The Stockton & Darlington Railway was far more than a line between Shildon, Darlington & Stockton: it operated as far west as Furness and West Cumberland, yet this part of the story has been largely forgotten in previous celebrations.
A travelling exhibition, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, uses maps and photographs to tell the story of the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway and the Eden Valley Railway, both essentially subsidiaries of the S&DR, and constructed in the 1860s to link Co. Durham via Barnard Castle, Stainmore and Kirkby Stephen with Tebay and Penrith. Agreements with the London & North Western and Furness Railways at Tebay, and the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith Railway provided access for traffic to Furness & West Cumberland.
The primary purpose of these new routes was to transport huge quantities of raw materials (primarily coal, coke and iron ore) to the new blast furnaces in Furness, West Cumberland & Teesside. By the end of the 1880s more than a million tons per year of mineral traffic were being hauled across Stainmore. About three-quarters of this was transported to iron and steelworks in the Barrow area via Tebay. The balance went to the Cumbrian coast via Keswick.
The exhibition is a joint undertaking by the Stainmore Railway Co., the Armstrong Railway Photographic Trust, the Cumbrian Railways Association and the North Eastern Railway Association. It is aimed at both the general public and those with a deeper interest in railways and local history. During the period from April onwards the exhibition will visit Appleby, Penrith, Cockermouth, Stockton, Darlington, Newbiggin-on-Lune, Tebay, Kirkby Stephen, Barnard Castle, Shildon, and Richmond. Admission is free.
Details of the dates and venues can be found at https://www.stocktondarlington200.co.uk/bicentenary-celebrations/