On track for station’s long story
FELLING railway station was looking rather down at heel 50 years ago, as our main photograph shows.
Its replacement, today’s modern Metro station, is noticeably more sleek, streamlined and cleaner by comparison.
There’s a fair bit of history gone on in this little corner of Gateshead.
The first station at this site opened in November 1896, and the steam trains of the North Eastern Railway thundered though here between Newcastle and South Shields/Sunderland.
From 1938, the passenger trains were electric, and from 1963 diesel-run.
In 1969, not long after our photograph was taken, the station became unmanned and a target for vandals. The old buildings were demolished in 1972 and replaced by a brick shelter.
In 1979, Felling station closed, with railway trains stopping instead at the newly-opened, nearby Heworth station, which would become a public transport interchange also incorporating buses and the new Tyne and Wear Metro service.
In November 1981, Felling reopened as a Metro station.
Before this and the original railway station, there was another station here, Brandling Station. It operated between 1843 and 1896. The building, situated just to the east of the current location, still stands today - a small, Tudor Gothic-style structure standing on its own next to the tracks. Look out for it. It looks like a small chapel.
Tragedy has struck near here. On March 26, 1907, the regular Leeds to Newcastle express train roared along the line towards its destination.
A 1.40pm, the train hit a kink in the line between Heworth signal box and Felling station, derailing six of its eight passenger carriages. Two passengers later died of their injuries.
Earlier still, in 1812, an explosion ripped through Felling Colliery which was as located where Mulberry Street stands today, just behind the modern-day Metro station. Of the 92 miners who perished on that grim day, 27 were between the ages of eight and 14.