The Tanfield Railway
Opened in 1725, the Tanfield Railway is one of the oldest railways still operating anywhere in the world.
1725
Opened in 1725, the Tanfield Railway is one of the oldest railways still operating anywhere in the world.
1725
Dating from 1725, the Tanfield Railway formed part of an extraordinary network of horse-drawn wagonways in North East England that became the basis of the railway revolution.
‘TYNESIDE roads’ was the name given to a network of 17th century wooden-track railways around the North East.
One of these was opened at Lobley Hill near Gateshead in 1647, and horses trundled coal along the wagonway to Dunston staiths on the Tyne, to be loaded on collier ships.
In 1725, the route was extended to Sunniside and Causey, with a spur to Dawson’s Drift following shortly after.
It was for that spur that stonemason Ralph Wood, at the cost of £12,000, constructed Causey Arch, the world’s oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge, over the Causey burn. The line was further extended, with steel rails, to East Tanfield in 1839.
Steam locomotives did not arrive until 1881, though two stationary engines at Marley Hill drew wagons along the steeper sections of the route by rope.
The line was closed by the government-owned National Coal Board in 1964, but was acquired by a preservation group, and trains started running again in 1981.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why was Causey Arch built?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The wagons were pulled by horses. In 1881 the railway started using steam locomotives.