North East Steam workings from Tyne Dock to Consett

[@KennethMyers-h6h]

The 9f locomotives were brilliant

[@epj900]

Fantastic! Thanks for this. I remember reading about the ore trains at the time but never got to sea them, living in Lancashire.

[@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 👍

[@DrDave_63395]

Wonderful reminder

[@adammassacre4715]

This is fantastic! i ride my bike quite regular up the now C2C from Sunderland all the way up just past Hownsgill viaduct. As a Washington boy i would watch the old trains come down the Leamside and over the Victoria Viaduct. MASSIVE Diesels garggling loud as hell and rumbling away. Fascinating stuff. Even now when riding along the C2C you can almost hear the engines its a rather strange thing and you can realy feel the history of it. Brilliant. Thanks for sharing this :)

[@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!

[@michaellynch61]

Went to Brooms RC School 1953 to 1960. Line ran between the school and the Church. Lessons stopped for a minute or two when ore and coal trains passed (hooray from us lot!!) We saw the change from the usual two 0-8-0 engines pulling the ore trucks, to two new 0-10-0 9F's heading up the train - was exciting! Saw many of them including namer 'Evening Star'. Playground was separated from the line by a locked iron gate and a low wall. First hand view - feet away!! A tunnel a few yards further along the playground went under the line and was the access to the single track road past the church and up to the main road. Day school trip to Edinburgh 1958 0:08 0:08 from Annfield Plain station pulled by 'Mayflower' there and back. Train spotted at the Lintz line - not too far from the now famous Beamish/Causey Arch (near Tantobie where I lived), and of course Newcastle Central. Saw many A1, A2 A3 A4's, the new North British 70000's etc,etc. My Ian Allan LNER locos book is a great record of 1957 to 1960 spotting. (Spion Kop - anyone?) Mike Lynch spotting. record of 1957 to 1960. 0:08 i under the line to the acces road past the church

[@peterlynch1956]

hi mike pete( brother )here ,, just caught this 0ct24

[@EddieParker-rn1gv]

Wonderful video - oh what we have lost

[@WarwickHunt-v9v]

Every day going to and from school in pelaw ,theyd go hammering by happy days !.

[@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.

[@martinforester3471]

​@@bingbong7316I think that you are wrong about this. When diesel power took over, the ten dedicated 9fs were scrapped, but there was one exception, 92065. Did they bother during the few extra months she was in service?

[@bingbong7316]

@@martinforester3471 you know more than me! I'd read about this somewhere (a book about 9Fs? Must find it), but that info may well be wrong.

[@martinforester3471]

@@bingbong7316 92066 was withdrawn in June 1965, presumably because of a defect, and and eight were withdrawn between June and November 1966, when the Diesels took over and 92065 was transferred (to somewhere in Yorkshire, I seem to remember) ,presumably in good condition and was withdrawn in April 1967. (Scource, British Railways Steam Locomotives 1948-1968 by Hugh Longworth, 2005). Post 1963, B.R. didn't bother with inessential repairs or modifications to steam locomotives.

[@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. 👍👍👍

[@carlbentley80]

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

[@HighFell]

Live in Pelton Fell and regularly ride the length of the old lines around the county. Stunning scenery, it was a moment in time but its fate was was always sealed once everything had to be shipped in and out.

[@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.

[@peterlynch1956]

@@stephensmith799 her one big mistake

[@stephensmith799]

@@peterlynch1956 I think the one thing she got right was guest beers in tied pubs, possibly also ‘tax free retirement lump sums’ (I’m not a fan of the rest!)

[@stephensmith799]

@@peterlynch1956 In fairness it was John Major who privatised the railways.

[@michaelnewman1920]

Super Show thanks for sharing this

[@dodgy1954]

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

[@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!

[@thestocktonflyer4059]

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

[@MiLLwallpaul231258]

Absolutely brilliant

[@michaelnewman1920]

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

[@paulnolan1352]

Fantastic film with great quality footage.

[@saltspringrailway3683]

So good to have the sound.

[@keithturner428]

Brilliant!!!

[@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

[@TheGWR0-4-0]

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

[@tidfordjunction]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[@bobcannell7603]

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

[@jimihendrix991]

Real railways... 🙂

[@epcotcentre]

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

[@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!

[@NiallWardrop]

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.

[@NiallWardrop]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv Ok thanks for the info.

[@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.

[@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).

[@vandalsavage6152]

Excellent video, but for these guys, we'd have less of these memories. It's a shame that they couldn't clean the engines, not even the cab numbers, a legal requirement, and that's with over 20% over manning. But when trade unions rule an industry, that's what you get... Great video, thank you...

[@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