Clarence Railway

Introduction

Most of this line is open. This was the first railway in Britain opened to compete with another railway (the Stockton and Darlington Railway).






Dates

  /  /1828Clarence Railway
Company incorporated.
  /  /1833Clarence Railway
Line opened.
  /08/1833Clarence Railway
Coal first carried from Simpasture Junction to Stockton [Clarence].
  /  /1834Clarence Railway
Port Clarence opened.
16/01/1834Clarence Railway
Line reaches Ferryhill [Durham].
30/01/1834Clarence Railway
Coal first carried from Haverton Hill.
  /  /1835Clarence Railway
Sherburn branch extended to Croxhoe
  /  /1835Clarence Railway
Chilton branch partly opened
  /  /1836Clarence Railway
Chilton branch completely opened
  /01/1836Clarence Railway
Opened to passengers from Stockton to Croxhoe with a omnibus to Durham
31/03/1837Clarence Railway
Byers Green [1st] branch opened.
  /05/1839Stockton and Hartlepool Railway
Construction begins without Act. Line built to extend Clarence Railway to the better Victoria Dock [Hartlepool] of the Hartlepool Dock and Railway. Port Clarence was tidal.
18/09/1840Clarence Railway
Norton East to South curve proposed for West Hartlepool to Stockton trains.
  /  /1841Clarence Railway
Stockton and Hartlepool Railway given permission to build platform at Billingham.
26/03/1841Clarence Railway
Norton East to South curve Act passed. Line to be built at the expense of the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway. Speed restriction imposed on tight curve.
30/11/1841Stockton and Darlington Railway
Runs service from Darlington (North Road) to the Clarence Railway's terminus at Coxhoe. (This was in anticipation of the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway's opening.)
16/07/1846Leeds and Thirsk Railway
Second Leeds and Thirsk Act gives powers to open a line from Northallerton to Billingham on the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway, Eaglescliffe on the Stockton and Darlington Railway and Stockton on the Clarence Railway.
01/06/1847Hartlepool West Harbour and Railway
Opens new dock. Traffic to Port Clarence was to reduce causing friction between the Clarence Railway and the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway.
01/01/1851Clarence Railway
Perpetual lease of line taken by Ralph Ward Jackson of the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway.
30/06/1852Stockton and Hartlepool Railway Hartlepool West Harbour and Railway
Merger authorised by Parliament along with lease or purchase of the Clarence Railway.
  /  /1853West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway
Diverts trains from Stockton station on the North Shore Branch (North Eastern Railway) to Stockton North station on the Leeds and Thirsk Railway. (The company controlled the former Clarence Railway and Stockton and Hartlepool Railway).
17/05/1853Stockton and Hartlepool Railway Hartlepool West Harbour and Railway Clarence Railway
Merge to become the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway Company.
18/05/1866Clarence Railway
Act for replacement Norton East to South curve.
  /  /1870Clarence Railway
New Norton East to South curve installed to replace tighter alignment.
01/12/1904Clarence Railway
Billingham to Port Clarence trains become petrol-electic railcars.
  /  /1905Clarence Railway
Billingham to Port Clarence trains become steam autocars.
  /  /1920Clarence Railway
Billingham to Port Clarence steam autocars withdrawn.
  /  /1923Clarence Railway
Billingham to Port Clarence service operated with engine from Haverton Hill Shed.
11/09/1939Clarence Railway
Port Clarence closed to passengers.
14/06/1954Clarence Railway
Billingham to Haverton Hill public service withdrawn.
  /11/1961Clarence Railway
Billingham to Haverton Hill workmen trains withdrawn.

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Port Clarence to Newton Aycliffe



This was largely a minerals handling location. A series of sidings served five staithes and further east the Port Clarence Iron Works was served by the railway.
...

More details










Home and upper and lower shunting signals side by side on north side of Belasis Avenue over-bridge some 200m north of Belasis Lane signal box. See ...
David Pesterfield 15/10/2014
View east from Belasis Avenue overbridge along the line to Port Clarence on 15 October 2014. The operational Belasis Lane signal box controls the end ...
David Pesterfield 15/10/2014
2 of 2 images.



























Coxhoe Branch









Approaching Ferryhill Junction (NE England) from the south. ...
Ewan Crawford 29/02/2004
1 of 1 images.


A view east of the loading facility at Thrislington Quarry, just north of Ferryhill, in 2004. ...
Ewan Crawford 28/02/2004
1 of 1 images.













Chilton Branch












Byers Green Branch



A view east of a snowy former East Howle Junction. This was the junction between the Clarence's Spennymoor line (1837) and the York and Newcastle's ...
Ewan Crawford 28/02/2004
1 of 1 images.








Kirk Merrington Primary School in Spennymoor appealed for help after outgrowing its existing facilities, following a surge in pupil numbers. The ...
Network Rail /10/2020
1 of 1 images.













Stockton Branch





B16 no 61418 with the Durham Rail Tour passing Norton South distant signal on the straight section from North Shore Junction approaching Norton ...
K A Gray 13/10/1962
1 of 1 images.