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The Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (N&CR) was an English railway company formed in 1825 that built a line from Newcastle upon Tyne on Britain's east coast, to Carlisle, on the west coast. The railway began operating freight trains in 1834 between Blaydon and Hexham, and passengers were carried for the first time the following year. The rest of the line opened in stages: from Hexham to Haydon Bridge and isolated section in the west from Carlisle to Greenhead opened in 1836, the eastern section was extended to Redheugh on the south bank of the Tyne in 1837, and the central section of line opened allowing trains to operate between Redheugh and Carlisle in 1838. A bridge at Scotswood allowed a temporary station to open in Newcastle, north of the Tyne, in 1839, although did not open until 1851. A branch line from Haltwhistle to Alston opened in 1852. A short branch to Brampton was worked by a horse hauling a carriage. In 1837, Thomas Edmondson, a N&CR station master at Milton (now ) printed numbered card tickets were dated by a press. The N&CR ran excursion trains from 1840. The N&CR was absorbed by the larger North Eastern Railway in 1862. Today the Tyne Valley Line follows much of the former N&CR route between the two cities. ==Origins== Plans for a canal linking Newcastle upon Tyne, on Britain's east coast, with Carlisle, on the west coast had existed since 1794, and a canal opened between the Solway Firth and Carlisle on 12 March 1823. The engineer William Chapman estimated the cost of extending the canal to Newcastle as £888,000, whereas building a railway between the two cities would cost £252,488. These estimates were confirmed by the engineer Josias Jessop and the Newcastle upon Tyne and Carlisle Railroad Company was formed on 26 March 1825 with a capital of £300,000. So as to allow a private bill to be presented to Parliament in 1826, Chapman, Jessop and Benjamin Thompson surveyed a route between Newcastle and Carlisle that avoided, as far as possible, the houses of gentlemen. It was proposed that horses would provide the motive power, as this would have fewer objections from the landed gentry and allow for cheaper rails. A route to Carlisle from Newcastle quay that crossed over to the south side of the River Tyne at Scotswood was published on 12 November 1825, but George Stephenson, surveying a rival route on the north side of the Tyne, found some errors in Chapman's route. With elections delaying further work it was 1827 before the route could be revised and the company returned to Parliament in 1828. Although opposed and with Stephenson claiming a cheaper route was possible, the bill was read for a third time in the House of Commons on 1 May 1829 and received Royal Assent on 28 May 1829. The Act give permission to raise £400,000, £300,000 as shares and £100,000 in loans, to build a long railway, but forbade the use of steam locomotives as this would have been opposed by the landowners. Like the Stockton & Darlington Railway, the railway was expected to be open to anyone on payment of tolls. Before the first meeting of the thirty directors in October, a shareholder suggested that the line continue on the south side into Gateshead to save the cost of a bridge crossing the Tyne at Scotswood. The board appointed Francis Giles as engineer and asked for him to report on the merits of the two routes. Construction started on the west end of the line on 25 March 1830 and Giles suggested a branch along the south bank as far as a lead refinery at Blaydon, which could later be extended to Gateshead. The Wetheral Bridge was built across the River Eden, with 5 arches, long and above the river's summer level, the Corby Viaduct crossed the Drybeck Valley and River Gelt was crossed by skew bridge at an angle of 63 degrees. There were two short tunnels, one long at Farnley Scars, near Corbridge, and another long at Whitchester, near Haltwhistle. A mile long (1.6 km) cutting at Cowran was up to depth, and at the time reported to be the largest in England. 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「Newcastle & Carlisle Railway」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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