Over THE STAINMORE PASS
Chris Rowley recalls express operations over England’s highest main line.
The railway over the Stainmore Pass, England’s highest main line, will forever be associated with the dramatic sight and sound of multiple north-eastern steam locomotives working the heavy mineral traffic for which the railway was originally built between the North East and Furness, Cumberland and Lancashire.
Despite this, one of the most fascinating aspects of Thomas Bouch’s superbly engineered transPennine railway, from the very first days of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) through to the last years of BR operations, was the express passenger services the railway supported.
Early years
The railway opened in the summer of 1861, and from the very beginning, the S&DR saw the potential in the only Pennine crossing in the 70 miles between the Tyne Valley and the River Aire in Yorkshire, to link the huge populations in the industrial North East with the emerging leisure markets of Lakeland.
The very first passenger excursion service to use the line ran between Darlington and Windermere at the end of August 1861, and was packed with North Easterners daytripping to the Lakes with a through journey time of less than three-and-a-half hours. That particular train came to grief in an accident on the lonely expanse of Bowes Moor on the evening ride home over Stainmore summit, the 275 passengers saved only by the fact that the guard had partially screwed down the rear brakes for the descent.
Developing the market
By the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, leisure travel was expanding rapidly, and the railway over the North Pennines played a part in making this possible for the working population of the North East. During this pre-First World War period, in addition to the core stopping DarlingtonTebay ECML to WCML passenger service of around 1 hour 45 minutes, the Stainmore Line supported a mixture of direct fast and semi-fast services targeted at the leisure market and allowing day trips by rail to the Lakes that would not be possible today.
During summer, these included direct Darlington to Keswick services with some sub-two hour journey times, direct Darlington–Kendal trains in around 2 hours 50 minutes and in the immediate pre-war period a less successful direct NewcastleBarrow Isle of Man boat train.
The LNER era over Stainmore encompassed the pain of the Great Depression and the substantial impact that this had on freight volumes. In the early 1930s, however, the LNER took the initiative in marketing a passenger service over the route and, for the first time, opened up a new market: express services from the North East direct to the bright lights of Blackpool.
To give a sense of the scale of Blackpool’s growth as a leisure destination, before the coming of railways the town barely existed at all, with about 500 inhabitants. By the turn of the century it was
The railway over the Stainmore Pass, England’s highest main line, will forever be associated with the dramatic sight and sound of multiple north-eastern steam locomotives working the heavy mineral traffic for which the railway was originally built between the North East and Furness, Cumberland and Lancashire.
Despite this, one of the most fascinating aspects of Thomas Bouch’s superbly engineered transPennine railway, from the very first days of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) through to the last years of BR operations, was the express passenger services the railway supported.
Early years
The railway opened in the summer of 1861, and from the very beginning, the S&DR saw the potential in the only Pennine crossing in the 70 miles between the Tyne Valley and the River Aire in Yorkshire, to link the huge populations in the industrial North East with the emerging leisure markets of Lakeland.
The very first passenger excursion service to use the line ran between Darlington and Windermere at the end of August 1861, and was packed with North Easterners daytripping to the Lakes with a through journey time of less than three-and-a-half hours. That particular train came to grief in an accident on the lonely expanse of Bowes Moor on the evening ride home over Stainmore summit, the 275 passengers saved only by the fact that the guard had partially screwed down the rear brakes for the descent.
Developing the market
By the late 19th Century and early 20th Century, leisure travel was expanding rapidly, and the railway over the North Pennines played a part in making this possible for the working population of the North East. During this pre-First World War period, in addition to the core stopping DarlingtonTebay ECML to WCML passenger service of around 1 hour 45 minutes, the Stainmore Line supported a mixture of direct fast and semi-fast services targeted at the leisure market and allowing day trips by rail to the Lakes that would not be possible today.
During summer, these included direct Darlington to Keswick services with some sub-two hour journey times, direct Darlington–Kendal trains in around 2 hours 50 minutes and in the immediate pre-war period a less successful direct NewcastleBarrow Isle of Man boat train.
The LNER era over Stainmore encompassed the pain of the Great Depression and the substantial impact that this had on freight volumes. In the early 1930s, however, the LNER took the initiative in marketing a passenger service over the route and, for the first time, opened up a new market: express services from the North East direct to the bright lights of Blackpool.
To give a sense of the scale of Blackpool’s growth as a leisure destination, before the coming of railways the town barely existed at all, with about 500 inhabitants. By the turn of the century it was
attracting 47,000 visitors a year, and by 1920 a staggering 7 million visitors a year were arriving. Post-Second World War, and at its peak, that figure reached over 17 million.
Initially, from 1932, the LNER introduced a direct Newcastle-Blackpool train in the summer, beyond Barnard Castle and calling at Kirkby Stephen only on the route over Stainmore. Other express operations in this period included the starting of a miners’ special, a Durham-Ulverston train every other Friday, transporting the miners of County Durham to Conishead for rest and recuperation.
Leisure boom
The experiment, launched in the depths of the Great Depression to tap leisure markets to the Lancashire coast, was successful. Throughout the post-war years, right through to the very end, Saturdays in summer would feature a procession of double-headed North East to Blackpool express operations blasting over Stainmore summit and clattering over the great viaducts of the South Durham and Lancashire Union.
By the mid-1950s, holiday traffic for Blackpool was reaching its peak and this coincided with the arrival over Stainmore of powerful Standard 4 and Ivatt Class 4 locomotives, moving to the route to support heavier freight operations.
In the immediate post-war years, just a single Blackpool-South Shields express operated on Saturdays, from June through to September, but this rapidly developed into three morning trains out and three afternoon trains back by the end of the 1940s for the peak summer season of July and August, with two trains out and back in the early and late summer. This more intensive pattern continued right through to the final summer of the line in 1961.
At their peak, summertime operations focused on direct dedicated departures in the mornings from South Shields, Newcastle and Darlington at 7.32am, 9.05am and 9.20am respectively, with balancing workings from Blackpool at 11.05am and 11.25am, with one of these being split at Tebay to allow dedicated Darlington and South Shields trains to operate in their own separate paths over the testing gradients to Stainmore summit.
The three return service groups were targeted at the three main population centres in the industrial north east; the Newcastle train for that city and its surrounds, the Darlington train for Middlesbrough and Teesside owing to the good connections offered at Darlington, and the South Shields operation that was principally for Sunderland. This train was particularly interesting for its routing in the North East. On leaving South Shields, the train ran past Tyne Dock and through to Sunderland on the Durham Coast, then on the Sunderland to Durham line via Fencehouses and Leamside. By the mid to late 1950s, all these expresses were notable for their calling patterns in County Durham, often being the only through express service calling at large pit towns in the region where local services were being gradually reduced. The South Shields train was an interesting example. On departure from Sunderland, at around 8am,
it called at Fencehouses at 8.21am, Durham at 8.41am and Brandon Colliery at 8.50am outbound before beginning the long haul over Stainmore from Bishop Auckland at 9.20am after a leisurely ten-minute recess there. Ticket restrictions were applied such that only passengers with through bookings over Stainmore could use the services.
Although designated expresses, the trains never offered particularly fast journey times with most taking over five hours to complete the approximately 160-mile journey. The services were aimed at holidaymakers from the North East and were relatively sparse in terms of amenities, often making use of ageing LNER coaching stock and rarely providing buffet services. Heading west, however, in the late morning, down-grade through Barras and across Belah on a clear day, passengers were treated to views across 30 miles or more into the north Lakeland mountains, the height of the Stainmore Line offering glimpses from a unique perspective of this beautiful and wild corner of North West England.
Enthusiast interest
The combination of multiple locomotives working heavy loads of heritage stock over steep gradients on summer Saturdays was, by the mid-1950s, drawing enthusiasts and photographers to Stainmore on a regular basis for the first time. The five hours in the middle of the day featured a series of double-headed expresses, local passenger and heavy double-headed and banked freight operations as the quiet valleys and gills of Westmoreland echoed to the sound of Standard 4s and Ivatt 4 ‘Moguls’ blasting up the gradients on this cross country railway. In this time window it was not unusual for over 20 locomotive movements in steam to be observed 1,370ft up working the Pennine gradients at the summit. The last express was timed to breast the summit around 3.15pm, heading home to Newcastle. A.S.C. Davies was one of many steam enthusiasts based in the North East who discovered the draw of Stainmore during the 1950s. After an initial trip to Barnard Castle and down to Middleton in Teesdale, his interest was peaked by the line that struck out west at Tees Valley Junction. On the last Saturday in July 1957 he made his first trip westbound over the top on an express and described the journey down from the summit: “Thereafter it was helter skelter all the way down the other side, at around 45mph,
in pouring rain and mist. With glimpses of the great hills seemingly all around, this was an unforgettable introduction to the Stainmore Line! A triumphant arrival was achieved in Kirkby Stephen only 1.5 mins under the 42 mins booking’ (from Bishop Auckland).”
Davies’ chronicles of his many trips over Stainmore are of particular interest for his meticulous records of the actual speed of trains over the route – as opposed to the published linespeed. The line was never a high-speed railway – in achieving the aim of a tunnel-free design, Thomas Bouch had delivered a course that hugged the contours of the fells, particularly as the great shelf of high ground gradually gives way to the Eden Valley on the west side of the summit. Despite this, over Bowes Moor and on many downgrade sections, speeds of 50-60mph were not uncommon for heavy expresses. On the tough 1-in-60 climb to the summit from the west, crews needed skill, good rail conditions, a well-maintained locomotive and good coal to avoid slipping to a stand on the isolated moors.
My father, born in 1938 in Middlesbrough, grew up in Redcar with North East steam throughout the 1940s and 1950s. He recalled many a trip over Stainmore, initially on weekend holiday specials to the North West with his family as a small boy and then, as he got older, the opportunity that runabout tickets afforded for day trips over the Pennines to explore this remote railway, leaving Teesside behind for the wilds of the gradients of Westmorland. Like many, his abiding memory was of clattering over the glorious viaduct at Belah, 1,000ft up in the North Pennine fells and 200ft above the River Belah below.
Sundays as well as Saturdays were a great opportunity for an express ride over the Pennines with through-Saltburn to Penrith Sunday operations, providing direct access for Teesside to the Lakes throughout the summer with options for taking a bus to Pooley Bridge and a cruise on Lake Ullswater often part of the marketing.
Trains loaded well, with nine coaches being quite normal. By 1957, departure from Saltburn was moved to a slightly earlier 8.40am, Darlington 9.50am and Barnard Castle at 10.30am. Arrival in Penrith was now before midday at 11.54am. Good onward connections to Keswick were maintained and with a return departure from Penrith in the evening at 7.50pm, giving an arrival at Middlesbrough of 10.30pm, the service was ideal for daytrippers as well as those making longer holiday journeys. The comparable railway offer today via the Tyne Valley is between an hour and a half and two hours longer each way on Sundays and just under an hour longer on weekdays and, of course, ends at Penrith… In short, a day trip from the North East into the heart of the Lakes is no longer viable by rail.
Traction for these Sunday services varied, with
On the tough 1‑in‑60 climb to the summit from the west, crews needed skill, good rail conditions, a well‑maintained locomotive and good coal to avoid slipping to a stand on the isolated moors
locomotives from Darlington or other North East depots. ‘L1s’ and ‘K1s’, for example, often operated the outbound leg as far as Darlington or Barnard Castle with more typical Stainmore traction often taking over at those points, normally doubleheaded. The lack of local passenger services operating on Sundays meant that, by the mid-1950s, the 2-6-2T Standard 3s often got a run out on these heavier loads, either double-headed or in conjunction with Standard 3 2-6-0s or Standard 4s.
Schedules between stops were tight on this run. On the evening dash back home over Stainmore it was common for pairs of 2-6-2Ts or Standard 4s to be topping 50 or 55mph, particularly on the racing stretch down over Bowes Moor and through the town before urgent application of the brakes as the tight right-hand curve over Deepdale approached. Then they’d pick up speed again and clatter through the dense woods east of Lartington in the final vestiges of daylight at the end a long summer day.
Such was the window on the wild expanse of the North Pennines that was opened up to the railway traveller over Stainmore, over countless Saturdays and Sundays in the post-war era.
Final summers
With trunk freight operations diverted away from Stainmore in July 1960, the line struggled on for two more summer seasons as political battles over closure raged. Despite the Regional and Central Transport User Consultative Committees (TUCCs) finally confirming support for closure
in July 1961, the summer express programme continued as normal.
A typical snapshot on Saturday July 22 showed a busy day ‘over the top’ with four of the six express workings double-headed and at least one additional steam special operating between Penrith and Barnard Castle. Standard 4 No. 76024, in poor condition, started the day off on a six-coach load ex-South Shields. Nos. 76045 and 43126 followed on a heavy eight-coach Darlington-Blackpool service. An eight-coach Newcastle-Blackpool followed behind Nos. 76049 and 43056.
Kirkby Stephen East was a hive of activity around midday with the last of the westbound expresses departing. A Class 101 operated a stopping Darlington-Penrith service in close succession, arriving either side of the departure, eastbound then westbound, and then a special four-coach train behind an unidentified Ivatt 4 arriving from Penrith around midday and bound for the North East.
The afternoon brought expresses home to the North East with the same locomotives in steam working different combinations of the return legs.
Throughout that summer of 1961 the SaltburnPenrith
specials also ran on Sundays – usually with just a single Ivatt or Standard 4 (out of either Darlington or West Auckland shed) in charge. By the end of the summer these trains were reduced to just five coaches. By now, Penrith’s turntable was out of use, so the steam traction returned in the early Sunday afternoons to be turned at Kirkby Stephen. Then it made its way back up the Eden Valley, tender-first, to pick up the evening return working.
The final timetabled express of the summer season ran from Penrith to Saltburn on Sunday September 3 1961, behind Stainmore veteran Standard 4 No. 76045 of West Auckland. During August runs this locomotive had disturbed the Sunday morning calm of the Eden Valley at speeds of up to 70mph, but on the final day progress was more sedate. The train made its way through the Stainmore Pass sometime around 9pm in fading light that evening, and so brought to an end exactly a century (to the very week) of summer holidaymakers and daytrippers making their way through the wild moorland of the North Pennines and Westmorland by way of this extraordinary railway.