Justin Smith
Member
Could anyone help with the closure dates of the Stockton & Darlington coal wharf branch ?
My Cobbs atlas says it closed in 1985, and my 1980 Baker's Rail Atlas still shows a stub of the original S&D line titled "Stockton South coal depot". But that depot doesn't appear to be on the river, possibly the branch had been truncated earlier, if so when ?
I have a picture of the coal being unloaded from steam hauled waggons at the actual wharf (by the Tees) in 1947 (in Cleveland & N Yorks : Past & Present, p16). That is interesting in itself because Cobbs reports the end of the branch was "Horses only" and that it closed (to the end) in 1848 at the same time as the stub off it was also closed. The latter branch was to the north of the original and about half way up "opened in 1833".
A bit more info.
I found my 1961 OS 7th series map (Nos 85 : "Durham") and both the line down to the wharf and the stub branch part way along it are on that 1961 map, though, of course, that does not mean they were definitely still there at that date, it is a good indication.
My Cobbs atlas says it closed in 1985, and my 1980 Baker's Rail Atlas still shows a stub of the original S&D line titled "Stockton South coal depot". But that depot doesn't appear to be on the river, possibly the branch had been truncated earlier, if so when ?
I have a picture of the coal being unloaded from steam hauled waggons at the actual wharf (by the Tees) in 1947 (in Cleveland & N Yorks : Past & Present, p16). That is interesting in itself because Cobbs reports the end of the branch was "Horses only" and that it closed (to the end) in 1848 at the same time as the stub off it was also closed. The latter branch was to the north of the original and about half way up "opened in 1833".
A bit more info.
I found my 1961 OS 7th series map (Nos 85 : "Durham") and both the line down to the wharf and the stub branch part way along it are on that 1961 map, though, of course, that does not mean they were definitely still there at that date, it is a good indication.
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