Brilliant 👏👏👏. REALLY enjoyed that. Thanks for sharing. I’ve traveled up and down this line for years from Darlington to either Shildon for Locomotion or Bishop Auckland to see family but never seen it quite like this. Thanks again for sharing.
I first travelled to Darlo by train in 1975 and it's amazing to see how much infrastructure has been lost and how the railways have been overtaken by tree growth.
Looks like you came off the Hartlepool Docks Branch although I have never seen a train on it for years.If I recall it has a steel gate on it.Never seen anything on the Seal Sands/Port Clarence Branch either.Regarding that relief track to the left between Hartlepool and Seaton Carew it looks really rusty but I caught a Grand Central 180 between Hartlepool and Northallerton a few Sundays back and it actually went down it.There must have been something wrong with the up main.
Concrete tunnel segments are coming out of Hartlepool docks every day for HS2. Colas are bringing an oil train off the seal sands branch a couple of times a week.
Thanks for posting! I used to do constant lates and nights when I drove - I was always the first person people would come to with offers to take my early turns!
13:20 Aycliffe Lane crossing, Heighington Station. This is where the S&Ds first locomotive was put on the line, having been delivered by road from R. Stephenson's works at Newcastle. The building on the right dates from those early years, and needs to be preserved.
It's been 'rationalised' to the limit. Apart from the section at Cliff House, all flexibility has been carefully 'designed-out'. I remember seeing FIVE rakes of coal wagons under Davis Bridge; Two of fulls, two of empties, and one on the headshunt waiting for the road to the ICI power station. (16-ton side-door type, these last). Good to see Platform 3 at 'West' back in use, though. The long bit of 'wrong road' beween Clarence Rd. and the docks branch is a legacy of using the cross-over put in when Plat. 3 was abolished. If the Docks get busy, it'll have to be moved closer to the junction. Are you planning to do the Graythorp branch?
It will be empties to be loaded with tunnel lining rings for the HS2 tunnels that are being friven from Old Oak Common towards Ruislip. At their present rate of progress the TBM's are using at least 112 segments per day so these trains are pretty regular.
They appear to have cameras mounted on them. They swivel round to face the train as we approach. Don't know what they are for. Network rail thing I suppose.
@@dannywilliams146 I was last there about 85 /86 . Waited ages for any steel trains none came. A lot of wagons in the yard loaded with steel ready to go .A very old Box with Skinningrove something on it ! East ? West ? Yard ? Just got photos of a double headed 37s on the potash .Followed one all the way to Middlesborough.
@Sam_Green____4114 If you use Realtime Trains (detailed) search "Crag Hall S.B." you can see there are regular booked slots for steel trains. They are not all taken up but it is fairly easy to see when one is on the way.
Look at the Potash that has trickled out of the wagons onto the centre of the tack ! There must be a whole wagon load on the track between Boubly and Tess Dock ! Maybe they could invent a little railway vehicle with a pipe that sucks it all up once a week and takes it to Tees dock !?
Nice to see the train take the goods branch at the end. Looks as if the track had only just been reopened judging by the flailed lineside vegetation. Thanks for sharing.
I kept waiting for the train to actually t-bone a dock, you know, like to collide with one, but it never happened, so I’m off to go watch villager news. Bye!
Nice video... would have been nice to see inside the docks from a loco point of view... does anyone know what sort of crossover that is at 7:20... it doesn't look like a normal diamond crossing as its got pointwork... it looks more like a doubleslip but without the curved bits at the sides or 2 points put together without the lead in bit... described as best i can.
