The Blyth and Tyne Railway was a railway company in Northumberland, England, incorporated by act of Parliament on 30 June 1852. It was created to unify the various private railways and waggonways built to carry coal from the Northumberland coalfield to Blyth and the River Tyne, which it took control of on 1 January 1853. Over time, the railway expanded its network to reach Morpeth (1857/8), North Seaton (1859), Tynemouth (1860/1), Newcastle upon Tyne (1864), and finally Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (1872). It became part of the much larger North Eastern Railway in 1874.
Following the takeover, some integration of service and facilities took place, but the Blyth and Tyne section retained its individual identity. In 1904, electric traction was introduced for suburban passenger trains on north Tyneside and part of the Blyth and Tyne system was electrified; the new trains proved to be a considerable success. Speculative branch lines built in the twentieth century were less successful.
Passenger services on the Newcastle – Newbiggin (via Seghill), Monkseaton – Blyth – Newbiggin, and Newsham – Blyth routes, were earmarked for withdrawal by the Beeching Report of 1963.
In the period from 1975, coal extraction declined and parts of the Blyth and Tyne system that were dependent on the mineral traffic suffered accordingly; the passenger business also declined. At the end of the 1970s, the decision was taken to establish a light rapid transit system, the Tyne and Wear Metro; this was based on the North Tyneside network at first and this started operating in 1980, using part of the Blyth and Tyne routes. December 2024 saw the reopening of most of the former system as the Northumberland Line and much of the rest remains open for freight.
History
Before the Blyth and Tyne Railway From the seventeenth century, coal had been extracted in the area north of the River Tyne, at first close to the river to allow onwards transport by boat. As the easiest deposits close to the river became worked out, the focus of mining was pushed back further, and transport to the waterway was essential. Wooden waggonways were introduced and were relatively successful, but a major limitation was the issue of wayleaves, by which owners of land on the proposed route could demand payment, usually on a tonnage basis, for allowing the passage of the wagons. The wayleave demands were heavy, and this continued to be a major difficulty.
recorded that
The harbour at Blyth was used for the onward transport by coastal shipping.
Mining of the early Northumberland Coalfield was taking shape. In 1794 a colliery was commenced within a mile of Cowpen, which at once brought a large increase of population and trade.
The Plessy waggonway played a peripheral role in the Napoleonic Wars:
One Sunday morning in the year 1811, the inhabitants [of Blyth] were thrown into a state of great excitement, by the startling news that five Frenchmen had been taken during the night, and were lodged in the guard-house. They were officers who had broken their parole at Edinburgh castle, and in making their way home had reached the neighbourhood of Blyth; when discovered they were resting by the side of Plessy wagon-way, beside the "shoulder of mutton" field.
The railway had timber track:
The railway was constructed of a double line of beech rails, and laid upon oaken sleepers. The railway from Plessy continued to be made of wood till the road was discontinued in 1812. Originally the wagons had wooden wheels, and to prevent the wear and tear of the wheels, which were extremely expensive to maintain, they were studded with nails driven up to the head... Each wagon required a horse, and a man to conduct it; three journeys or "gaits", as they were termed, was a day’s work.
There was considerable expenditure on new pits at Seghill and Cramlington in 1822 and 1823. The Tyne was six miles away and the problem of transport to water arose once again. The Cramlington waggonway was only two miles away, however. It was opened in 1822 and ran from the pit later known as Ann Pit to Murton Row where it joined the Backworth line. Backworth Colliery had had a primitive railway, but the section between Backworth and Allotment was converted to rope haulage by stationary steam engine in 1821. Two years later the incline between Allotment and Percy Main was altered and eased, and the whole line was rope worked by 1827. About 1838 the line was extended north-westwards to West Cramlington, and when the Newcastle and Berwick Railway was constructed, a junction was made with it there.
In 1839 the Seaton Delaval coal company sunk a new pit, and formed a waggonway 1¼ miles in length from there to Mare Close where it was connected to the Cramlington line. In the same year the Cramlington company, considering that their dependency on the congested Backworth line was becoming impossible, constructed their own line to the staiths, parallel to, and to the east of, the Backworth line, leaving it at Murton Row.Lee, Charles E, May & June 1943, "The Blyth and Tyne Railway", The Railway Magazine
The Seghill Railway The Seghill colliery owner was also dissatisfied with the route to the staiths, and in early 1839 Robert Nicholson made a survey for a private mineral railway from Seghill to Howdon. Nicholson had been engineer of the Newcastle and North Shields Railway, which was shortly to open. The owners of the colliery at Seghill had used the Cramlington waggonway, owned by the Cramlington Coal Company, but the latter favoured its own traffic and put obstructions in the way of the Seghill coal.
The main part of the route ran straight south east, crossing the old line of the Cramlington Coal Company by a low timber bridge of two laminated arches each of span.
There were steep gradients on the line; from Seghill to Prospect Hill rising as steep as 1 in 61, and from Prospect Hill to the Tyne falling gradients, the steepest of which was 1 in 25. The line was worked mainly by stationary engines, one at Prospect Hill, near the Allotment, which hauled up the loaded wagons from Holywell, and the empty wagons from the Newcastle and North Shields road. The other engine was at Percy Main, hauling the empty wagons from the staiths. From Prospect Hill to Percy Main and from Percy Main to the staiths the loaded wagons ran by gravity, unwinding as they descended a tail rope from the drum of the engine, to bring hack the empty wagons. The remainder of the line from Seghill to Holywell was worked by locomotives; those used at first were the Samson and the John, both built by Timothy Hackworth.
The Newcastle and North Shields Railway contemplated building an extension of the Seghill line to Blyth, but the takeover of the N&NSR by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway diverted attention to wider horizons.
Harbours The onward transport of coal by water was restricted by the fact that the only harbours available were at Blyth and Seaton Sluice, both of them small and incapable of handling larger vessels. From 1842, the Bedlington Coal Company developed a novel method of shipping its coal: loaded chaldron wagons, 40 at a time, were taken in an iron twin-screw steamer, the Bedlington, from the staiths on the north side of the River Blyth near Mount Pleasant to Shields Harbour; there they were discharged into the coastal shops by means of steam derricks fitted to Bedlington. This arrangement continued in use until 1851. Other proposals involved further railways and waggonways but for the time being they were not implemented.
Nevertheless, the limitation of Blyth as a harbour spurred consideration of a railway connection directly to the Tyne, and it was this cause that led ultimately to the formation of the Blyth and Tyne Railway.
The Blyth and Tyne Junction Railway From 25 June 1844, the Newcastle and North Shields Railway (N&NSR) worked the passenger and goods traffic on the Seghill Railway, but in November 1844 George Hudson, "The Railway King," made a provisional agreement with the N&NSR to merge that undertaking with the Newcastle & Berwick Railway which he was promoting at the time; the N&NSR gave his Berwick company access to central Newcastle. When the N&NSR was authorised on 31 July 1845, the arrangement was confirmed. In the changed circumstances the Seghill Railway and the projected extensions assumed a new importance. In July 1845, Jobling & Partners decided to construct a part of the proposed railway, and, by forming a junction with the Seaton Delaval Railway and arranging for the connection of that railway with the Seghill Railway, to create a route to the Tyne. The line was named the Blyth and Tyne Junction Railway. Construction was started in August 1845, but the line was not opened for passenger traffic until 3 May 1847; on that date the whole 4½ miles between Seghill and Blyth began to cater for passengers.
Bedlington extension Bedlington colliery needed to be connected to the network, and on 12 June 1850 a private line was opened from the colliery to Newsham, a distance of 2¾ miles. Mineral traffic only was carried at first, but it was opened for passengers also on 1 August 1850. In effect this was an extension of the growing Blyth and Tyne Railway; it crossed the River Blyth by a timber viaduct 80 feet in height and 770 feet in length. Described as a "splendid viaduct" by newspapers, it was designed by Robert Nicholson.
Incorporation of the Blyth and Tyne Railway
There were now several separate private railways, and there was a movement to make them into a single, incorporated company. The spur was passenger duty imposed on private railways, and also concern about promotion of a possible competing railway. They connected two parts of the group together by cutting through Prospect Hill in the year 1851 to enable the adoption of locomotive power; the new cut formed considerably gentler gradients. With other improvements the expenditure was about £130,000. The act of Parliament incorporating the Blyth and Tyne Railway, the (15 & 16 Vict. c. cxxii), received royal assent on 30 June 1852, capital £150,000. The line controlled by the new company totalled 13 miles, consisting of the main line from Blyth to the Hayhole on the Tyne (12 miles), a short branch to the York. Newcastle and Berwick Railway at Percy Main, the connection with the former Newcastle and North Shields Railway, and several short branches to shipping places on the Tyne. The new company came into existence on 1 January 1853.
A rival company, the Tynemouth Docks and Morpeth and Shields Direct Railway, proposed a dock at the Low Lights, North Shields, and a railway from Morpeth running directly to North Shields, with branches to Ashington and Seaton Sluice. The Blyth and Tyne Railway produced plans for lines occupying part of the same ground to spoil the competing line, and both proposals went to Parliament.
The promoters of the Tynemouth Docks Direct Railway hoped to take advantage of avoiding the cost of wayleaves with which the Blyth and Tyne was burdened, and the B&TR found itself uniting with the landowners who imposed these charges against the newcomer. Its reward was a concession by the landowners, reducing their terms by a third. The Tynemouth Dock Bill was thrown out in Parliament, and the Blyth and Tyne Railway succeeded in getting the powers it had applied for, by the (16 & 17 Vict. c. clxxii) of 4 August 1853. There was to be a branch from Newsham to Morpeth and another from New Hartley to the Dairy House near Seaton Delaval, a line ultimately planned to reach Tynemouth. The B&TR intended to buy some existing private lines and continue one of them to Morpeth. The B&TR was committed to the completion of a line to Tynemouth and obtained the (17 & 18 Vict. c. lxxix) to make this extension, as well as a building a branch from Bedlington to Longhirst.
Improvements