Callerton railway station

Callerton
General information
Location	Woolsington, Newcastle upon Tyne England
Coordinates	55°01′43″N1°42′16″W / 55.0287°N 1.7045°W / 55.0287; -1.7045
Grid reference	NZ189705
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	North Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 June 1905 (1905-06-01)	Opened
17 June 1929	Closed to passengers
29 November 1965 (1965-11-29)	Closed to freight

Callerton was a railway station on the Ponteland Railway, which ran between South Gosforth and Ponteland, with a sub-branch line to Darras Hall. The station served Woolsington in Newcastle upon Tyne. It was opened in 1905, closed to passengers in 1929, and to goods traffic in 1965.

The current Callerton Parkway station, on the Tyne and Wear Metro, lies just to the south-east of the original station site.

History

The Gosforth and Ponteland Light Railway was formed in 1899, under the Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48), and construction of the line, by the North Eastern Railway, was authorised by Parliament in February 1901. In March 1905, the 7-mile section from South Gosforth to Ponteland was opened to goods traffic, with passenger services commencing in June 1905. ^[1]

Callerton station was opened on 1 June 1905. The original station building was destroyed by fire in March 1915, and was later replaced by a replica. In 1913, goods traffic arriving at the station included potatoes, livestock, hay and clover. In 1922, the branch line was served by six weekday passenger trains, with an additional train running on Saturday. Only three trains ran through to Darras Hall. ^{[2] [3]}

As a result of poor passenger numbers, the station, along with the branch line closed to passengers on 17 June 1929. ^[4] The station remained open for goods traffic, before closing altogether on 29 November 1965. The station was demolished almost entirely by 1973. The line through the station remained open until March 1989, to serve the explosives depot at ICI Callerton, situated between Callerton and Ponteland stations, where explosives were transferred from rail to road for onward transport to quarries in Northumberland. ^[2]

In May 1981, a section of the former branch line was reopened in stages between South Gosforth and Bank Foot, as part of the Tyne and Wear Metro network. ^[5] The line was later extended from Bank Foot to Newcastle Airport in November 1991, with an intermediate station at Callerton Parkway. ^{[6] [7]} Callerton Parkway was built some 125 metres (410 ft) to the south-east of the former station at Callerton, on the opposite side of the level crossing over Callerton Lane. ^[8]

References

1. Quick, Michael (2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology. Railway and Canal Historical Society. pp. 103, 131, 142, 234, 326 and 421. ISBN   978-0901461575.
2. Young, Alan (17 May 2017). "Disused Stations: Callerton". Disused Stations. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
3. Bradshaw's Railway Guide (Reprint ed.). London: Guild Publishing. 1985 [1922].
4. Quick, Michael (2009). Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain: A Chronology. Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 103. ISBN   978-0901461575.
5. Hoole, Ken (1987). The North Eastern Electrics. The Oakwood Press. ISBN   0 85361 358 3.
6. "Metro's airport extension celebrates its 25th year". Nexus. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
7. Houlison, Sam (16 November 2016). "The Metro to the airport opened 25 years ago". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
8. "Callerton Parkway" (Map). RailMapOnline. Retrieved 13 October 2024. Use 'Layers' tab to add stations and their labels to the map to see the original station location.

External links

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Ponteland		North Eastern Railway Ponteland Railway		Kenton Bank