Eaglescliffe Brickworks Railway

In the 1960s there was a brickworks at Eaglescliffe where my dad worked as a brickmaker. He carried out a variety of tasks including managing the firing process in the kilns, boiler house attendant and mobile plant operator and I often visited him at work in the evenings or at weekends. On one such visit in early 1966 I was able to film the 2ft 6in gauge railway which transported clay from Coatham Stob to the top of the brickmaking plant at Eaglescliffe, a distance of about 3/4 mile. The line passed over a public road on a "crossing with no gates" as identified by signs at the side of the road
The locomotive used was a Ruston Hornsby diesel hauling 5 side tipping wagons. The clay was dug from the pit and loaded by a Ruston Bucyrus electric dragline digger and each wagon held about 2 tons of clay.
In wintertime, salt was added to the loaded wagons to stop the clay freezing in the storage hoppers which were situated above the brick making machines.

[@thestocktonflyer4059]

I grew up 5 minutes away from the brick works 😊. Good Times 👍 amazing video thank you 😊

[@jasinere35]

crossleys brickworks had the same type tipping wagons but wasnt ran with loco they had them on a continous loop ran by wire rope that lasted till 1980 when it met the same fate as this one its now a travellers campsite, i never knew of the road crossing at eaglecliffe i did see the original brickworks to the west of durham road but sadly it was demolished before i had the chance to visit it although the claypit is still there but is now a pond & im not sure who owns the land & like you say there is no trace of any of the tracks going from the brickworks to the claypits

[@user-yp5do3oh1c]

I recognise this from Marsden rail County Durham. I love the sight of the little green diesel chuggering along.

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hi,
You are correct, this footage of mine was used by Michael in that DVD. He did incorporate film from myself and others particularly in his later productions.

[@user-yp5do3oh1c]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv Cheers. How long ago did Micheal pass away if you don't mind me asking.

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hello, I am not sure of the exact date but I think it would have been in the late 90s or early 2000s. Sorry I can't be more specific.

[@user-yp5do3oh1c]

@@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv That's fine. At least he had a happy life filming railways.

[@robinpinnock2678]

Great 'real life' 1960's footage. If you have seen my video ' Cherry Orchard Brickworks Railway ', you will understand my interest in this one!

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hello Robin,
I have just looked at your video and there are many similarities with mine e.g. side tipping wagons and rough trackwork.
It was surprising to see only one man in charge of the train , I presume there must have been some sort of safety device to stop it if he became unable to.
I also noticed that the brick earth was dry whereas the clay at Eaglescliffe was very wet.
As with lots of archive footage it is hard now to find any trace that the railways and the industry they served were ever there. At least we have a record for others to see.

[@sapper82]

I wonder what happened to the loco and RB excavator?

[@davidtalbot941]

Which road did it cross, Durham Lane? I knew there was a brickworks there, but I didn't know about the railway.

[@PeterHutchinson-jc6wv]

Hello David,
The line did cross Durham Lane as you suggest and there was also a brickworks there which continued in operation for a while after the Eaglescliffe site closed .
There is no trace of the railway now but I think it crossed close to where the current entrance is to Marshals concrete plant.