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Wansbeck Railway
All photographs of this railway in date order.
![<br><br>[K A Gray //]](/images/2000/2015.jpg "Thornton Junction")
![Poster for the last steam-hauled passenger train along the Wansbeck Valley, closed to passengers in 1952. <br><br>[Roy Lambeth //]](/images/13000/13609.jpg "Poster")
![An eastbound freight headed by North Blyth J27 0-6-0 no 65834 trundles east through Meldon (closed to passengers in 1952) on the Wansbeck Valley line between Scosgap and Morpeth in the 1960s. This picturesque Northumberland byway closed completely in 1966.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //]](/images/23000/23172.jpg "Meldon")
![65834 approaching Meldon.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //]](/images/23000/23368.jpg "Meldon")
![An eastbound freight on the Wansbeck Valley line between Reedsmouth and Morpeth in the 1960s. The train is headed by North Blyth J27 0-6-0 no 65834 and is seen here passing through the closed (September 1952) station of Meldon, Northumberland. <br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) //]](/images/27000/27129.jpg "Meldon")
![NE 0.4.4T 67295 at Scotsgap on Rothbury train.<br><br>[G H Robin collection by courtesy of the Mitchell Library, Glasgow 06/04/1950]](/images/7000/7556.jpg "Scotsgap")
![<I>The Wansbeck Wanderer</I> at Scotsgap on 9 November 1963. Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 no 43129 is preparing the take the special on a trip over the Rothbury branch.<br><br>[K A Gray 09/11/1963]](/images/35000/35562.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Ivatt 2-6-0 no 43129 stands at Woodburn on 9 November 1963 with the <I>'Wansbeck Wanderer'</I> railtour.<br><br>[K A Gray 09/11/1963]](/images/37000/37732.jpg "Woodburn")
![43063 coupled tender to tender with 43000 stands at Scotsgap with <I>The Wansbeck Piper</I> on 2 October 1966. The 11 coach special, which ran Newcastle - Morpeth - Woodburn and return, was organised by Gosforth Round Table to mark the end of the Wansbeck Valley line.<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 02/10/1966]](/images/21000/21165.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Ivatt 2-6-0 no 43063 running round the 11 coach <I>'Wansbeck Piper'</I> at Woodburn on 2 October 1966. The train, which ran from Newcastle Central via Morpeth, was double headed throughout by 43063+43000 running tender to tender (although the run round manoeuvre seen here required the locomotives to be separated due to the short remaining head shunt). The special had been organised by Gosforth Round Table to mark the closure of the Wansbeck Valley line, which by then terminated at Woodburn. [See image 21165]<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 02/10/1966]](/images/34000/34554.jpg "Woodburn")
![The <I>'Wansbeck Piper'</I> ran from Newcastle Central to Woodburn via Morpeth on 2 October 1966 to mark the closure of the Wansbeck Valley line (which by then terminated at Woodburn). The train was double headed by Ivatt 2-6-0s 43063+43000. Here no 43063 is in the process of running round the 11 coach train at Woodburn, where the short headshunt required splitting the pair for the manoeuvre. [See image 21165]<br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 02/10/1966]](/images/41000/41151.jpg "Woodburn")
![43000+43063 at Woodburn with <I>The Wansbeck Piper</I> on 2 October 1966. The pair had just completed a run round manoeuvre at what was then the end of the line and were preparing to take the special back to Newcastle via Morpeth. <br><br>[Robin Barbour Collection (Courtesy Bruce McCartney) 02/10/1966]](/images/41000/41352.jpg "Woodburn")
![Woodburn station looking east in 1997. Since taken the former station has had a bit of a revival. A temporary line was built north from here to Catcleugh Reservoir during its construction.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford /11/1997]](/images/53000/53893.jpg "Woodburn")
![The old Wansbeck Valley station at Meldon, Northumberland, closed to passengers in September 1952. View looking east over the site towards Morpeth in 1998 [see image 27129].<br><br>[Ewan Crawford //1998]](/images/44000/44661.jpg "Meldon")
![Just to the west of Scotsgap station (behind the camera) the lines to Reedsmouth (left) and Rothbury (right) divided and ran in parallel as if a double track railway for a while before diverging. There were water tanks to the left and a turntable to the right (where the white horse stands) on either side of the lines.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford //1998]](/images/53000/53051.jpg "Northumberland Central Junction")
![Scotsgap station site in 1998 looking to Morpeth. A short portion of the platform remained - it was a single platform station despite being a junction. The station building has been slightly modified since this photograph.<br><br>[Ewan Crawford //1998]](/images/53000/53066.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Scotsgap station in 2002 in a view looking to Morpeth.<br><br>[Mike Shannon /05/2002]](/images/57000/57350.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Scotsgap station seen from the station approach. The platform was to the left.<br><br>[Mike Shannon /05/2002]](/images/57000/57362.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Scotsgap looking to Northumberland Central Junction, between the Wansbeck and the Numberland Central Railways with a short section of platform in the foreground.<br><br>[Mike Shannon /05/2002]](/images/57000/57381.jpg "Scotsgap")
![View south east over the former Scotsgap station on 22 May 2004. The station closed to passengers in 1952 with the line closing completely in 1966. The refurbished station house and station building now form a substantial private residence. A section of the platform survives, while the goods yard is now used by an agricultural merchant.<br><br>[John Furnevel 22/05/2004]](/images/55000/55652.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Woodburn<br><br>[Clive Barlow 25/05/2006]](/images/9000/9642.jpg "Woodburn")
![Platform scene at Woodburn on 7 November 2007. View is southwest towards Reedsmouth. The original roadbridge to the right, that carried the A68 over the trackbed, has now been turned into an embankment [with thanks to the lady of the house].<br><br>[John Furnevel 07/11/2007]](/images/17000/17637.jpg "Woodburn")
![The former station at Woodburn, Northumberland, seen on 7 November 2007 looking east towards Morpeth. Although normally a fairly quiet rural station up to the time of its official closure in September 1952, the area once saw troop train movements in connection with the nearby military training centres at Otterburn and Redesdale. <br><br>[John Furnevel 07/11/2007]](/images/17000/17638.jpg "Woodburn")
![Road approach to the former station at Woodburn, Northumberland, on a pleasant autumn afternoon in November 2007. View is south with the A68 running past on the former bridge on the right. The station closed to passengers in September 1952 with the line from Morpeth eventually closing completely in 1966. The old station has since been converted into an attractive private residence.<br><br>[John Furnevel 07/11/2007]](/images/37000/37679.jpg "Woodburn")
![The former station at Meldon on 8 November 2007, looking east along the Wansbeck line towards Morpeth.<br><br>[John Furnevel 08/11/2007]](/images/17000/17257.jpg "Meldon")
![Old railway building, thought to have been used as a lamp room, still standing at Scotsgap, the junction station on the Wansbeck line for the Rothbury branch. The line from the Junction came in under the bridge carrying the B6343 road, with the station itself just off picture to the right. View north west on 8 November 2007.<br><br>[John Furnevel 08/11/2007]](/images/17000/17494.jpg "Scotsgap")
![The old station at Scotsgap on the Wansbeck Railway looking south east towards Morpeth on 8 November 2007. The sign on the building reads <I>'Wannie Line, 1863 - 1966'</I>. <br><br>[John Furnevel 08/11/2007]](/images/17000/17495.jpg "Scotsgap")
![View along the site of the old platform at the much modified Angerton station, on the Wansbeck Valley line, Northumberland. Looking east towards Morpeth on 8 November 2007.<br><br>[John Furnevel 08/11/2007]](/images/17000/17741.jpg "Angerton")
![Standing on the former level crossing at Knowesgate on the Wansbeck line on 8 November 2007 looking east through the old station (closed 1952) towards Morpeth.<br><br>[John Furnevel 08/11/2007]](/images/17000/17788.jpg "Knowesgate")
![The road approach to the former Scotsgap station in October 2010 looking south east towards Morpeth. Behind the camera is the site of Scotsgap Junction, where the Rothbury branch once left the Wansbeck Valley route. Scotsgap lost its passenger service in 1952, although freight and occasional excursion traffic continued to use the line until final closure in the mid sixties. The station building is now a private residence, with the area to the rear, including the former goods yard, a large agricultural merchants, with several modern buildings now occupying the site.<br><br>[John Furnevel 31/10/2010]](/images/31000/31609.jpg "Scotsgap")
![Scotsgap station seen in summer 2015 [see image 53066]. The building has been extended, the Rover has been replaced by a Golf - but history will out - part of the platform wall is still visible.<br><br>[Ken Strachan 10/07/2015]](/images/53000/53089.jpg "Scotsgap")
