North East Steam workings from Tyne Dock to Consett

8mm cine film shot by me in 1966 on this steeply graded line in Durham which served the Iron and Steelworks at Consett.
Iron ore was transported in specially built wagons hauled by 2-10-0 9F
Locomotives on grades as steep as 1 in 35.
A banker was required on the steepest parts of the route at Tyne Dock and through Beamish.
The banker was attached at South Pelaw and as the 9f and ore train waited for this my good friend Garth McLean took the opportunity to paint the smokebox number plate under the watchful eye of the driver.
Once done the driver said "would you like to come up to Consett with us" and so without a moments hesitation we had an unforgettable footplate trip!.
As well as iron ore the railway also transported coal usually with 9fs in charge but on one occasion Q6 63368 was captured near Annfield Plain with a 9f banker.
Steam traction from Tyne Dock MPD ended on 17th October with the running of the last Ore train with 92050 seen in the video approaching Beamish.

[@thestocktonflyer4059]

Excellent video. Thank you so much for bringing to us 😊 please keep up the good work 😊

[@MiLLwallpaul231258]

Absolutely brilliant

[@jeffreyhodge5564]

I used to go up to Annfield plain between 1963 to 1966 ,on a quiet day you could hear these trains fully loaded with invariably a Q6 as a banker barking from miles away ,incredible sight and sound ,more incredible was the pink snow at Consett from iron ore dust ,the volume of traffic to and from Costt steel works was incredible ,I can hear it and smell it now 👍

[@carlbentley80]

Fantastic, I have 2 of the Bachmann OO Tyne Dock 9F's, great loco.

[@twocvbloke]

Amazing to think that stuff like this went by the top of the street where I live with the station being where a Tesco store is now, but it all got thatchered in the 80s when the line was shut down for good, I think Tyne & Wear Metro had eyes on the line for potential expansion, but the gov ripped it all up tout suite and made it unusable with bridge removals and digging out the trackbed, not allowed public transport on rails round here apparently... :(

[@stephensmith799]

Yes. Thatcher loathed trains.

[@keithturner428]

Brilliant!!!

[@routeman680]

Marvellous to see the 9Fs and Q6s working hard. I can't believe it was more than half a century ago.

[@stephensmith799]

Yes, as a boy I thought of 9Fs as very modern machines!

[@Martin_Adams184]

Excellent! I never saw these trains, for I lived in west Wales. But this film lives up to everything I read about them, especially with such good sound. Thank you! Subscribed!

[@michaelnewman1920]

Super Show thanks for sharing this

[@tidfordjunction]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[@robertbate5790]

Im old enough to remember everyday steam, just. I lived south of Birmingham on the Snow Hill -Paddington route. Kings and Castles were still in service, but standards and black fives were common by then, including a few 9Fs. The sound is brilliant for ghe yime of recording too. I lived in Newton Aycliffe in the 80s, and met a few men who knew the area well, and came to learn of the Consett workings. Very impressive. Sad not to have had the rxperience. 👍👍👍

[@TheGWR0-4-0]

Thanks for uploading this and all the rest of the footage! Really enjoying watching it all!

[@dodgy1954]

Magic. I wish that I had ben able to witness these workings.

[@12crepello]

Thanks for the upload. This was a sight I was unfortunately never to see. Interesting that the 9F's allocated to this duty were fitted with steam operated air compressors in the middle of the right hand running plate. This was to supply the air operated hopper doors on the iron ore tipplers.

[@bingbong7316]

Yes, specifically for this - when the 9Fs were reallocated, the pumps were removed.

[@daystatesniper01]

Totally superb

[@gntdriver2840]

Ive lived very near the line most of my life (Stanley area) and have heard many times that the steepest section was the half mile stretch at Oxhill/New Kyo which is about halfway between Stanley and Annfield Plain. In later years after this video was filmed the iron ore trains were always double headed with class 24 diesel locos

[@jimihendrix991]

Real railways... 🙂

[@michaelnewman1920]

9f fantastic locomotives, remember them passing Ripple Lane yard with tanks from Shell Haven on the Thames

[@frenchsteam7356]

The 9Fs were replaced by Sulzer 2s [Class 24] 5102-5112 operating in pairs with boiler removed and additional compressors fitted to operate the wagon doors. The wagons were restricted to 25mph because of their condition. You were lucky if you got more than 15mph climbing past Annfield East, down to a walking pace in wet weather. No banker was provided.

[@paulnolan1352]

Fantastic film with great quality footage.

[@kennethstill5945]

Difficult to say anything as it already has been expressed, it was a great film. Those were the days when the railways were interesting. I was around to see plenty of those series of locos but not there unfortunately. That class 40 was kept clean for that regular working I’m led to believe (Gateshead).

[@epcotcentre]

The 9Fs came trundling past my school on the Lincoln Avoiding Line. Does anyone know if iron ore was transported on this line?

[@user-pf3ye6yi9n]

Part of the line is now a path, I have walked the section Pelton - Beamish several times. It would be good to have a list of the locations for comparison with the present. Beamish is obvious, I think one of the others is maybe Pelton?

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hi sorry for the late reply, Actually I did not film at Pelton , the main locations were Tyne Dock, Beamish of course, Annfield East Junction, and Consett more or less in that order.

[@user-pf3ye6yi9n]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv Ok thanks for the info.

[@stephensmith799]

A lot of sheer grunt👍. Does anyone know what the settings were on the valve gear and how much regulator was needed?

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hello Stephen, Sorry I don't have the answer to your question. I was sat on the fireman's seat for the trip up to Consett as he was otherwise engaged! What I do remember is the deafening exhaust , the heat from the white hot fire when coal was added and the shaking of the engine which made it impossible to hold the camera steady. They say that a steam locomotive is the nearest a machine can be to a living being and this was it!

[@stephensmith799]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv Ah… Bliss!

[@KeithDeley]

I know this question is silly, but what powers the lights in steam trains carriages

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hello Keith, The answer is quite simple as the carriages are fitted with a dynamo which is driven by a belt from one of the axels on the carriage wheels. There is also a bank of batteries to provide power when the train is not moving. Incidentally many later designs of steam locomotives had electric lighting powered by a small steam turbine generator.

[@KeithDeley]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv thank you

[@bobcannell7603]

Thank you! Daft place to have a steel works. Especially after the ironstone mines were exhausted on the hill tops.