page_title: Wansbeck Railway
section_title: The Wansbeck Valley Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Wansbeck Railway / History / The Wansbeck Valley Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: System map of the Wansbeck Railway and the Northumberland Central Railway, England
context_page_description: The Wansbeck Railway was a single track railway line in Northumberland, England, that ran from Morpeth to Reedsmouth, where it made a junction with the Border Counties Railway. Conceived as part of a through trunk route for the North British Railway, it never achieved its potential. It opened in stages from 1862 to 1865. Mineral traffic kept the line going; the population was sparse.
  In 1870 the Rothbury branch opened, from a junction on the Wansbeck line at Scotsgap.
  The passenger train service was discontinued in 1952 and the line closed completely in 1966.
context_section_description: By 1858 the Border Counties Railway had opened the first section of its line, and this local railway close by encouraged further thoughts of a railway in the area, but not to Rothbury. This line would run west from Morpeth to Reedsmouth on the Border Counties line, there getting access to the intended rich coalfields of Plashetts. At Morpeth the new line would link with the Blyth and Tyne Railway, giving direct access to wharves on the North Sea, and over that line to Newcastle. The line would be 26 miles long. Moreover, the Border Counties Railway had the clear intention of linking with the Border Union Railway. The BUR was sponsored by the North British Railway, and when it opened its line became known as The Waverley Route. The Border Counties Railway was to link with this route at a place that became known as Riccarton.
  Richard Hodgson, Chairman of the North British Railway was a member of the provisional committee, and this clearly shows the intention: the NBR was a link in a chain of railways between Edinburgh and London via Berwick, but it was dominated by the railways of George Hudson, who had shown himself to be ruthless in his dealings, and who had already tried to take over the NBR. The NBR had no running rights south of Berwick. If the NBR could get access to Newcastle over friendly railways—the Border Union, the Border Counties, the Wansbeck Valley, and the Blyth and Tyne—it would have much greater autonomy, and access to the important commercial centre at Newcastle.
  The Wansbeck Valley committee changed the name to The Wansbeck Railway and submitted a Bill for its 28-mile line to the 1859 Parliamentary session. It was relatively uncontroversial, and obtained the Royal Assent on 8 August 1859; the capital was set at £120,000. Working arrangement with the established railways were authorised by the Act, and the NBR and the Blyth and Tyne were permitted to subscribe up to £100,000 between them to the Wansbeck Railway.
  In fact the NBR subscribed £50,000; this was five-eighths of the Wansbeck's capital.
caption: The Wansbeck Railway and the Rothbury Line
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