page_title: Rothbury Branch
section_title: The Wansbeck Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Rothbury Branch / History / The Wansbeck Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Wansbeck Railway and the Northumberland Central Railway, England
context_page_description: The Rothbury Branch was a 13-mile single track railway line in Northumberland, England. It was built by the Northumberland Central Railway and was conceived as part of an alternative trunk route from Newcastle to Berwick.
  There were serious problems raising money for the ambitious scheme, and it was scaled back to run from Scotsgap to Rothbury. It opened in 1870.
  Even so, it was always short of money and had to request the North British Railway to take it, and its debt, over; it did so in 1872.
  The line was never busy and closure to passenger traffic took place in 1952; after a period of limited goods operation, the line closed completely in 1963.
context_section_description: The Border Counties Railway opened the first section of its line in 1858. This line was to link Hexham with apparently rich mineral deposits, and was stated to be the first stage of a new line, independent of Hudson's York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, linking the area with Edinburgh. This revived consideration of a railway running west from Morpeth, and this led to the development of a scheme for a Wansbeck Valley Railway from Morpeth to Reedsmouth on the Border Counties line.
  The Wansbeck Valley committee changed the name to The Wansbeck Railway and they obtained the Royal Assent for their line on 8 August 1859; the capital was set at £120,000. 
  They constructed their line in stages, and it opened in sections from 1862 to 1865. It passed through Scotsgap, but came no closer to Rothbury. The Company was constantly short of money and was heavily supported by the North British Railway, which saw it as a strategic means of by-passing Hudson's railways in getting access to Newcastle.
caption: The Rothbury branch and the Wansbeck Railway
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