# Bowes Railway - Black Fell incline the forgotten one



## jonney (Jan 15, 2010)

I have driven past this place hundreds of times and always said I would have a look and see what was left, well the other day I had to take a 30 minute tachograph break and I was in the area so I did just that. The hauler house was bricked up tighter than a gnats chuff so no entry could be gained but there was plenty to see outside although I am going to have to go back when the snow has cleared. Any way on with the history (sorry it's a bit long)

The Bowes Railway was originally a colliery railway built to carry coal mainly from pits in north west Durham to the Tyne at Jarrow. The earliest section was designed by George Stephenson and opened on 17 January 1826, making it one of the world's first modern railways. It was 15 miles long when completed in 1855. Each end was locomotive worked; the six mile middle section consisting of rope worked inclines with very steep gradients. At its peak, the Railway handled over 1 million tons of coal per year and remained virtually intact until 1968. Between 1968 and 1974, most of the line was closed until only the last 3.5 miles between Monkton and Jarrow staithes were operated by the National Coal Board. However, the original 1826 section between the Black Fell bank head and Springwell bank head was acquired for preservation in 1976 by Tyne and Wear County Council. This comprises Blackham's Hill West and East inclines, which are operated by a stationary haulage engine. It is the only working preserved standard gauge rope hauled railway in the world. In 1977, the Railway's Engineering and Wagon Shops at Springwell were added to the scheme, providing the facilities needed for maintenance.






The Hauler House taken in 1974

Black Fell hauler is all that is left of the once significant Black Fell Colliery site. The original pits sunk here in the early 1700s formed Mount Moor colliery. Later the site became known as Black Fell Colliery and the last working pit here was Vale pit, which closed in 1929. However, the shaft was still in use for man-riding and escape purposes as late as the 1960s, being linked underground to other pits in the area. Black Fell in the early 1900s is shown below and demonstrates how industrial the area was at the time. The hauler is centre left, viewed in the same direction as the picture above. The boiler house is adjacent, to the left of the hauler building. A set of wagons stands on the kip. Vale pit is seen centre right, beyond the wagons. The view is from Shadons Hill.






As can be seen from the map below






Black Fell bankhead is on a very sharp curve. This is because the original 1826 alignment towards Springwell and the direction that had to be taken for the later extension to Kibblesworth were almost at 90o to each other. The result is that the hauler for the Black Fell incline down to Team Valley stands well clear of the short bank up to Blackhams Hill. To the casual observer, the building seems to stand in splendid isolation in the surrounding fields.

The raised kip is the middle of three tracks, and is curved. The full wagons coming up the Black Fell incline were landed either side of the kip alternately. The rope was slipped just as the wagons entered the curve, the track sloping down past the kip to form a "dish" where the wagons would come to a standstill without the need for heavy braking. The rope from Blackhams Hill would then be attached for the haul up Blackham's short bank.

Empty wagons descending Blackhams short bank came straight down onto the kip. The track lifted slightly at the entry to the kip in order to slow the wagons, but mechanical rail mounted wheel retarders were used to bring the sets to a halt. After slipping the Blackhams rope, the sets were run forward around the curve onto the top of the Black Fell incline and the Black Fell rope was then attached for the run down.

Black Fell incline was operated with two ropes, each wound onto separate adjacent sections of the winding drum. Both ropes wound off the bottom of the drum. One rope came out of the front of the hauler building and straight down the incline. The second rope went in the other direction, out of the back of the building at high level and then around a large vertical rope return wheel mounted some 20m behind the building before returning at low level via a conduit under the building and then down the incline. The rope return behind the hauler can be seen in the picture at the top of this page. The effect was that as the engine wound the drum, one rope paid out while the other wound in.

This enabled a set to descend the incline while another was hauled up. The work required to haul a full set up the incline was a combination of winding by the engine and the weight of the empty set descending.

The descent from Black Fell to the bottom of Team Valley was via a three-rail arrangement. There was a passing loop half way down, below Dunkirk Farm. A view looking up the incline is shown below. Dunkirk Farm is at the top of the picture.





Black Fell incline, looking up towards Dunkirk Farm 1974

The next view was taken in 1988, looking up towards Black Fell hauler. It shows all that remains of the track on the incline. This short section of track was not removed by the NCB as it was attached to the floor of the bridge that went across the Pelaw Main line. It shows the 3-rail track. However, the right hand rail has been lifted and moved in to make a narrow gauge way. Immediately following closure by the NCB in 1974, Black Fell incline was narrowed and used for a few months for testing narrow gauge underground locos. This was because the gradient was typical of gradients underground.





Black Fell incline, looking up towards the hauler 1988

Enough of the history and on with the photos (sorry they are not the best as it was freezing cold, snowing and I didn't have a lot of time so they were rushed)

The Hauler House





The rear wheel















Guide wheel in the rope ditch





Second guide wheel (A bit hard to make out but it's there) next to the track bed





This is where the rope entered the Hauler house





Nice old windows





Front of the Hauler House





The cable ran underground through this










Some of the track still in place although it's in a bad state















I think this was a set of catch points (please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)





Large tank for the haulers steam engine





Some of the original line and cable put to use as a make shift fence





I don't suppose there is a lot left inside but it would have looked like this





Black Fell steam hauler driver Mr Pallister Senior at the controls in 1920






Thanks for making it this far without falling asleep

Cheers Jon


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## tom83 (Jan 16, 2010)

What a great little find.

Im amazed it is still there.


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## ThenewMendoza (Jan 16, 2010)

Excellent. I really enjoy stuff like this.

M


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## night crawler (Jan 16, 2010)

I liked that excellent find and report


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## jonney (Jan 16, 2010)

Cheers guys here's one of the original waggons that was used on the incline. It now stands on the side of the carpark outside the Bowes Incline pub which is just down the bank from the hauler house.
















In the last photo you can just make out wooden blocks slung underneath the waggon can anyone tell me what they were used for?

Cheers Jon


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## Lightbuoy (Jan 16, 2010)

Brilliant! Thanks for making the effort


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## Dirus_Strictus (Jan 16, 2010)

Great report on a very interesting subject. Your photograph 15 is not a set of catch points, it is in fact a retarder. If you look carefully, your photo clearly shows the two metal braking strips that are positioned above the rail head on the short lengths of inner guide rail. The guide rail bears against the inner face of the wheel flanges, thus keeping the wagon on on the running rails when the retarder is functioning, thus allowing the braking strips to rub on the inner face of the wheel flanges when the retarder is automatically activated by a descending wagon.

The retarder was there to prevent descending wagons gaining too much momentum and shock loading the haulage cable. The device is very simple in construction and operation, your photo not only clearly shows the 'hinged' locating ties pinned to the central locating rail and each braking strip, but also shows that these ties are angled towards the camera - chevron style. This indicates that the photograph was taken looking down the incline and the operation of the retarder should be self evident - the wheel flanges of an ascending wagon will 'bind' against the strips and push them in the direction of travel, but because of the angled tie rods the momentum of the wagon will push the strips off the flanges. In the case of a descending wagon the opposite happens - the angled tie rods force the moving strips onto the wheel flanges and cause a braking effect. 

The retarder is just another form of the wedge or cam braking mechanisms which were very common on rope/cable haulage ways.

I suspect that the wooden blocks under the wagon are in fact cable guides. Your end on photo would indicate that they are ideally placed to keep the haulage cable away from the wheels.


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## jonney (Jan 16, 2010)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> Great report on a very interesting subject. Your photograph 15 is not a set of catch points, it is in fact a retarder. If you look carefully, your photo clearly shows the two metal braking strips that are positioned above the rail head on the short lengths of inner guide rail. The guide rail bears against the inner face of the wheel flanges, thus keeping the wagon on on the running rails when the retarder is functioning, thus allowing the braking strips to rub on the inner face of the wheel flanges when the retarder is automatically activated by a descending wagon.
> 
> The retarder was there to prevent descending wagons gaining too much momentum and shock loading the haulage cable. The device is very simple in construction and operation, your photo not only clearly shows the 'hinged' locating ties pinned to the central locating rail and each braking strip, but also shows that these ties are angled towards the camera - chevron style. This indicates that the photograph was taken looking down the incline and the operation of the retarder should be self evident - the wheel flanges of an ascending wagon will 'bind' against the strips and push them in the direction of travel, but because of the angled tie rods the momentum of the wagon will push the strips off the flanges. In the case of a descending wagon the opposite happens - the angled tie rods force the moving strips onto the wheel flanges and cause a braking effect.
> 
> ...




Cheers for that mate. Now that I look back at the map the position of the retarder is roughly where the photo was taken on the kip. I thought the wooden blocks might have been something to do with unloading coal from the truck as the inside was sloped and the blocks directly below the slope. This photo was taken of the inside of the truck from the hole in the end of it.


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## borntobemild (Jan 16, 2010)

thanks for this Jonney - brings back memories!

My grandparents lived in Gateshead and we used to drive down Leam Lane regularly on the way to South Shields. The waggonway crossed Leam Lane. There was a little hut by the crossing and a man would come out with a red flag when the wagons were approaching.

This was a long time ago so apologies if i've got mixed up.


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## jonney (Jan 16, 2010)

borntobemild said:


> thanks for this Jonney - brings back memories!
> 
> My grandparents lived in Gateshead and we used to drive down Leam Lane regularly on the way to South Shields. The waggonway crossed Leam Lane. There was a little hut by the crossing and a man would come out with a red flag when the wagons were approaching.
> 
> This was a long time ago so apologies if i've got mixed up.



thats the one mate


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## Krypton (Jan 17, 2010)

Damn i drove past here yesterday. Di you see how deep the snow was on thr a66!!!??? It must have been 8ft high in some places!


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## jonney (Jan 17, 2010)

Krypton said:


> Damn i drove past here yesterday. Di you see how deep the snow was on thr a66!!!??? It must have been 8ft high in some places!



Wrong Bowes mate this ones Gateshead A66 is Barnard Castle (Bowes Museum)


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## smileysal (Jan 17, 2010)

Excellent history, and report and pics. I love anything to do with railways and collieries etc. Good to see the amount of stuff still left here. Also good to see the tub in the car park of the pub. Excellent work.

Cheers,

 Sal


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## Dirus_Strictus (Jan 17, 2010)

jonney said:


> Cheers for that mate. Now that I look back at the map the position of the retarder is roughly where the photo was taken on the kip. I thought the wooden blocks might have been something to do with unloading coal from the truck as the inside was sloped and the blocks directly below the slope. This photo was taken of the inside of the truck from the hole in the end of it.



Seeing this photograph I think your assumption is correct - I seem to recollect from the dim and distant past that the coal discharge fell onto grids placed between the running rails at this location, there being no grids placed in the cess. Thus any overflow onto the railheads could have the potential to derail the wagon. In many other discharge hoppers the track was 'bridged' across hopper grids that extended into the cess, this prevented rail blockage and speeded up the discharge flow. 

Glad you posted the extra photo, it would seem to indicate that the blocks were perhaps a later modification to solve an 'overflow problem. Nothing new in this; spent a great deal of time in the hopper house at High Marnham Power Station trying to get the HAA wagons used in the 'Merry-Go-Round' coal delivery system to discharge properly in winter,


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## Morrisey (Jan 17, 2010)

Has the winding house been secured? The last time i was there the winding house had half of the wall ripped out and the huge motors had been stripped of their copper.


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## Parkus. (Jan 17, 2010)

Cracking stuff mate, this is the kind of 'urbex' I'm interested in 


Am I right in saying that this line started where the Stanley area of collieries where and went through Chester-le-Street and onto Wardley coal depot? The lines which served the collieries further north-west went through Tanfield and onto the Dunston Staithes or Swalwell coal depot (which is now the MetroCentre).


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## Foxylady (Jan 17, 2010)

Really interesting report and pics. Love the photos of the Rear Wheel.


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## jonney (Jan 17, 2010)

Parkus. said:


> Cracking stuff mate, this is the kind of 'urbex' I'm interested in
> 
> 
> Am I right in saying that this line started where the Stanley area of collieries where and went through Chester-le-Street and onto Wardley coal depot? The lines which served the collieries further north-west went through Tanfield and onto the Dunston Staithes or Swalwell coal depot (which is now the MetroCentre).








Here's a map of the inclines mate this one is just above the longest red line.


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## Parkus. (Jan 17, 2010)

I see. Definatly very interesting. The whole of Durham and Tyneside is a maze of old rail lines.

Have you been to Tanfield railway? I was thinking about volunteering there. Any excuse to play with old trains


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## jonney (Jan 18, 2010)

Parkus. said:


> I see. Definatly very interesting. The whole of Durham and Tyneside is a maze of old rail lines.
> 
> Have you been to Tanfield railway? I was thinking about volunteering there. Any excuse to play with old trains



Again I've been passed it thousands of times but never ventured in. Me and Daddybear were just on about going to Tanfield railway the other day


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## sqwasher (Jan 18, 2010)

Very interesting read & report.


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## daddybear (Jan 18, 2010)

i feel inclined(ahem) to post a reply on this mate!crackin report jonney nice history to.how many thousands of cars etc pass by that every day and dont know its there?!! p.s krypton needs a geography lesson!lol or a sat nav


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## jonney (Jan 18, 2010)

daddybear said:


> i feel inclined(ahem) to post a reply on this mate!crackin report jonney nice history to.how many thousands of cars etc pass by that every day and dont know its there?!! p.s krypton needs a geography lesson!lol or a sat nav



cheers mate about time you showed up


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## Black Shuck (Jan 18, 2010)

OOOh Jonney, thats a cracking explore there mate! You must have been freezing your Gonads off!!! I really like those wheels on the Incline and the Engine House!!! Well done mate another masterpiece from your goodself.


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## jonney (Jan 18, 2010)

Black Shuck said:


> OOOh Jonney, thats a cracking explore there mate! You must have been freezing your Gonads off!!! I really like those wheels on the Incline and the Engine House!!! Well done mate another masterpiece from your goodself.



Well thank you fine Sir. The clock in the truck said it was -5 degrees. It took half a flask of coffee to warm me through but it was worth it. I'm going to go back when the weather gets better as I go past there every Wednesday, there's a lot more to see yet including that bridge...


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## scottyg100 (Apr 1, 2010)

cracking photo's mate and a really good read.


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## jonney (Apr 2, 2010)

Cheers mate I didn't have much time there but drive past every week and I'm just waiting for someone to make a way inside so I can photograph whats left in there


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## Morrisey (Apr 2, 2010)

Here you go.


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