Original Stockton and Darlington Railway (Shildon, Bruselton Incline, Etherley Incline)

00:00 Shildon Sidings - Now Railway Museum
00:45 Shildon Signal Box
01:15 Grade ii listed Coal Drops
02:10 Soho Shed
03:13 Former Shildon Wagon Works
04:19 Brusleton Incline, Coal wagons were lowered down to join the Locomotion no1 in 1825
04:40 Bruselton Static Engines
05:45 Base for Rail Lines and Restored Bridge
07:01 Heading to West Auckland - Coal wagons would have been towed up the the static engine
09:30 Gaunless Bridge
10:50 West Auckland Station house
11:55 Start of the Etherley Incline (coal wagons would have been lowered down)
14:40 Site of the Etherley incline Static Engine

This is a flyover what remains of the Railway line from Shildon, to the Bruselton Incline, and Etherley Inclines

Many thanks to Dale Daniels for the Photos,
Bruselton incline Group   / brusseltoninclinegroup  

Stockton and Darlington Railway (1885)

The railway that opened in September 1825 was 25 miles (40 km) long and ran from Phoenix Pit, Old Etherley Colliery, to Cottage Row, Stockton; there was also a 1⁄2 mile (800 m) branch to the depot at Darlington, 1⁄2 mile (800 m) of the Hagger Leases branch, and a 3⁄4 mile (1,200 m) branch to Yarm.[44] Most of the track used 28 pounds per yard (13.9 kg/m) malleable iron rails, and 4 miles (6.4 km) of 57+1⁄2 lb/yd (28.5 kg/m) cast iron rails were used for junctions.[45] The line was single track with four passing loops each mile; square sleepers supported each rail separately so that horses could walk between them. Stone was used for the sleepers to the west of Darlington and oak to the east; Stephenson would have preferred all of them to have been stone, but the transport cost was too high as they were quarried in the Auckland area. The railway opened with the company owing money and unable to raise further loans; Pease advanced money twice early in 1826 so the workers could be paid. By August 1827 the company had paid its debts and was able to raise more money; that month the Black Boy branch opened and construction began on the Croft and Hagger Leases branches. During 1827 shares rose from £120 at the start to £160 at the end
The line was initially used to carry coal to Darlington and Stockton, carrying 10,000 tons in the first three months and earning nearly £2,000. In Stockton, the price of coal dropped from 18 to 12 shillings, and by the beginning of 1827 was 8 shillings 6 pence (8s 6d). At first, the drivers had been paid a daily wage, but after February 1826 they were paid 1⁄4d per ton per mile; from this they had to pay assistants and fireman and to buy coal for the locomotive. The 1821 Act had received opposition from the owners of collieries on the River Wear who supplied London and feared competition, and it had been necessary to restrict the rate for transporting coal destined for ships to 1⁄2d per ton per mile, which had been assumed would make the business uneconomic. There was interest from London for 100,000 tons a year, so the company began investigations in September 1825. In January 1826, the first staith opened at Stockton, designed so waggons over a ship's hold could discharge coal from the bottom. A little over 18,500 tons of coal was transported to ships in the year ending June 1827 and this increased to over 52,000 tons the following year, 44+1⁄2 per cent of the total carried.