The Willington Waggonway was constructed in 1795 to carry coal from Tyneside mines to the river. It was rediscovered in 2013 during archaeological work being carried out prior to redevelopment of the former Neptune shipyard in Walker due to its proximity to the Roman fort, Segedunum. Well preserved under compacted coal waste was part of the most complete and complex 18th century waggonway ever found. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran from Barnby Basin, through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England to a junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield, West Yorkshire. It was built in the 1790s, to provide a transport link from coal reserves at Barnsley to a wider market. Both the Aire and Calder Navigation and the River Don Navigation took a keen interest in the project, the former buying many of the initial shares, and the latter constructing the Dearne and Dove Canal to link the canal to their waterway. Water supply issues meant that the Aire and Calder proposed pumping all of the water for the canal from the River Calder, using steam pumps, but a reservoir was built at Cold Hiendley instead, increasing the construction costs, but reducing the running costs. The canal as built was 14.5 miles (23.3 km) long and included 15 locks.
The Tanfield Railway is a 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial steam locomotives. The railway operates a passenger service every Sunday, plus other days, as well as occasional demonstration coal, goods and mixed trains. The line runs 3 miles (4.8 km) between a southern terminus at East Tanfield, Durham, to a northern terminus at Sunniside, Gateshead. Another station, Andrews House, is situated near the Marley Hill engine shed. A halt also serves the historic site of the Causey Arch. The railway is "the world's oldest railway" because it runs on a section dating from 1725, other parts being in use since 1621.
Wylam is a village and civil parish in the county of Northumberland. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) west of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The Causey Arch is a bridge near Stanley in County Durham, northern England. It is the oldest surviving single-arch railway bridge in the world, and a key element of the industrial heritage of England. It carried an early wagonway to transport coal. The line was later diverted, and no longer uses the bridge.
The Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working railway, situated in the English city of Leeds. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway, run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. since 1960.
The Wollaton Wagonway, built between October 1603 and 1604 in the East Midlands of England by Huntingdon Beaumont in partnership with Sir Percival Willoughby, has sometimes been credited as the world's first overground wagonway and therefore regarded as a significant step in the development of railways. Its primacy has been recently questioned because of a wagonway built at Prescot, near Liverpool, sometime around 1600 and possibly as early as 1594. Owned by Philip Layton, this line carried coal from a pit near Prescot Hall to a terminus about half a mile away. Also, a wagonway at Broseley in Shropshire was probably earlier.
The Polloc and Govan Railway was an early mineral railway near Glasgow in Scotland, constructed to bring coal and iron from William Dixon's collieries and ironworks to the River Clyde for onward transportation.
The Tranent to Cockenzie Waggonway was an early waggonway, possibly the first in Scotland, opened in 1722. It was 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) miles long and connected coal pits at Tranent with the salt pans at Cockenzie and harbour at Port Seton in East Lothian, Scotland. The track was wooden, and wagons were drawn by horses. The Battle of Prestonpans in 1745 was fought across the line.
Steam Elephant was an early steam locomotive from North East England.
The Stanhope and Tyne Railway was an early British mineral railway, that ran from Stanhope in County Durham, to South Shields at the mouth of the River Tyne. The object was to convey limestone from Stanhope and coal from West Consett and elsewhere to the Tyne, and to local consumers. Passengers were later carried on parts of the line.
Willington Power Station refers to a pair of now decommissioned and partly demolished coal-fired power stations that were constructed in the 1950s. The two stations were built on a site off Twyford Road, between Willington and Findern in Derbyshire, England. The two power stations had an installed capacity totaling 804 M.W. The two stations consisted of the 'A' Station, and the 'B' Station.
This article lists events relating to rail transport that occurred during the 1790s.
The year 2013 in archaeology involved some significant events.
The Stevenston Canal was a waterway in North Ayrshire, Scotland, built for Robert Reid Cunningham of Seabank and Patrick Warner of the Ardeer Estate, which ran to the port of Saltcoats from Ardeer, and Stevenston with a number of short branches to coal pits along the length of the cut. The canal opened on 19 September 1772, the first commercial canal in Scotland. It closed in the 1830s, when it was abandoned following the exhaustion of the coal mines and the rise of importance of Ardrossan as a harbour. At the time of its construction it was said to be the "most complete water system of colliery transport ever devised in Britain."
The Brandling Junction Railway was an early railway in County Durham, England. It took over the Tanfield Waggonway of 1725 that was built to bring coal from Tanfield to staiths on the River Tyne at Dunston. The Brandling Junction Railway itself opened in stages from 1839, running from Gateshead to Wearmouth and South Shields. Wearmouth was regarded at the time as the "Sunderland" terminal.
Several mineral railways were constructed around Dunfermline in western Fife, Scotland, in the eighteenth century and later. Their purpose was to convey minerals to market from the outcropping coal deposits that had encouraged industrial activity in the area from an early date.
William Brown (1717-1782) - or William Brown of Throckley as he was sometimes known - was an English mining engineer, waggonway constructor and steam engine builder who played a major role in the development of the coal mining industry in the North East of England and also elsewhere in Britain and Ireland.
The Auchincruive Waggonway or Whitletts Waggonway was a mineral railway or 'Bogey line' that transported mainly coal, eventually running from the north side of Ayr harbour at Newton to Blackhouse, Whitletts, Dalmilling, Gibbsyard, Auchincruive Holm, Annbank and Enterkine. Apart from carrying coal to the harbour, lime kilns, quarries and a salt works were also served.
The Craigie Waggonway was a short lived mineral railway or 'Bogey line' of just over a mile in length that transported coal from five or more coal pits on the Craigie Estate to Ayr where it was either used locally or was taken to the harbour in carts for export, mainly to Ireland.
The Silkstone Waggonway was a narrow-gauge industrial wagonway serving the Barnsley Canal, in England, at Silkstone in South Yorkshire.