Tyneside Electrics
The Tyneside Electrics were the suburban railways on
Routes
The original lines covered were the North Tyneside Loop from Newcastle Central via Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay and South Gosforth back to Newcastle; the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from Newcastle Central to Benton (providing a short cut to Monkseaton and Whitley Bay), and the Riverside Branch from Byker to Percy Main via Walker.
At Benton the electrified lines diverged from the ECML to join the Blyth and Tyne line (see below). These curved lines were called the South West Curve and South East Curve based on their disposition looking north. The SE Curve had scheduled electric services running over it from time to time, but the SW Curve was used for empty stock movements.
In 1923 the triangular junctions at South Gosforth were electrified in connection with opening of the new car sheds, but were used only for empty stock movements. In the same year, a route was electrified in the Heaton area. This route left the ECML at Benton Bank and ran through the freight yard at Heaton to connect with the Tynemouth lines at Heaton East Junction. It was used for empty stock movements and as an access route to Walker Gate Carriage Works where heavy repairs and overhaul of the electric stock took place. This route was called the "Heaton Independent Lines".
Map
History
History before electrification
The line through Jesmond, Benton and on to Tynemouth was opened in the 1860s by the Blyth and Tyne Railway (B&T), and the line through Wallsend by the Newcastle and North Shields Railway in 1839. The portion of the East Coast Main Line to Benton had been opened by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway in the 1840s. The Newcastle Quayside Branch had been opened by the NER in 1873, and the Riverside Branch in 1879. The junctions at South Gosforth dated back to 1905 and were laid for the Gosforth and Ponteland Branch.
Electrification
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Before Metro conversion
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In the early 1900s,
The
The electrified stretch of the East Coast Main Line between Heaton and Benton Junction was used by certain limited stop 'express' services between Newcastle and the coast.[2]
The electrification, and the improved service it enabled, succeeded in the aim of reversing the decline in passengers numbers, which rose steadily, and topped the ten million mark in 1913, exceeding the highest pre-electrification totals. It also substantially reduced the running cost of the service, which was reduced to less than half the cost per train mile of the steam service it replaced.[2]
In 1923, the NER was
Decline and de-electrification
Falling passenger numbers, rising costs, and the need to renew life expired infrastructure and rolling stock, meant that the Tyneside Electric network was de-electrified in the 1960s under British Rail, and converted to diesel operation. The Newcastle-South Shields line was de-electrified in 1963, and the north Tyneside routes were de-electrified in 1967.[2]
Successor
In the late-1970s much of the former Tyneside Electric network was incorporated, in modified form, into the Tyne and Wear Metro: The North Tyneside Loop (minus the Riverside Branch which was closed in 1973), plus the South Shields branch was incorporated into the Metro. A new underground section under Newcastle and Gateshead and new bridges were added, part of the former Ponteland Branch was also included, and the network was re-electrified with overhead lines.[2]
Rolling stock
North Eastern Railway
The North Eastern Railway began using electric multiple units between
On Sunday 11 August 1918 there was a serious fire at the original car shed at Walkergate,
This section may be confusing or unclear to readers. (November 2022) |
This fire affected rolling stock policy for the rest of the life of the system through to 1967. When the original cars were life-expired in the 1930s, the replacement cars were not, so while new LNER units were built to replace all the stock then in use, the replacement cars were moved on to the newly electrified South Shields line, whose commissioning in 1938 coincided with the arrival of the new LNER stock. In turn, this meant the replacement cars were life-expired in the 1950s, when what was standard electric stock of the time, to the Southern Region pattern with separate compartments, quite different (and to some extent inappropriate) with what had existed before was built. In the early 1960s, the ability to redeploy this quite recent stock to the Southern Region was a significant part of the decision to de-electrify the South Shields line, which they had been principally employed on, leaving the north side lines to run on with the LNER units until they too were life expired some years later and the electric system was closed down.
London and North Eastern Railway
The NER stock remained in service with the LNER after the
British Railways
The LNER 1937 stock remained in service with British Railways (BR) after nationalisation in 1948. In 1955 BR introduced new stock on the South Tyneside line based on the Southern Region 2–EPB stock and was designated "South Tyneside 1951 Stock". They were electrically identical to the 2–EPB but the body on the motor brake cars had a much larger luggage space to accommodate prams. Minor detail differences were route indicating lights and destination blinds. The 1920 stock was withdrawn and was broken up at Simonside Wagon Works near Tyne Dock in the period 1956–58, although some vehicles were retained for departmental use or saw further service as "Pram Vans".
When the South Tyneside line was de-electrified in January 1963, all but one of the 1951 EPB stock was transferred to the Southern Region. The exception was Motor Parcels Van E68000 which was transferred to the London Midland Region's Liverpool – Southport line, renumbered M68000 and used for another five years before being withdrawn in 1968. It thus had a service life of just 12 years.
References
- ^ Cooke, B.W.C., ed. (March 1963). "Tyneside Electrics". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 109, no. 743. Westminster: Tothill Press. p. 182.
- ^ ISBN 0 85361 358 3.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-86093-615-2.
- ^ "The NER Tyneside Electric Multiple Units". lner.info. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
- ^ "Walkergate Fire". Newcastle Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne, England. 13 August 1918. p. 5. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "NER parcels van". National Railway Museum. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
Sources
- Hennessey, R.A.S. (1970). The Electric Railway That Never Was – York–Newcastle 1919. Oriel Press. pp. not cited. ISBN 0-85362-087-3.
- Hoole, K (1961). The North Eastern Electrics. Oakwood Press.
- Hoole, K (1987). The North Eastern Electrics (2nd ed.). Oakwood Press. ISBN 0-85361-358-3.
- Hoole, K (1988). The Electric Locomotives of the North Eastern Railway. Oakwood Press. pp. not cited. ISBN 0-85361-367-2.
Further reading
- Merz, C.H., and McLellan, W. The use of electricity on the North Eastern Railway and upon Tyneside The Engineer 9 September 1904, 260-262; 16 September 1904, 282-284.