Out and about

Pelaw Main Junction

Pelaw Main Junction (PMJ) is about 1/3rd of the way down the east incline from Blackhams Hill. There are actually two junctions (see plan) each controlled by a manual lever frame. The top frame (Pelaw Main West) is only used for shunting the loco around a train. Pelaw Main East is the turn-off for the Wrekenton Branch.

Pelaw Main East Junction
Looking towards Springwell Crossing

The green cabinet on the left is the lever frame controlling the east junction - the turn-off for the Wrekenton branch. In this view, a set of twelve wagons has just passed on its way down the east incline from Blackhams Hill to Springwell

Looking towards Blackham's Hill Hauler House

In this view, taken from the cab of a loco standing in the loop mid way between PMJ East and PMJ West, a set of wagons has been hauled up from Springwell on the rope to Blackhams Hill and is standing high up on the kip, ready for the descent of Blackhams Hill West incline to Black Fell. The East incline rope can be seen lying between the rails of the main line, indicating that another set of wagons has been lowered to Springwell and is waiting to be hauled back up.

Looking towards Blackham's Hill Hauler House

Here, a set of wagons is passing Pelaw Main East on its way up to Blackhams Hill. The turn-off to the right is the loop leading to the Wrekenton Branch. Pelaw Main West lever frame can be seen in the distance. The Wrekenton Branch diverges to the right, just in front of the lever frame.

More about Pelaw Main Junction and the Pelaw Main curve

The curve was originally a link from the Pelaw Main Colliery line, which ran from Ouston, County Durham, and Team Valley, Gateshead, via two separate lines which met at Whitehill, near Wrekenton, then on to the Pelaw Main Staithes on the Tyne at Bill Quay, Gateshead.

This line was an inverted "Y" shape with the staithes on the leg. The PMC Ouston line ran under Bowes at Black Fell Bridge and then almost parallel to Bowes to the top of the hill at Eighton Banks. They were only a couple of hundred yards apart. A mile-long link was proposed from Whitehill Incline to Springwell Bank Foot in the 1930s but this idea was not implemented. In the 1950s a shorter 500 yard curved link was constructed on an embankment from the PMC system at the top of Sandy Lane, Eighton Banks to a point almost a third of the way down Blackham's Hill East Incline. Known as the Pelaw Main Curve, this section of line was used to bring loco-hauled sets into Springwell. This lasted until the closure of the last PMC collieries - Ravensworth Park Drift at Team Valley and Ravensworth Ann pit at Allerdene - in the early 1970s. A Wrekenton-based steam loco was occasionally used but more often the 0-4-0 Planet Diesel was operated.

Traffic from Ravensworth Park Drift was operated by a steam loco based at the bottom of the Team Colliery incline. Wagons were shunted across a bridge over Kingsway on Team Valley Trading Estate to the bottom of the incline. From here the sets were rope hauled to Allerdene to join wagons loading at Ravensworth Ann. Traffic from both pits was then hauled up the long Wrekenton incline by rope using the Wrekenton hauler. From Wrekenton, a loco took the sets to Whitehill where they were reversed onto the old PMC Ouston line. They were then loco-hauled to Eighton Banks, onto the PMC curve and into Springwell - a complicated journey.

The PMC link was not, however, the first link between the Bowes and Pelaw Main lines - in the mid to late 1800s a very short section linked both lines at Black Fell, but the link saw little use. The main purpose was to bring brick and fireclay from the clay pits at Ouston onto Bowes.

The layout of the 1950s PMC link at Eighton Banks was different from today's layout, as only one set of points was used; those at the east end of the present junction, where the loop to the Wrekenton passenger line now branches off. A bell box was positioned alongside the points so the loco driver could signal for permission to enter the main line from the branch and to confirm he had cleared the main line. This was because rope hauled sets on the Bowes main line could not operate while a loco from the curve was going into or coming out of Springwell. When the Pelaw Main Branch closed in 1973 the track was lifted and the Bowes main line was reinstated with plain rail.

When passenger trains were introduced as part of the Bowes reopening as a preserved railway, the link to the branch was reinstated. An additional connection to the west of the original junction was also installed. This was used as a run round loop for passenger trains to allow the loco to be at the head of the train for its return journey. At that time, the passenger extension only ran as far as Blakhams Hill platform. The empty passenger train was reversed into the loop once passengers had detrained at the platform. The loco was then able to run round the train and then propel it back into the platform to collect passengers. With the commissioning of the full extension to Wrekenton, PMJ West now sees little use.

Nevertheless, the loop is also available to run the loco round the rope haulage set so it can be propelled onto Blackham's Hill bankhead when the wagons are brought up from Springwell prior to rope haulage commencing.

From the introduction of passenger services the junction performed its job without incident until the 6th of September 1981 when smoke was noticed coming from the embankment. The cause was spontaneous combustion of the coal in the black ash embankment caused by movement and settling. The fire brigade was called to extinguish the fire. However the use of water is not the best method on a black ash embankment fire as it allows more air into the seat of the fire. Tyne and Wear County Council engineers decided to tackle the fire by digging it out.

With the co-operation of both the Railway & Ancient Monuments Inspectorates a plan was devised to tackle the situation. Springwell Quarry allowed access to the embankment from their side of the line and provided materials for the new fill for the embankment. With the S&T and Hauler Power cables isolated, and the straight section of track lifted on the new loop and junction, the embankment was dug out, exposing a 25 yard section of fire at the base of the 1950s embankment.

The fire did not affect the original 1826 embankment. Once removed the embankment was rebuilt with the fill from the quarry, covered with black ash, and the line reinstated. The only reminder of this incident was a heap of black ash in the quarry for many a year until the quarry decided to access the stone in that area.

Planet standing on the PM curve

In the view above, Planet has propelled a set from Wrekenton, around the PM curve and is waiting to join the main line at what is now Pelaw Main Junction East. From there it will continue down the incline to Springwell. The train cannot proceed further as the east haulage rope is lying between the rails of the main line, indicating that a set of empties is waiting to be hauled up to Blackhams Hill.

The PM curve viewed from Eighton Banks

Blackhams Hill hauler is on the horizon, with an empty set waiting on the kip to descend the west incline. This view is taken from behind the Waggon Inn at the top of Sandy Lane, Eighton Banks. It shows the new curve diverging from the original PMC line around to the left on a high embankment, to join the Bowes line off the picture to the left in the distance. The original PMC line came in from Wrekenton in the near left foreground and continued on to Eighton Banks kip to the right of the picture, passing through where the telegraph pole is now standing. From this point, the first 100 yards of the curve is much older than the new 1950s extension. It was originally built to accommodate a loco shed for the Eighton Banks loco. This loco worked the Eighton Banks kip to Whitehill section of the original PMC line.

This last picture was taken when Bowes was carrying coal - ie prior to 1974. However, the curve looks very much as it does now following the opening of the extension to Wrekenton in 2000.

The Eighton Banks loco outside its shed

This is the Eighton Banks loco standing outside its shed on the spur off the PMC line. The new PMC curve was built by extending through the back of the locoshed and on towards the Bowes line. The loco is 26A (ex Metropolitan Railway Beyer Peacock loco 26A - maker's no. 772/1867). The loco was scrapped in December 1948. The photograph was taken between the wars. Note the long chain on the front. The loco hauled its set of waggons from Whitehill using this chain. As the loco approached Eighton Banks, the points were set for it to run into the locoshed spur. After it crossed the points, the fireman jumped off, changed the points and lifted the chain off the still-moving waggons so they would roll past, towards Eighton Banks kip. The loco would then emerge from the spur and come onto the back of the set so it could be propelled onto the kip.

Layout

Pelaw Main Junction Index

This page last updated 3 February 2006