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One of the first extensions of the original line was a 4-mile route from Stockton to Middlesbrough. The Parliamentary Act covering this, as also the making of quays and coal staiths at Middlesbrough, was passed in 1828. The line was opened on January 1, 1831. There was a very crude iron bridge on the original line which is often referred to as the first iron railway bridge ever constructed, and on the Middlesbrough extension what was probably the first suspension bridge to be erected for conveying railway traffic was built. It was 274 ft. long, 25 ft. broad, and 60 ft. in height, and calculated to sustain a weight of 150 tons. It was not however, successful, in that it proved unable to carry the traffic contemplated, so that during the period it was in use the weight of trains crossing it had to be severely limited. Indeed, it is said that after a time it was necessary to work traffic across it one loaded wagon at a time, until, in 1844, a new and stronger bridge was available. It may be pointed out that, although Stockton was a town of some importance, Middlesbrough was little more than a “dismal swamp.” The next extension at the eastern end of the Stockton and Darlington Railway was not taken in hand until 1845 when a Bill was obtained for a line from Middlesbrough to Redcar, a distance of about eight miles. This was opened on June 4, 1846, and once again the engine Locomotion had the honour of inaugurating traffic. In 1858 powers were obtained to extend to Saltburn. At the western end, however, several branches and extensions were carried out in the Bishop Auckland district in order to serve various collieries and limestone works. These included the Bishop Auckland and Weardale, Wear and Derwent and Weardale Extension Railways. These, together with the Shildon Tunnel undertaking, were amalgamated in 1847 with the Wear Valley Railway Company, incorporated in 1847. They were all associated with the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and in 1847 were leased by that company,
together with the Middlesbrough and Redcar Railway. Further extensions relate to the development of the Cleveland iron district south of Middlesbrough. In this connection, a line was opened from Middlesbrough to Guisborough, this becoming eventually one of the most important sections of the system, so far as the iron traffic was concerned. At the western end, powers were obtained in 1854 for the construction of the South Durham and Lancashire Railway to Kirkby Stephen and Tebay, thus connecting with the London and North Western and Midland Railways. Eventually the tendency towards amalgamation affected the Stockton and Darlington itself, and by an Act which received Royal assent on July 13, 1863, the Stockton and Darlington was taken over by the North Eastern Company. Several incidental matters of interest may now be briefly referred to. The original horse— drawn passenger coaches were all, apparently operated by contractors, and it was not, indeed, until 1843 that their use entirely disappeared. The early passenger carriages were not, however, greatly superior to the stagecoach vehicles of the horse era. They included open carriages, such as those which remained in use on some lines for a number of years for the conveyance of third-class passengers, and covered carriages with seats along each side and a double row along the middle. Next came a type of coach containing five compartments, with backs extending only to the level of passengers’ heads, subsequent developments following substantially the same lines as on railways generally. It is said that in early days tickets were printed in different colours varying for each day of the week, without date or number, and that the guards wore red frock-coats with brass buttons. Until 1835 “there was no railway station” on the line, the trains drawing up at a terminus, while passengers purchased their tickets at a ticket-office in an adjacent
"Dandy Cart" as used on the Stockton and Darlington Railway building, entraining or detraining on ground level. Apparently, the last instance of horse traffic remaining on the railway was a service given on Sundays from Stockton to Middlesbrough and back until 1856. During this period, on the section where horses were still used, the famous horse dandies were employed. These were attached at the end of a train of Wagons, and the horses were trained to jump in on their own account on the down gradients, and thus ride as passengers until their services were again required to “head” the load. Although one engine only was available for the opening ceremony in September, 1825, the famous Locomotion, another one, named Hope, was placed in service in November of that year, and in April and May, 1826, Black Diamond and Diligence were added. These four engines were generally similar in design. The next addition was
a somewhat mysterious engine named Chittaprat, which was built by Robert Wilson, and said to have had four cylinders. The boiler was subsequently used for No. 5, Royal George, a 0-6-0 engine. No. 6 was supplied in January, 1828, and bore the name Experiment. It was later altered to a 0-6-0 engine. The Royal George, No. 5, differed essentially from other engines in service. It is, indeed, regarded to this day as a big advance upon previous locomotive practice, and its excellent service constitutes one of the principal achievements to the credit of Timothy Hackworth. It was a six-coupled engine with vertical cylinders driving directly the rear coupled wheels, and ranked as the most powerful engine which had been built until then. Its construction, however, required a tender at each end. Next came an engine (No. 7) which bore the name Rocket. This was originally placed on
Stockton & Darlington Railway No. 1, "Locomotion" (1825) and London & North Eastern Railway No. 2401, "Kingston-upon-Hull."
four wheels, but apparently the weight was too great for the rails, and it was subsequently rebuilt as a six-wheeled engine. In view of divergences between various historians, it seems possible that The Royal George itself at first had four wheels only, and was converted to six-coupled later. The Rocket seems to have been not unlike its more famous namesake on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, in that it had diagonal cylinders at the firebox end driving the leading wheels, very much in the style familiar in the Liverpool and Manchester engine. No. 8, Victory, was another Hackworth engine generally similar to The Royal George. In 1833 the engine was rebuilt and continued at work for another ten years or so, when it was replaced by a new No. 8, also of Timothy Hackworth’s design, named Leader. For the opening of the Middlesbrough and Redcar line, a six-wheeled single-driver engine, having driving wheels behind the carrying wheels and known as “A.” was an interesting development. By about 1840, however, the locomotives added to the Stockton and Darlington stock began to correspond generally with the types familiar on most railways in that period. There was at least one of the famous “Bury” class, so familiar on the London and Birmingham Railway, but the standard Stockton and Darlington engines gradually became 2-4-0 passenger and 0-6-0 tender locomotives of more or less orthodox type. A peculiarity for many years, however, was that all wheels were placed in front of the firebox and usually very close together, so that the engines gave an impression of unwieldiness owing to their apparently excessive overhang at one or both ends. For some time after amalgamation with the North Eastern Company the Stockton and Darlington section was operated more or less on its own account, and in some respects it may be said that the engines built at Darlington from 1883 to the early ’seventies, including those to the designs of Mr. W. Bouch, belonged more particularly to the history of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, although built and operated as North Eastern stock.