Border Counties Railway

Introduction

Also known as the North Tyne Railway as it runs by the River North Tyne for much of its length. This line is closed. The first portion of the line was opened while still independent of the North British Railway. There are occasional rumours of the re-opening of the Border Union Railway to Riccarton Junction from Carlisle and then the Border Counties Railway to Kielder in connection with the Kielder forestry. The line between Kielder and Falstone is now under the waters of the Kielder Water reservoir. The vast majority of stations had a single platform with a goods loop.






Dates

31/07/1854Border Counties Railway
Act receives Royal assent for a line, promoted by W H Charlton, from Hexham to Falstone.
05/04/1858Border Counties Railway
Opened from Hexham to Chollerford (5 miles).
01/08/1859Border Counties Railway
Authorised, with North British Railway (and specifically Richard Hodgson) support to extend to Riccarton Junction (Border Union Railway (North British Railway)).
01/12/1859Border Counties Railway
Extended from Chollerford to Countess Park (a little south of Reedsmouth).
  /  /1860Border Counties RailwayNorth British Railway
Border Counties Railway absorbed by North British Railway.
01/02/1861Border Counties Railway
Extended from Countess Park to Thorneyburn.
02/09/1861Border Counties Railway
Extended from Thorneyburn to Falstone.
  /  /1862Plashetts Colliery Waggonway
The Plashetts Coal and Coke Company opens a drift mine by the Belling Burn with cottages at Seldom Seen. A waggonway was built from the colliery to Plashetts station on the Border Counties Railway.
01/07/1862Border Counties Railway
Opened throughout, the final portion opens from Falstone to Riccarton Junction.
01/10/1862Border Counties Railway
Charlton station, named for W H Charlton, closed.
  /  /1864Border Counties RailwayNewcastle and Carlisle Railway
First train runs from Newcastle Central to Riccarton Junction.
  /  /1865Wansbeck Railway
Extended from Knowe's Gate to Reedsmouth (Border Counties Railway).
  /12/1944Border Counties Railway
Saughtree station closed.
  /08/1948Border Counties Railway
Saughtree station re-opened.
15/10/1956Border Counties Railway
Riccarton Junction to Hexham (Border Counties Junction) closed to passengers.
01/09/1958Border Counties Railway
Riccarton Junction (excluded) to Bellingham (excluded) closed to freight.
01/09/1958Border Counties Railway
Reedsmouth (excluded) to Border Counties Junction closed to freight.
11/11/1963Border Counties Railway
Bellingham (North Tyne) to Reedsmouth closed completely.

Locations along the line

These locations are along the line.

This was an important location in Scottish railway history. This was a large station, junction, locomotive shed, workshops, yard and railway owned village all built at a remote location in the Scottish Borders with no road access. It is a highly evocative location built on the famous former Waverley Route. Here the double track mainline from Edinburgh and Hawick, to the north, split to run ...

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See also
Border Union Railway (North British Railway)
The ruinous stationmaster's house at Riccarton as seen in 2012. ...
Ewan Crawford 04/05/2012
The stationmaster's house at Riccarton as seen in 2000. The view looks north with the station site off to the left. ...
Ewan Crawford //2000
The platform at Riccarton, seen partly restored in 2012. The viewpoint is just below the stationmaster's house near where the footbridge crossed over ...
Ewan Crawford 04/05/2012
Riccarton Junction looking north in 1993. This was after the site ceased to be used as a forestry depot but before any restoration. ...
Ewan Crawford //1993
4 of 54 images. more






This was a single platform station just under a mile north of the small settlement at Saughtree.
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The old Saughtree station is accessed via a rough track off the B6357. I think we can define its location as being 'off the beaten track'. ...
Ken Strachan 10/07/2015
Both the hole in the wall, and the track leading into it, are definitely not original features of these railwaymen's cottages at Saughtree. see image ...
Ken Strachan 10/07/2015
Seen in summer 1994 this shot shows a guards van on a short section of relaid track beside the former Saughtree station building which was restored as ...
Charlie Niven /06/1994
Originally built as a double track railway but only ever had a single track as seen here. The trackbed of the Border Counties Railway about one mile ...
Charlie Niven //1994
4 of 13 images. more


This lime works was about half a mile to the north of Deadwater station and served by a siding. The view looks west to the disused lime kiln from the ...
Ewan Crawford 01/05/2012
Lineside remains alongside the trackbed of the Border Counties Railway approximately three quarters of a mile north west of Deadwater heading for ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2013
Remote doesn't really do justice to the countryside around Deadwater. Just to the north of the old station a platelayer's hut still stands alongside ...
Mark Bartlett 07/06/2013
3 of 3 images.




Deadwater station was named for area to the east, Deadwater Moor, the Deadwater Burn and Deadwater Farm. The River North Tyne begins here and the line follows its course south east. To the north the line begins a climb to Saughtree.
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An early morning scene on the trackbed of the Border Counties Railway in the autumn od 2007 under a weak October sun. View is south towards the former ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
The lonely outpost of Deadwater, Northumberland, seen here in 2007 some 51 years after closure. View is north towards the border, marked by the dark ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
'This station must be one of the least important in the British Islands, serving as it does so sparsely populated a district. No proper roadway ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
3 of 3 images.


This station was built for the Duke of Northumberland whose Kielder Lodge (known as Kielder Castle) was just to the east. The station had a single platform on a loop on the east side of the line and, to the south of the loop, a siding serving a coal depot. The platform was short. The Duke had a shed for his connecting coach here.
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Opened as Kielder by the Border Counties Railway in 1862, the suffix Forest was added in 1948, coincident with the start of the massive expansion by ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2007
An old NBR whistle, a gift from an enthusiast in 1969, last used to referee rugby matches during games periods at Peebles High School and before ...
Bruce McCartney //1969
The north end of the former Kielder Forest station seen in 2012. A 'new' stone wall crosses the trackbed, separating the Kielder Stane Walk from a ...
Ewan Crawford 01/05/2012
It’s a lean-to gym, but not as we know it. Looking North towards Riccarton, we see that Kielder Forest station see image 42061 now serves ...
Ken Strachan 10/07/2015
4 of 10 images. more


This is a single track seven arch masonry viaduct. The arches are skewed. It crossed the Deadwater Burn. The parapet resembles battlements, even featuring arrow-loops. There are crosses at the top of the piers, on the spandrels.
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View south east, Kielder Viaduct, April 2014. ...
Colin Alexander 18/04/2014
Autumn afternoon at Kielder Viaduct on 7 November 2007. View west over the Kielder Burn with the reservoir off to the left. ...
John Furnevel 07/11/2007
View from Kielder Viaduct in 2013, looking north over the valley of the Kielder Burn towards the village. Note the railway-themed metal scrollwork ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2013
Sunny day at Kielder. View south through the viaduct on 18 April towards Kielder Water. ...
Colin Alexander 18/04/2014
4 of 17 images. more


This halt was opened in connection with the Forestry Commission's purchase of the Kielder Estate from the Duke of Northumberland in 1932. The Ministry of Labour created a 'Civilian Instructional Camp' on the south bank of the River North Tyne for men assigned to the planting of the Kielder Forest. There were also temporary summer camps such as Whickhope Camp.
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Water filled cutting of the closed Border Counties Railway - now the Kielder Reservoir. ...
Ken Lewis //
Standing on the track bed by Gowanburn bridge beside the Kielder Reservoir. This photograph was taken in 2007, the 'low year'. ...
Ken Lewis //2007
Normally submerged beneath the waters of the Kielder Reservoir, this is a bridge on the former Border Counties line.
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Ken Lewis //2003
3 of 3 images.


This was a single platform station with a group of siding serving the Plashetts Colliery.
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View near the site of Plashetts station on 8 November 2007, taken from the west side of Kielder Water, with the remains of the station and sidings now ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2007
Scene on the Border Counties line following closure between Riccarton Junction and Bellingham. View towards the closed Plashetts station with the link ...
Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //
2 of 2 images.


A long siding west of Falstone station, served from the east. The siding terminated at the quarry on the south side of the Belling Crags.
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This station is in the north of Falstone, a small village in the shadow of the dam for the Kielder Water reservoir. The station had a single platform on the east side of a passing loop with sidings at either end of the platform line.It had a two storey stone station building and signal box, both typical of the line, on the platform (the box to south). The box opened in 1893.
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Standing alongside the North Tyne in rural Northumberland is the small village of Falstone. The former station on the Border Counties Railway was ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
The former Falstone station looking south in 1998. ...
Ewan Crawford //1998
Falstone, as seen from the roadside in June 2013, showing the extensions that have been made in converting the station into holiday accommodation. See ...
Mark Bartlett 07/06/2013
The trackbed of the Border Counties Railway through Falstone station, now owned by the Forestry Commission, looking south towards Bellingham in ...
John Furnevel 24/09/2003
4 of 7 images. more




This station was a single platform line on the south side of the line, with a wooden building. To the west, over a level crossing, was a railway cottage on the north side of the line.
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Thorneyburn level crossing seen in a view looking north in 2013, showing the crossing keeper's cottage. The station platform was off to the right on ...
Ewan Crawford 30/04/2013
The view east over the former Thorneyburn station from the one time level crossing in 1998. The platform was to the right. A sudden snowstorm was to ...
Ewan Crawford //1998
Approaching the level crossing at Thorneyburn station, between Kielder and Bellingham on the Border Counties Railway in November 2007. View is north ...
John Furnevel 12/11/2007
View north west over the former level crossing towards the old station house at Thorneyburn in November 2007. The station, on the Border Counties line ...
John Furnevel 12/11/2007
4 of 4 images.


This disused three arch skew viaduct was built to carry two lines, but only one was laid (which would have been the northbound had two lines been laid). It crosses the Tarset Burn north west of the former Tarset station.
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Just to the north of Tarset station is this splendid three arch skew bridge that once carried the Border Counties line over the Tarset Burn near the ...
Mark Bartlett 07/06/2013
The railway viaduct at Tarset on the Border Counties line, photographed looking west on 30 April 2013. Looks like it has had a fair bit of attention ...
Ewan Crawford 30/04/2013
2 of 2 images.


This was a single platform station with a stone built building combined with a railway cottage. At the east end was a siding on the south side of the line, approached from the west, which reached a loading bank by reversal. The station was signalled.
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Running along the overgrown cutting on the left, the Border Counties line arrived at Tarset, some 20 miles north of Hexham. The former station, now a ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
Beware of the Bull. Tarset station, September 2003, looking south towards Hexham. ...
John Furnevel 23/09/2003
The remote Border Counties station at Tarset on 5 November 2007, more than 50 years after closure. View is south along the former station approach ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
3 of 3 images.


This was a private station built for W H Charlton (of Hesleyside Hall) for whom it was named. It was to the south of Charlton Farm and north of the River North Tyne. It consisted of just a temporary platform and hut. A drive from the hall, which crossed the River North Tyne by means of a ford, approached the station from the south.
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This short lived station was located between Bellingham and Tarset. The station, consisting of a small timber platform and shelter, was located just ...
Ewan Crawford 30/04/2013
This spindly footbridge is an unusual survivor east of the site of the temporary Charlton terminus. ...
Ewan Crawford 30/04/2013
2 of 2 images.


This was a single platform station in the east of Bellingham. The platform was on the south side of the line with a two storey station building.
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The former Border Counties station at Bellingham in use as a council roads depot in 1998, some 42 years after closure to passengers. ...
Ewan Crawford //1998
The former station at Bellingham in September 2003. ...
John Furnevel 24/09/2003
The 1861 station building at Bellingham looking north across Redesmouth Road (leading to Reedsmouth Station) on 6 November 2013. Note the bricked up ...
John Furnevel 06/11/2013
The former Bellingham station, closed in 1956, as seen from the road into the village from Redesmouth. It was later used as Council offices but has a ...
Mark Bartlett 07/06/2013
4 of 14 images. more


The remains of the bridge that carried the Border Counties Railway over the River Rede just under a quarter of a mile north west of Reedsmouth ...
Peter Todd 20/05/2014
1 of 1 images.


Head-on view of the former locomotive shed at Reedsmouth on the Border Counties line, closed by BR in 1952. The shed, latterly a sub to 52C Blaydon, ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2007
Reedsmouth Junction Shed in 2002. The former line to Riccarton is to the left. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Reedsmouth engine shed. The line to Riccarton was to the left and the junction behind the camera. ...
Clive Barlow 25/05/2006
The former 2-road locomotive shed at Reedsmouth standing to the north of the station on the east side of the Border Counties line. The shed, which ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
4 of 5 images. more


Also known as Reedsmouth Junction, this was a three platform junction station to the east of Redesmouth House. The small village of Redesmouth, largely railway cottages, developed by the station. The station was just east of the confluence of the River Rede and the River North Tyne.
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See also
Wansbeck Railway
Reedsmouth in May 2002, looking north from the trackbed towards the converted signal box that stands on the platforms. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Scene at Reedsmouth in November 2007, more than half a century after closure. View is north along the Border Counties route to Riccarton Junction, ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
The former Wansbeck platform at Reedsmouth Junction in 2002. The station building and former signalbox have become housing.
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Mike Shannon /05/2002
The converted station building still standing on the platform at Reedsmouth, seen here on 5 November 2007 looking northeast from the trackbed of the ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
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This was one of the short lived termini of the Border Counties Railway which opened in a series of steps northwards from Hexham.
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Looking west towards the site of Countess Park station, the temporary terminus of the Border Counties Railway from 1860 to 1861. Located just over a ...
Ewan Crawford 30/04/2013
1 of 1 images.


This was a two platform station with a long passing loop. The line opened in 1859 and the station opened to passengers in 1860. The station building, stone built and of two storeys, was on the northbound platform and there was a goods siding on the west side, approached from the north, serving a loading bank. This was equipped with a non rail served goods shed. The stone signal box (1893) was at ...

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Approximately 25 miles south from Riccarton Junction on the Border Counties Railway stood Wark station, seen here on 5 November 2007 looking along the ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
Wark station building in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Wark signal box from south in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
The former station building and goods shed at Wark, Northumberland, in November 2007. The line ran along the other side of the buildings and the view ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
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This was a single platform station north of the village of Barrasford. The platform was on the village (south) side of the line. The building was stone and largely single storey with a central two storey portion.
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Looking west towards the old station at Barrasford, Northumberland, on the former Border Counties line in November 2007. Situated in the North Tyne ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
Barrasford station, now a Scout hall. ...
Clive Barlow 25/05/2006
Barrasford station, now a Scout hall. ...
Clive Barlow 25/05/2006
The former Border Counties Railway station in the village of Barrasford, Northumberland, standing on the banks of the North Tyne and seen here looking ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
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This was a single platform station with a goods yard to the south. The village of Chollerton is to the north east.
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Chollerton goods shed from the road in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Chollerton station cottages from the road. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
The impressive skew arch viaduct that once carried the Border Counties line over the A6079 a quarter of a mile south of Chollerton station, seen here ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
Six miles north of Hexham (as the crow flies) stands the village of Chollerton. View west over the road junction in the village centre on 5 November ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
4 of 4 images.


This was a single platform station, with the platform on the west side of the line. Chollerford itself is on the west bank of the River North Tyne, the station being on the east bank, and Humshaugh is a little further beyond at half a mile.
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Humshaugh station viewed from the roadway. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Humshaugh (pronounced Humshoff I'm assured) station closed in 1956 with the withdrawal of passenger services between Hexham and Riccarton Junction and ...
Mark Bartlett 30/04/2016
View north alongside the Border Counties Railway track bed, just south of Humshaugh station. This view looks north with the Chollerford bridge over ...
Mark Bartlett 30/04/2016
Across the fields stands the old station at Humshaugh on the Border Counties line. The platform is still in place with the main building now a ...
John Furnevel 05/11/2007
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This was a single platform station with a long passing loop. The platform was on the east side of the loop, the village side. Wall itself was just under half a mile to the north. The River North Tyne was just to the west.
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Wall station viewed from the west in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Wall, showing the new station building from the south in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Wall signal box from the south. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
Wall station platform from the north in 2002. ...
Mike Shannon /05/2002
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This was the junction for the siding to Acomb Colliery. This was the second line to this colliery, following the same course as the older original tramway which had joined the line to the south (Acomb Colliery Junction [1st]), to be approached from the south. The new connection was approached from the north.
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The old supports of the Tyne Viaduct of the Border Counties railway, adjacent to Border Counties Junction, in March 2022. ...
Duncan Ross 26/03/2022
Looking north at the stumps of the former Border Counties viaduct running north from Border Counties Junctions. ...
Ewan Crawford /11/1997
The remains of the Border Counties Railway bridge over the Tyne in May 2006 looking east along the river towards Hexham. The site of Border Counties ...
John Furnevel 07/05/2006
A misty morning on the Tyne a mile west of Hexham station in May 2006. The photograph is taken looking north from alongside the site of Border ...
John Furnevel 07/05/2006
4 of 4 images.


This was the junction between the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (opened here in 1836), the Border Counties Railway (opened here in 1858) and the Hexham and Allendale Railway (opened here in 1867. All three of these lines were opened in portions.
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See also
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Hexham and Allendale Railway
During a wander about Hexham I visited the junction for the old Border Counties Railway. This was a nice banner, explaining the railway's history, on ...
Duncan Ross 26/03/2022
This recess in the wall was where the gantry Border Counties Junction signal box was sited, photographed here in March 2022. This controlled the ...
Duncan Ross 26/03/2022
Newcastle bound Sprinter runs east towards Border Counties Junction. ...
Ewan Crawford /11/1997
V2 4771 Green Arrow running wrong line near Border Counties Junction to the west of Hexham c 1985 with The Citadel railtour. ...
Colin Alexander //1985
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