The 1840 Seghill Railway was the core of the Blyth and Tyne Railway^s network of lines. Part of the system is now part of the Newcastle Metro, portions are open to freight, others closed and a section is a preserved railway.
There are plans to re-open the goods only portion of line to passengers, with the name ^Northumberland Line^.
North Blyth is open to bauxite traffic to the Lochaber Aluminium Works, Fort William which runs round south of Bedlington and travels north via Hepscott. This branch, so long associated with coal export, has a coal import facility at Battleship Wharf.
A line north to Lynemouth Power Station is open to coal traffic.
Newcastle to Tynemouth via Jesmond is part of the Tyne and Wear Metro.
A portion of the original Seghill line, having closed to freight, became a test track for the Tyne and Wear Metro. Following its closure in 1983 it is now a railway museum, the Stephenson Steam Railway.
Stephenson Steam Railway
Development of the system
1840 Seghill Railway
1846 Blyth Extension (Seghill Railway)
1850 Bedlington Private Railway
1852 Act passed for the Blyth and Tyne Railway, combining the lines
1857 Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
1859 Warkworth Extension (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
1860 Shields Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
1864 Newcastle Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
1867 North Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
1872 Newbiggin Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)
At its northern end it connected with mineral lines, the Ashington Collieries Railway.
In 1862 the North British Railway^s Wansbeck Railway connected with it at Morpeth, take over of the B&T could have given the NBR its own line into Newcastle. To counter this the North Eastern Railway took over the B&T in 1874.
Under the NER the network was further enhanced at North Blyth, Blyth, Monkseaton, Newcastle and a branch to Callerton and beyond.
/ /1852 | Blyth and Tyne Railway Act passed. |
30/06/1852 | Seghill Railway
Blyth Extension (Seghill Railway) Act passed to combine several lines to form the Blyth and Tyne Railway. |
04/08/1853 | Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Act passed. |
/10/1857 | Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Opened to minerals. |
01/04/1858 | Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Opened to passengers. |
/ /1859 | Warkworth Extension (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Opened from Bedlington to North Seaton Colliery. |
/ /1860 | Blyth and Tyne Railway Line opened |
/ /1860 | Rhymney Railway Cornelius Lundie leaves the Blyth and Tyne Railway and joins the Rhymney Railway board. |
/ /1860 | Tynemouth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Line opened from Dairy House Junction to Tynemouth [1st] . |
/ /1862 | Wansbeck Railway Line opened from Morpeth to Scot's Gap. The Blyth and Tyne Railway^s Morpeth [BT] station was used. This terminus was approached by first crossing over the Newcastle and Berwick Railway and then joining the Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) at an east facing junction, trains then reversed into the terminus. |
15/08/1867 | North Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Act for line. During the year some coals shipped from Cambois. This branch left from a south facing junction (West Sleekburn Junction) and ran east to Cambois and North Blyth. |
/ /1871 | Wansbeck RailwayNewcastle and Berwick Railway Curve (authorised in original Wansbeck Railway Act) put in to allow North British Railway trains to run into the main Morpeth station in either 1871 or 1872. The two companies built the curve towards each other, meeting in the middle. With this opening, the Wansbeck Railway trains stopped using the Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)^s terminus. |
/ /1874 | Blyth and Tyne Railway
North Eastern Railway Line absorbed by the North Eastern Railway to stop the North British Railway from acquiring the line and developing an independent route into Newcastle, with its own terminus. |
24/05/1880 | Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) The Blyth and Tyne Railway^s terminus station at Morpeth is closed to passengers. The former terminus becomes purely a goods yard. |
/ /1893 | North Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Act passed allowing widening and extension of the Cambois branch. A new curve was laid in between Marchey's House Junction and Winning Junction which allowed coal from Ashington to be taken to the harbour without reversal at Bedlington. |
13/07/1896 | North Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) Alterations which received an Act in 1893 complete. |
/ /1903 | North Eastern RailwayNorth Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) The North Eastern Railway introduces 40 ton wagons to run between the Ashington Colliery and North Blyth Staithes served by the North Blyth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway). |