I was born in Egerton Road South Shields, in 1943, which ran parallel to the mineral line from Harton Colliery. The House was only about 50 yards from the line which was on a raised embankment. I lived there until 1960 when I joined the Forces. My life was spent listening to the trains and watching them I loved it. Obviously we trespassed as kids and getting Coal from stationary wagons at night was the norm. Everyone had Coal fires and were fairly poor in those days. It was an exciting time to live after the War, seeing things that kids can only read about now. I can still picture it all and would go back in a Heartbeat.
That would have been an interesting place to grow up. I also would have spent a lot of time there if that were where I grew up. They were certainly lax about security even when I visited. I just walked in any gate and nobody said anything. As time goes on, the world gets less and less interesting as things like this disappear.
What amazes me about the line is that i had no idea there was a tunnel running from st hilda to harton staiths near the custom house. The whole area has been reworked, but some features remain. The perimiter wall, old glassworks chimney. Whenever im down there i try to work out where the mouth of the tunnel would have been.
Your video is a great record of an incredibly unique piece of railway engineering. I love the whole gravity powered wagons through the unloader etc, just great. I have seen your other video as well, I have yet to get to the UK and wanted to check the area out but Google maps shows me that literally everything is gone, the chimney base is still there, but the tunnel is all bricked up. I have read the book regarding this, the guys did all of the maintenance in the shed you were in, it was a source of pride that they it all themselves. I just need to work have i can produce a model of this using the old triang / Hornby operating hopper wagons. I have found a source for kits for the electric locos. Thanks again for your work in recording, editing and uploading this.
I’m pleased you enjoyed the videos. Often industrial railways far more interesting than the main line railways. I think it would have been previous people who commented on this video who said that there is almost nothing to look at there now. Some of the rail alignments became walking or bicycle trails but apparently you have to look quite hard to find any real relics. Have fun with building this in model form! It will keep you busy for quite a while!
Thanks for sharing. Fascinating to see it operating. I was only young when the railway was operating but walked the line just after the conveyor belts that had replaced the railway had also stopped working. Great to see film of the railway operating.
+Meuw858 I'm pleased that the video brought back memories of the line operating. If you still get to the area occasionally, I would be very interested if you could get some photos of the staiths tunnel now. I expect that it is bricked up, but just the former entrances if accessible. I now have a movie to video converter and found some more film taken in 1981 but the quality of much of it is poor due to the dull weather. I also have a copy of the official British Coal (NCB) video taken by the crew you saw in my video. I hope to post that in a few weeks from now. Look out for it!
tressteleg1 I will look forward to seeing them. I have a few pictures that I can share with you on Flickr. I took them back in 1991 when the conveyor belts were installed and in 2013 after the Staithes area had been landscaped. Thanks again. Edward Drake
+Meuw858 Thanks Edward. I'm not up with Flickr but would be interested in anything you can show me. Perhaps you would like to email me on tressteleg(at)icloud.com Use the usual symbol instead of (at). Thanks, Richard
Just missed seing this railway as i went to work in north shields in 1990 and used to visit south shields , my life long interest in electric railways is because i grew up living beside the 1500v DC woodhead route
You missed a fascinating little railway. Industrial railways are always likely to be of interest, and especially electrified ones which were so rare, and almost non-existent today. Shortly after the last scenes, the railway was replaced by conveyor belts and not too long after that the entire mine closed, but you probably already know that. I’m not familiar with the Woodhead line. Maybe I missed something else of special interest.
years ago, (1980), I was standing on Guide Bridge station during the swan-song of the class 76s. A manky old cravens DMU pulled in with a Piccadilly-bound local service and this guy was taking shots of it. As a conceited 11 yr old, I asked why he was bothered taking shots of it. He answered "one day these will be gone". Only now, at the end, do I understand.
The biggest mistake of Rail fans is to assume that something that has been there forever will continue ‘forever’ into the future. This railway was the final example of that!
Yes it was interesting but also very noisy at times the railway line used to run past the front of our house down to the coal staithes on the riverside.Now there is a cycle path on the railway lines and houses on the pit head area, and also hardly any jobs or noise now the place is like a ghost town apart from tourists in the summer .
Mod 66 As the railway had been there for a long time, anyone moving into a house near it would have to expect the noise. Nevertheless I don’t think today’s silence is worth loss of jobs that went with the mining decline.
tressteleg1 believe it or not the houses closest to the pit were actually built before it opened and before the railway was built as yes you are right or was much better when it was noisy and busy.
That is possible. But the something similar has happened here in Blair Athol, Queensland, Australia. The open cut mine started some distance away but over the years got closer and closer to the town to the point that eventually all the houses had the be moved away or knocked down as the townsite was swallowed up!
Drat, I was really hoping that this video would have a loopable horn sound that I could use. Has anyone got any pointers or a sound similar to these charming little electric's long-lost voices?
Thanks so much for sharing this fascinating video. My model railway is inspired (NOT copied) though sadly dismantled atm due to a house move. Any links to other related video would be much appreciated.
The offical film crew was kind enough to send me a copy of their completed work. 'END OF THE LINE' Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Televisionua-cam.com/video/Kom4AaeLnlc/v-deo.html Good luck with getting your models running again.
The film crew kindly sent me a video tape of their work soon after they completed production. I could find no trace of that company still existing, so have published it myself. Here is the link. 'END OF THE LINE' Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Television ua-cam.com/video/Kom4AaeLnlc/v-deo.html
There used to be a steeple cab electric shunter at Padiham in Lancashire at the power plant there, was that from Harton? I saw it there at Padiham more than 30 years ago, and the power plant and it's railways have all gone now, and there was never any overhead wires there, at least not as far as I know.
I have heard no reports of any Harton locos going to work elsewhere. Unless some place already had a railway and suddenly needed another loco, a second hand purchase would be quite unlikely. And if it had no overhead it could have been diesel or battery powered, and as such built with those power sources. It would not be worth modifying something just to fit. Maybe you will come across more info one day. Somebody must know something about it.
@@tressteleg1 There's another video on here which shows it, just search for open day at padiham power plant 1989, it was light blue with sloping bonnets and a pantograph on it's cab roof.
Yes I found the video. In one scene I could see the loco was named the Lancashire Electric Power Company. Your UK geography would be much better than mine, but that would be a good starting place for research. I think you said earlier that all of this is gone now, but even if still there the Health and Safety zealots would never allow people to be standing near tracks with trains moving. I guess in those days we had the brains to stand clear. Not so today, it seems.
NCB or British Coal documentary that is mentioned was for the archives in Leeds but it seem to have disappeared how ever I have a full copy of it plus quite a few hours of my own video.
The NCB film crew who you saw a few times in this video was kind enough to post me a tape of their finished product. You will see it posted by me as ‘END OF THE LINE’ Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Television’. I only posted it after I checked everywhere I could think of to see where it was now, but found nothing. I daresay your own video would evoke interest if put on UA-cam. Let me know if you do.
I would need to convert it to a suitable format, all told I must have about 30 hours of VHS not only of this railway but all around the North East, Gateshead, Heaton, Tyne Yard, etc, plus literally hundreds of photographs of some very interesting archive stuff such as the last Class 40 run on the Redbank vans. I was a transportation officer in Shields town hall and when I found out the railway was to cease working I set about trying to save at least one of the more recent locos for preservation, no easy project , I was quoted by the railway operating manager at Westoe £3000 scrap value per loco but I would have to arrange my own transportation, again not a cheap outlay, after exhausting all avenues of sponsorship including the Stephenson museum I was fast running out of time when a saviour ( Siemens ) arrived, as you prob know they have a long association with the Harton railway so I set the ball rolling with a little help from my C,Eng, unfortunately for me my project was hi-jacked by North Tyneside council along with various dev agencies but at least a loco was secured.As a final irony I helped to redevelop the old track bed to the cycle route it is today.
William, I am particularly interested in all you have said there. Would you like to email me tressteleg(at)icloud.com and use the usual symbol where I have written (at). Thanks, Richard.
E9 and E10 were preserved at the Tanfield Railway in 1988 and 1987 respectively, E4 was preerved in 1987 by the North Tyneside Railway, E2 was preserved by Beamish Museum in 1986 and E1 was originally preserved by Beamish Museum in 1959 however scrapped in 1979. At the time of writing, E4 is the only operational locomotive, running on battery power, E10 is cosmetically restored, E2 is sat outside Beamish Museum with no current future and E9 is awaiting full restoration from January 2021.
+West Wruxshire Thanks. If you were referring to the voice, that was the loco driver. He is seen on a number of occasions in the video. Is he still with us?
![ЛЕБЕДЕВ у ДУДЯ: муху не обманешь 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E74h5fvVrqs/mqdefault.jpg)
I was born in Egerton Road South Shields, in 1943, which ran parallel to the mineral line from Harton Colliery. The House was only about 50 yards from the line which was on a raised embankment. I lived there until 1960 when I joined the Forces. My life was spent listening to the trains and watching them I loved it. Obviously we trespassed as kids and getting Coal from stationary wagons at night was the norm. Everyone had Coal fires and were fairly poor in those days. It was an exciting time to live after the War, seeing things that kids can only read about now. I can still picture it all and would go back in a Heartbeat.
That would have been an interesting place to grow up. I also would have spent a lot of time there if that were where I grew up. They were certainly lax about security even when I visited. I just walked in any gate and nobody said anything. As time goes on, the world gets less and less interesting as things like this disappear.
A great video.
Thanks not only for sharing it, but for also taking the time to record it so we can have this piece of history on film.
Electric industrial railways are a rarity, and I’m happy that I found this one and got reasonable coverage of it. Such a pity it came to an end.
What amazes me about the line is that i had no idea there was a tunnel running from st hilda to harton staiths near the custom house. The whole area has been reworked, but some features remain. The perimiter wall, old glassworks chimney. Whenever im down there i try to work out where the mouth of the tunnel would have been.
Thanks. I hope the other guy here commented a few days ago it’s to read this too.
Your video is a great record of an incredibly unique piece of railway engineering. I love the whole gravity powered wagons through the unloader etc, just great. I have seen your other video as well, I have yet to get to the UK and wanted to check the area out but Google maps shows me that literally everything is gone, the chimney base is still there, but the tunnel is all bricked up. I have read the book regarding this, the guys did all of the maintenance in the shed you were in, it was a source of pride that they it all themselves. I just need to work have i can produce a model of this using the old triang / Hornby operating hopper wagons. I have found a source for kits for the electric locos. Thanks again for your work in recording, editing and uploading this.
I’m pleased you enjoyed the videos. Often industrial railways far more interesting than the main line railways. I think it would have been previous people who commented on this video who said that there is almost nothing to look at there now. Some of the rail alignments became walking or bicycle trails but apparently you have to look quite hard to find any real relics. Have fun with building this in model form! It will keep you busy for quite a while!
Thanks for sharing. Fascinating to see it operating. I was only young when the railway was operating but walked the line just after the conveyor belts that had replaced the railway had also stopped working. Great to see film of the railway operating.
+Meuw858
I'm pleased that the video brought back memories of the line operating.
If you still get to the area occasionally, I would be very interested if you could get some photos of the staiths tunnel now. I expect that it is bricked up, but just the former entrances if accessible. I now have a movie to video converter and found some more film taken in 1981 but the quality of much of it is poor due to the dull weather. I also have a copy of the official British Coal (NCB) video taken by the crew you saw in my video. I hope to post that in a few weeks from now. Look out for it!
tressteleg1 I will look forward to seeing them. I have a few pictures that I can share with you on Flickr. I took them back in 1991 when the conveyor belts were installed and in 2013 after the Staithes area had been landscaped. Thanks again. Edward Drake
+Meuw858
Thanks Edward. I'm not up with Flickr but would be interested in anything you can show me. Perhaps you would like to email me on tressteleg(at)icloud.com Use the usual symbol instead of (at). Thanks, Richard
Just missed seing this railway as i went to work in north shields in 1990 and used to visit south shields , my life long interest in electric railways is because i grew up living beside the 1500v DC woodhead route
You missed a fascinating little railway. Industrial railways are always likely to be of interest, and especially electrified ones which were so rare, and almost non-existent today. Shortly after the last scenes, the railway was replaced by conveyor belts and not too long after that the entire mine closed, but you probably already know that. I’m not familiar with the Woodhead line. Maybe I missed something else of special interest.
years ago, (1980), I was standing on Guide Bridge station during the swan-song of the class 76s. A manky old cravens DMU pulled in with a Piccadilly-bound local service and this guy was taking shots of it. As a conceited 11 yr old, I asked why he was bothered taking shots of it. He answered "one day these will be gone". Only now, at the end, do I understand.
The biggest mistake of Rail fans is to assume that something that has been there forever will continue ‘forever’ into the future. This railway was the final example of that!
Very nice video!
Many memories of these trains I used to live right next to the pit and my Dad used to work there.when shields was a thriving town not like it is now.
What an interesting place to grow up! With most if not all the mines closed, there must be a lot less job opportunities around Newcastle now.
Yes it was interesting but also very noisy at times the railway line used to run past the front of our house down to the coal staithes on the riverside.Now there is a cycle path on the railway lines and houses on the pit head area, and also hardly any jobs or noise now the place is like a ghost town apart from tourists in the summer .
Mod 66 As the railway had been there for a long time, anyone moving into a house near it would have to expect the noise. Nevertheless I don’t think today’s silence is worth loss of jobs that went with the mining decline.
tressteleg1 believe it or not the houses closest to the pit were actually built before it opened and before the railway was built as yes you are right or was much better when it was noisy and busy.
That is possible. But the something similar has happened here in Blair Athol, Queensland, Australia. The open cut mine started some distance away but over the years got closer and closer to the town to the point that eventually all the houses had the be moved away or knocked down as the townsite was swallowed up!
Drat, I was really hoping that this video would have a loopable horn sound that I could use. Has anyone got any pointers or a sound similar to these charming little electric's long-lost voices?
I suppose that the locos had whistles, but if so I don’t recall ever hearing one during any o f my visits over the years.
Thanks so much for sharing this fascinating video. My model railway is inspired (NOT copied) though sadly dismantled atm due to a house move. Any links to other related video would be much appreciated.
The offical film crew was kind enough to send me a copy of their completed work. 'END OF THE LINE' Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Televisionua-cam.com/video/Kom4AaeLnlc/v-deo.html
Good luck with getting your models running again.
@@tressteleg1 Thankyou!
I remember seeing that driver with the cap on
Brian Cawkwell 😊👍
The video the NCB men were making...does anyone know if it is on UA-cam or be obtained anywhere else?
The film crew kindly sent me a video tape of their work soon after they completed production. I could find no trace of that company still existing, so have published it myself. Here is the link.
'END OF THE LINE' Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Television
ua-cam.com/video/Kom4AaeLnlc/v-deo.html
@@tressteleg1 Thank you very much 😊
😊👍
There used to be a steeple cab electric shunter at Padiham in Lancashire at the power plant there, was that from Harton? I saw it there at Padiham more than 30 years ago, and the power plant and it's railways have all gone now, and there was never any overhead wires there, at least not as far as I know.
I have heard no reports of any Harton locos going to work elsewhere. Unless some place already had a railway and suddenly needed another loco, a second hand purchase would be quite unlikely. And if it had no overhead it could have been diesel or battery powered, and as such built with those power sources. It would not be worth modifying something just to fit. Maybe you will come across more info one day. Somebody must know something about it.
@@tressteleg1 There's another video on here which shows it, just search for open day at padiham power plant 1989, it was light blue with sloping bonnets and a pantograph on it's cab roof.
Yes I found the video. In one scene I could see the loco was named the Lancashire Electric Power Company. Your UK geography would be much better than mine, but that would be a good starting place for research.
I think you said earlier that all of this is gone now, but even if still there the Health and Safety zealots would never allow people to be standing near tracks with trains moving. I guess in those days we had the brains to stand clear. Not so today, it seems.
NCB or British Coal documentary that is mentioned was for the archives in Leeds but it seem to have disappeared how ever I have a full copy of it plus quite a few hours of my own video.
The NCB film crew who you saw a few times in this video was kind enough to post me a tape of their finished product. You will see it posted by me as ‘END OF THE LINE’ Harton Electric Coal Railway by British Coal Television’. I only posted it after I checked everywhere I could think of to see where it was now, but found nothing. I daresay your own video would evoke interest if put on UA-cam. Let me know if you do.
I would need to convert it to a suitable format, all told I must have about 30 hours of VHS not only of this railway but all around the North East, Gateshead, Heaton, Tyne Yard, etc, plus literally hundreds of photographs of some very interesting archive stuff such as the last Class 40 run on the Redbank vans. I was a transportation officer in Shields town hall and when I found out the railway was to cease working I set about trying to save at least one of the more recent locos for preservation, no easy project , I was quoted by the railway operating manager at Westoe £3000 scrap value per loco but I would have to arrange my own transportation, again not a cheap outlay, after exhausting all avenues of sponsorship including the Stephenson museum I was fast running out of time when a saviour ( Siemens ) arrived, as you prob know they have a long association with the Harton railway so I set the ball rolling with a little help from my C,Eng, unfortunately for me my project was hi-jacked by North Tyneside council along with various dev agencies but at least a loco was secured.As a final irony I helped to redevelop the old track bed to the cycle route it is today.
William, I am particularly interested in all you have said there. Would you like to email me tressteleg(at)icloud.com and use the usual symbol where I have written (at). Thanks, Richard.
Are there any of the electric locomotives preserved
None of those big workhorses seen in this video were saved but one or two earlier types linger in one or two local museums, I believe. Check them out.
E9 and E10 were preserved at the Tanfield Railway in 1988 and 1987 respectively, E4 was preerved in 1987 by the North Tyneside Railway, E2 was preserved by Beamish Museum in 1986 and E1 was originally preserved by Beamish Museum in 1959 however scrapped in 1979.
At the time of writing, E4 is the only operational locomotive, running on battery power, E10 is cosmetically restored, E2 is sat outside Beamish Museum with no current future and E9 is awaiting full restoration from January 2021.
Thanks for the update.
Absolutely fascinating, surprised you didn't get kicked off the site,especially when the film crew were there
The world was much more relaxed in those days. Today’s hysteria is excessive.
27:40 to 27:48 - Jimmy Nail!
+West Wruxshire
Thanks. If you were referring to the voice, that was the loco driver. He is seen on a number of occasions in the video. Is he still with us?
Who, the driver or Jimmy Nail?
+West Wruxshire
Perhaps you could start by explaining who Jimmy Nail is. Otherwise I have no idea what you are talking about.
He's probably on wikipedia, there's more info there than i can offer.
+West Wruxshire
I had just looked him up. But maybe the joke is on you as the loco driver's real name WAS JIMMY!! as shown in the NCB official video!