North Eastern Railway - Definition and Overview

The North Eastern Railway (NER) , unlike many other of the pre-Grouping companies, had a relatively compact territory, having the district it covered to itself. That district extended through Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland, with outposts in Westmorland and Cumberland. It formed the middle link between London and Edinburgh, joining the Great Northern Railway near Doncaster and the North British Railway at Berwick-upon-Tweed. Incorporation took place in 1854, when three existing companies were combined.

Constituent parts of the NER

1854

• York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway
• York and North Midland Railway
• Leeds Northern Railway

1862

• York & North Midland Railway
• South Durham & Lancashire Railway

1863

• Stockton and Darlington Railway Oldest public railway in the world, opened 1825

1865

• West Hartlepool Railway

Principal stations

York York station was the hub of the system, and the headquarters of the line was located here. The basis for the present station was opened on June 25 1877. Until the advent of modern signalling, the 295-lever box was the largest manually-worked signal box in Britain.

Newcastle Newcastle Central station, opened August 29 1850, became the largest on the NER.

Other pricipal stations were located at Sunderland, Darlington and Hull. The station at Leeds was a joint undertaking with the London and North Western Railway.

Electrified lines

The NER was the first main line rail company in Britain to adopt electric traction (the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway followed about one week later). The lines converted were:

• Newcastle Central via Wallsend and Whitley Bay to Gosforth
• Newcastle Central to Benton
• the Riverside Loop from Byker to Percy Main

NB Further extensions were carried out in 1938 by the London and North Eastern Railway

Traffic

The NER carried a larger tonnage of mineral and coal traffic than any other principal railway.

Docks

The company owned the following docks:

• Hull Docks: acquired 1893. Dealt with a large variety of cargoes, including grain, seed and fruit
• Hartlepool Docks: acquired 1865. A large timber trade
• Tyne Dock: opened by NER in 1859. Timber and coal exports
• Middlesbrough Dock: Opened in 1842. Iron and steel exports; and a world-wide trade in other goods.

The NER also owned coal-shipping staithes at Blyth and Dunston-on-Tyne.

References used

• The Railway Year Book for 1912 (Railway Publishing Company)
• British Railway Electrics (Ian Allen, 1960 edition)
• The Railway Magazine February & March 1923 editions