THE complete history of the railway line from Darlington to Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale has been documented for the first time in a new book, A Ticket to Teesdale.
Co-authored by John Teasdale and John McCrickard for the North East Railway Association, the book was inspired by the Ticket to Teesdale exhibition, at Darlington’s Head of Steam museum in 2014.
It covers everything from the development of the service and its various stations and their stationmasters to its eventual closure to passengers in 1964.
It is a subject close to the heart of co-author John McCrickard, who grew up in Gainford and was able to ride on the train before its closure thanks to the work of James Boyden who was Bishop Auckland’s MP at the time.
He said: “It was to close on March 6, 1964, but he basically got it postponed to November which allowed me, as a seven-year-old, to savour it. I have a great love for the line.
“There has never been a proper history of the line – the book is very detailed.”
Research for the book included delving into the online archive of the Teesdale Mercury, which revealed unknown facts about the line, including the auction at Gainford of horses used to help build it.
Mr McCrickard said: “There is stuff [in the archive], blimey, that was new to me.”
The collaborative effort to produce the book started about four years ago with each of the authors focussing on various aspects of the railway.
The result is an interesting read covering the promotion of the line to passengers, plans and photographs of the different stations along it, plus the workings of the signal boxes. There is also a section dedicated to accidents which occurred along the railway line.
The co-author is critical of the closure saying the railway was “by no means a basket case”.
He added: “It was in the same revenue category as the Bishop Auckland line. Its closure was short sighted.”
A Ticket to Teesdale is available at the Teesdale Mercury shop in Barnard Castle.
