Tyneside Electrics

The Tyneside Electrics refers to the suburban railways on Tyneside that were electrified by the North Eastern Railway and the London and North Eastern Railway. The North Tyneside loop was electrified from 1904 onwards and formed one of the earliest suburban electric networks, the South Tyneside line (to South Shields via Pelaw) was electrified in March 1938. They were electrified using the Third Rail system but converted to diesel operation in the 1960s: the line to South Shields in January 1963 ^[1] and the North Tyneside lines in June 1967 when the electrical supply infrastructure (which dated from 1935) and the rolling stock (which dated from 1937) had become life expired.^[2] In addition, the system was losing passengers and suffering from costly vandalism. Since the late 1970s, much of the system has been converted to form the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Contents 1 Routes 2 History prior to electrification 3 Rolling stock 3.1 North Eastern Railway 3.2 London and North Eastern Railway 3.3 British Railways 4 References 5 Sources 6 External links

Routes

North Tyneside Loop

Legend Tynemouth Whitley Bay Cullercoats North Shields Monkseaton West Monkseaton Percy Main Riverside loop Howdon Willington Quay Point Pleasant Former Blyth and Tyne Railway line to Percy Main Backworth Carville Wallsend Walker St Anthonys Walkergate Benton Junction on East Coast Main Line Benton St Peters Heaton Junction on East Coast Main Line Heaton Byker Riverside loop Longbenton South Gosforth Gosforth Car Sheds West Jesmond Jesmond Manors Line to South Shields High Level Bridge over the River Tyne Newcastle Central

The lines covered were the North Tyneside Loop from Newcastle via Wallsend, North Shields, Whitley Bay and South Gosforth back to Newcastle; the East Coast Main Line (ECML) from Newcastle 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 titled 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 only used 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 titled the Heaton Independent Lines.

Finally, a short freight-only line, the Newcastle Quayside Branch left the Tynemouth lines just east of Manors East station at Trafalgar South yard, opposite Argyle Street signal box, and emerged after traversing through three tunnels into the Quayside yard adjacent to the quayside at Newcastle. This route was equipped with both overhead line and conductor rail to facilitate electric operation in June 1905.

History prior to 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.

The original B&T station in Newcastle terminated at New Bridge Street. Thus the original electrified route was not quite a loop. Electric services ran from New Bridge Street until 1908 when a replacement station was built at Manors. The existing station at Manors that served the lines to Heaton was renamed Manors East while the new station was named Manors North. The electric service continued to terminate here until 1917, when full out-and-back circular running to and from Newcastle Central station began and Manors North no longer functioned as a major terminal for electric services. The section of line that closed up the loop from a new junction at Manors (East) and effectively by-passing New Bridge Street station had been laid in 1905. Some services from Newcastle Central to Benton did start running over the new section of line after the opening of Manors North station.

Electrification of the South Tyneside line from Newcastle via Heworth to South Shields was announced by the London and North Eastern Railway in 1935 and electric services began in the spring of 1938.

Rolling stock

North Eastern Railway

All of the North Eastern Railway electric stock was built at the NER Carriage Works at York. The first batch was in the period 1903/4 with the electrical equipment being supplied by British Thomson-Houston. BT-H were the British representatives of General Electric, and the original batches of rolling stock were fitted with American-built control gear and motors, the later batches used equipment manufactured at the BT-H factory at Rugby.

The growth in traffic gave rise to further additions in the 1914/15 period, which along with rebuilds meant a very diverse range of vehicles.

In August 1918 there was a serious fire at the original car shed located at Walkergate, which completely destroyed 34 cars and damaged many more. An order for 35 replacement cars was placed and these were built between 1920 and 1922. These were to a somewhat different design, with revised roofline and improved electrical equipment. They took the same running numbers as the destroyed cars.

London and North Eastern Railway

The NER stock remained in service with the LNER from 1923. In 1937, the youngest former NER stock, namely the 1920-built "replacement stock" for those vehicles destroyed in the 1918 fire, was refurbished for use on the newly-electrified South Tyneside line. The other NER stock, some of which dated back to 1903/4 was replaced on the North Tyneside lines by new articulated units from Metropolitan Cammell.

British Railways

The LNER 1937 stock remained in service with British Railways (BR) from 1948. In 1955, BR introduced new stock on the South Tyneside line based on the Southern Region 2-EPB vehicles and was designated the South Tyneside 1951 Stock. Although electrically identical to the 2-EPB, the body on the motor brake cars had a much enlarged 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 1956-8, although some vehicles escaped into 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 EPB5 stock was transferred to the Southern Region, with the sole exception of the Motor Parcels Van E68000. This was sent to the LMR's Liverpool Southport line. Here it eked out a further five years of use renumbered M68000 before being withdrawn in 1968 after a service life of just 12 years - less than half of its capital life in financial terms.

References

Sources

• Hoole, K. The North Eastern Electrics, Oakwood Press, 1961, no ISBN
• Hennessey, R.A.S. The Electric Railway That Never Was - York-Newcastle 1919, Oriel Press, 1970, ISBN 0-85362-0873 (Hoole)
• Hoole, K. The North Eastern Electrics, 2nd edition, Oakwood Press, 1987, ISBN 0-85361-3583
• Hoole, K. The Electric Locomotives of the North Eastern Railway, Oakwood Press, 1988, ISBN 0-85361-3672

External links

• LNER Encyclopedia