North Eastern Railway Divisions

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Rlangham
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North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by Rlangham »

I'm aware that the NER had three Divisions - Southern, Central and Northern. What I'm not aware of though is where these divisions actually covered - I'm assuming Southern was York area, Central Darlington/Middlesbrough etc and Northern would be Newcastle (presumably the northern Durham area too ie Gateshead, South Shields, Tanfield branch, Consett) and upwards? Does anyone have a map or cut-off points for which Division was where?

Thanks,
Rob
Author of 'The North Eastern Railway in the First World War' - now available in paperback!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/North-Eastern-R ... 781554552/

Happy to help with anything relating to the railways in the First World War, just ask
markindurham
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Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by markindurham »

Great question, Rob. I'm sure many of us will be interested in that one.
drmditch

Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by drmditch »

I'm sure I've seen something on this fairly recently, but can't locate it at the moment.
I'll check Tomlinson this evening.

The boundaries do show on the line diagrams published by NERA. The recent one for York Newcastle shows the boundary between 'York and Darlington'.

I suspect there was an article in one of the NERA Express volumes, but I couldn't find it this morning. Do you have access to an index?
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tomburnham
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Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by tomburnham »

The Indexes to the North Eastern Express can be downloaded from the North Eastern Railway Association web site but to save time the article on Divisional Boundaries can be found on page 62 of Volume 51, May 2012, No 206 together with some maps on page 42.
The situation is not straight forward as the boundaries changed over time. At first only the Northern and Southern Divisions existed as the amalgamation with the Stockton and Darlington, which at first became the Darlington Section then the Central Division, had not yet taken place. In 1888 there was a reorganisation of the Engineering Districts and the opportunity was taken to redraw the boundaries of the Central Division and eliminate some anomalies that had existed since the amalgamation. In 1899 it was decided to dissolve the Central Division and the territory was divided between the other two.
The 'fringe' signal cabins until 1899 are described as:-

Southern Division - Black Banks, Robin Hoods Bay, Bog Hall, Yarm and Great Ayton.
Central Division - Croft Junction, Prospect Hill Junction, Eaglescliffe South and Nunthorpe Junction.

Northern Division - Consett East, Relly Mill Junction, Coxhoe Junction, South Hetton, School Aycliffe and Springfield.
Central Division - Hownes Gill, Dearness Valley Junction, East Howle, West Cornforth, Haswell, Simpasture Junction and Parkgate Junction.

After 1899 the boundaries between the Northern and Southern Divisions were:-

Northern Division - Barnard Castle East, Shildon Tunnel North, School Aycliffe, Aycliffe, Norton South Junction, Carlton South Junction and Billingham.
Southern Division - Broomielaw, Shildon Tunnel South*, Simpasture Junction, Low Beaumont Hill, Stockton Bank, Bowesfield West and Belasis Lane.
* Also applied to the Black Boy Branch in line with the north face of Shildon Tunnel.

Tom.
Member of the North Eastern Railway Association Archive Team

https://ner.org.uk/
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Rlangham
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Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by Rlangham »

Thanks Tom,

That's extremely useful, thank you!
Author of 'The North Eastern Railway in the First World War' - now available in paperback!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/North-Eastern-R ... 781554552/

Happy to help with anything relating to the railways in the First World War, just ask
markindurham
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Joined: Tue Mar 27, 2012 9:38 am

Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by markindurham »

Yes indeed. Thanks, Tom.
drmditch

Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by drmditch »

Thank you Tom for the reference.
I looked up my copy yesterday evening, and found more than I realised about the area I live in!

I might be able to have greater signal cabin variety on my new railway than I thought!
PinzaC55
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Re: North Eastern Railway Divisions

Post by PinzaC55 »

drmditch wrote:Thank you Tom for the reference.
I looked up my copy yesterday evening, and found more than I realised about the area I live in!

I might be able to have greater signal cabin variety on my new railway than I thought!
And signals of course. The Central Division had it's own favourite pattern of signals which looked similar to the LNWR since the CD used much fewer slotted posts. The last one in service (albeit converted to Upper Quadrant) is or was at Urlay Nook near Darlington, I don't know if it still exists though.
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