches, two of span , and two of span .〔}〕 It constituted part of the original East Coast Main Line route from Edinburgh to London, eventually being incorporated into the North Eastern Railway. The line's main source of revenue, as with most of the early railways, was mineral traffic, principally coal from the Durham coalfield. The line was linked to many private colliery branch lines and wagonways. During the line's period of operation, passenger stations served were: Usworth; Washington; Penshaw; Fencehouses; Leamside; Sherburn; and Shincliffe. The line was part of the east coast main line until 1872 when the route was bypassed by the NER's Bishop Auckland to Gateshead line and Croxdale link, which became part of the ECML. Thereafter it continued to carry local passenger services and freight traffic, as well as serving as a useful diversionary route from the ECML. Passenger services between Leamside and Ferryhill were withdrawn in 1941 and Leamside station closed in 1953. Usworth and Washington closed on 9 September 1963.〔Railway Magazine October 1963 p.737〕 The last regular passenger service was withdrawn in May 1964 as part of the infamous Beeching Axe although, in its latter days, this had only consisted of an early morning 'newspaper' train from Newcastle to Fencehouses and Durham only and a single workers' return service from Newcastle to Washington on Mondays to Fridays.〔British Railways Passenger Services Timetable, North Eastern England, 12 June to 10 September 1961〕 Coal and other freight continued to be carried until the gradual closure of the Durham coalfield in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in a severe drop in the line's traffic. It was mothballed in 1991. South of Victoria Viaduct, the line merged with the direct Durham to Sunderland Line for a short distance. This also fell to the Beeching Axe in 1964. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Leamside Line」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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