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GNR /LNER Allendale Branch


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Hi All

 

This is my first foray into the forums here so I hope i got the correct section of the forums to post in.

 

I am currently researching the Allendale Branch Line of the GNR specifically the Allendale (Catton Road) station and immediate surrounding area with a view to constructing a model railway

 

I have found some great information and a few photos of the Allendale terminus along with a track plan of the station on the Disused Stations website. However, as i want the representation to be as accurate as possible circa 1930 -1950 I am still hungry for more information.

 

I am hoping some of you out here may be able to help me fill in the gaps. as the National Rail Archives have very little

 

I have a track plan of the station its self and a few photos of the Station both building with and without its canopy. also a photo of the station taken from the terminal end bridge looking back over the station and track layout. however i have a "Wish list" of other bits of information that i need to make any representation more accurate. Please see below

 

1 The Length of the stone platform initially built

2 The Length of the additional wooden platform constructed around the turn of the 20th Century

3 The Length of the small turntable at the South end of the platform i think the biggest loco on the line would have been a G5 4-4-0 so the table wouldnt have been huge.

4 The Number of and Class of Locos in use at this time (loco numbers would be great too for authenticity). I have heard that J21s and G5s at the early stages and possibly WD J94s in the latter years after passenger transport stopped; would have been in use in this area. If anyone can confirm that or offer info on other locos that may have been used in this region at this time period then i'd be interested in hearing from you.This goes for rolling stock too I'm assuming that the industrial nature of the area would have precluded the use of rakes of coal trucks but i am informed other cargos such as general freight, livestock and possibly oil would have been commonplace. Any info on these again would be great as would the type of passenger coach used on the branch line upto the closure of the passenger service in 1930. Again im assuming Teak liverird suburban style coaches but there is a piece of information i have come accross stating a passengers delight at the "Quality of the passenger coaches" and their having "Elliptical" roofs as opposed to arched ones. What would other branch lines in the GNR be using around these times? there is also the question of LNER Articulated non corridor stock? would this have been used?

 

5 Although the local creamery did not have a siding for its own use its close proximity to the station would suggest milk was transported to Hexam / Newcastle therefore if there is any info out there on the design and construction of the creamery and the goods shed during the period I would be delighted to recieve info from anyone holding it .

 

6 The South Western siding was apparently given over to a weighbridge. if there are any pictures available on rail Weighbridges of the time please feel free to direct me to the links or post below.

 

Lastly if anyone has any written material they would be willing to part with on these subjects or any that may be relevant I would of course be willing to payfor it plus postage and packing for it. Just respond below to this thread and i will get contact info to you.

 

Many thanks in advace

 

Deltic Dave

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I am not able to help you with further information but just wanted to tip you off that you might get a better response if the thread title was changed, as you seem to have got the wrong company initials in there somehow! Allendale wasn't on the Great Northern Railway, it was on the North Eastern Railway. I hope that helps you obtain the details you are looking for and I wish you well with the project. Some of those little NER branch lines were simply lovely!

 

The elliptical roofed carraiages would almost certanly have been ex NER and would probably have been painted brown, rather than varnished teak. In NER days they would have been painted in the NER "Maroon/Lake/Crimson" (Sorry - don't know the correct term!) and usually such carriages were painted brown rather than being stripped back to bare wood. The eliptical roof NER vehicles were built later than the arc roofed ones and so were probably regarded as an upgrade on them!

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Hi Dave,

 

I don't know where you are geographically; the best source of information would be the Ken Hoole Study Centre in Darlington. They have his archive and a number of photographic collections. The NRM Search Engine is also, of course, an option.

 

There are a number of websites offering old Ordnance Survey maps from which platforms and the like can be scaled.

 

I'm assuming you're in 4mm?

 

In terms of stock and locomotives, to be accurate you're looking at kit building. Of what you mention, London Road Models offer a G5 and J21 in brass and I think Dave Alexander may do them in whitemetal. Coaches are a bit more difficult but both elliptical and arc roofed types have been offered by Dan Pinnock (D & S Models) who is doing short reruns of his 4mm kits. Worth dropping him a line. If you have no luck there, John Fozard or Bill Bedford may well offer the types you need.

 

For freight stock 51L (Wizard models) and David Geen both offer a number of NER wagon types. Falcon Brass also did so but the range is in abeyance as the new owners reintroduce it slowly. Coopercraft offer the well known 20T coal hopper.

 

There are other manufacturers you may wish to look at but I've focussed very much here on what you've mentioned in your initial post.

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One of the books that I have has a small section on the branch. It is a recent book mainly dealing with Newcastle to Carlisle but can't remember the name unfortunately and I'm at work (will dig out the ref later).

 

There was a small section on the old Northumberland Railways website, which was defuct (sadly). However, a quick google and it appears to have been resurrected http://www.railways.whblakey.co.uk/index.php?page=allendale . Probably not much more than the Disused Stations website but it has a basic trackplan. The site in general is quite a nice resource for lines in the area.

 

Jonathan

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I've had a quick look at some of my books on the area:

 

Border Country Branch Lines, Neil Caplan, Ian Allan 1981 has a photo of J21 65082, captioned as 1950, I think it was taken on the day of closure, 20th Nov 1950, as it also appears in "Rural Branch Lines of Northumberland, C.R.Warn, pub Frank Graham 1975 with a dated caption.

 

Neil Caplan's book also has a photo of J94 68059 at Allendale with a freight consisting of one van and a brake van, again in 1950. Caplan states that photos of the line in operation are scarce.

 

Warn states that "with the decline of lead mining eventual closure was certain", so that could have been a source of freight traffic.

 

Even in in 1911 there were only three trains a day on weekdays, plus an extra on Tuesday afternoons.

 

Edit: There are also photos of the branch and a track plan with the creamery shown in Eastern Main Lines Hexham to Newcastle, Roger R Darsley, pub Middleton Press ISBN 1 904474 69 1. The same J94 is shown, also an unidentified G5 in 1930 with a brake third coach in the platform and two passenger vans in the siding behind the platform. He states that the creamery did contribute milk traffic but the yard crane was only 2ton capacity. An 1898 photo shows a NER F8 2-4-2T No 423. Freight is described as livestock, fodder, timber, coal, general merchandise.

 

Those who know the area will appreciate why traffic was always very light!

 

David

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Many thanks to all that have replied There are some superb references and a lot of info and food for thought on this I may try and contact the owners of the caravan site now at Allendale station as they live in the old station house I hope they would be willing to give me some advice on platform length as the platform is literally their back garden.

 

Kind regards and again.. many thanks

 

Dave

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