NEXT Sunday (July 17), the railway institute in Shildon is holding an exhibition of railway history, from noon to 4pm, with exhibitors coming from all across the region.

At 1pm, there will be a free guided walk looking at some of the interesting features around the institute in Byerley Road, so, with the help of photographer Elaine Vizor, we thought we’d take a stroll from the very beginnings of the Stockton & Darlington Railway at Witton Park over the inclines of Etherley and Brusselton and into Shildon ready for the start of the exhibition.

For a full guide to this walk, go to the Friends of the railway’s website, sdr1825.org.uk

The Northern Echo: 1. 1. Looking north at the New Inn crossroads near Witton Park towards the River Wear. This is the trackbed of the first section of the railway, reaching towards the collieries on the south bank of the river which provided coal for the railway to carry.

1.    Looking north at the New Inn crossroads near Witton Park towards the River Wear. This is the trackbed of the first section of the railway, reaching towards the collieries on the south bank of the river which provided coal for the railway to carry. This crossroads is where an old coaching road goes over the railway, and it was near this spot that the coal was put on the first wagons at 7am on opening day, September 27, 1825

The Northern Echo: 2. 2. The trackbed passes behind the hamlet of Phoenix Row, which was built, as the datestone shows, in the 1840s and 1850s. It was named after a nearby pit, where its residents worked, and it shows how almost immediately the railway changed the nature

2.    The trackbed passes behind the hamlet of Phoenix Row, which was built, as the datestone shows, in the 1840s and 1850s. It was named after a nearby pit, where its residents worked, and it shows how almost immediately the railway changed the nature of south Durham as it passed through it. It was behind Phoenix Row that the coal waggons were attached to the rope which pulled them up Etherley Incline – this is the official start of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. Twelve wagons of coal from the pit were attached to the rope on opening day and began their journey to Stockton.

The Northern Echo: 3. Looking south up the 1,109-yard Etherley Incline to the top where the 30hp stationary engine, designed by Robert Stephenson, was placed to pull the coal wagons up and then lower them down the other side to West Auckland. This embankment, up to 40ft

3.    Looking south up the 1,109-yard Etherley Incline to the top where the 30hp stationary engine, designed by Robert Stephenson, was placed to pull the coal wagons up and then lower them down the other side to West Auckland. This embankment, up to 40ft high and made of colliery and quarry waste in layers with soil, was regarded as one of the wonders of the age – people came to gawp at it because they could not believe man and his clever machines could move so much earth. The Northern Echo in 1875 described those machines: "The earth waggons in use were mechanical monstrosities, square squat things. Some of them had been brought from Hetton, where George Stephenson had employed them in the construction of that railway. They were as good as any in the district; but they were very bad for all that. They were not only clumsy; they were barbarous, shearing off many a finger. The 'hospital' for earth waggons in those days was West Auckland."

The Northern Echo: 4. The Etherley engine lowered the railway wagons down 2,195 yards to West Auckland, where the broken earth-moving machines were stored. Sometimes, unfortunately, the rope doing the lowering snapped, and the wagons would runaway into West Auckland,

4.    The Etherley engine lowered the railway wagons down 2,195 yards to West Auckland, where the broken earth-moving machines were stored. Sometimes, unfortunately, the rope doing the lowering snapped, and the wagons would runaway into West Auckland, smashing anything that stood on their way. On the flat ground surrounding the station, which was not built until 1871, the wagons were detached from the rope and attached to horses which pulled them across the floor of the Gaunless valley to the foot of the Brusselton Incline. The station is now surrounded by grassy mounds in which you can still trace the junction where the first branchline, to Haggerleases at the foot of Cockfield Fell, branched off the S&DR. It was near the station that opening day, a 13th wagon was attached to the 12 of coal. It was full of sacks of flour as West Auckland was a milling centre – in 1825, it was said to have had the oldest working flour mill in the country.

The Northern Echo: 5. Near the station are the remains of the parapets of the internationally important Gaunless bridge, which took the S&DR over the river. It is regarded as the world’s first iron railway bridge. It was designed by George Stephenson and built

5.    Near the station are the remains of the parapets of the internationally important Gaunless bridge, which took the S&DR over the river. It is regarded as the world’s first iron railway bridge. It was designed by George Stephenson and built using iron cast by John and Isaac Burrell in Newcastle. On October 23, 1823, George reported to the S&DR committee that he had successfully crossed the Gaunless with a three-span, but that winter featured six weeks of snow followed by a rapid thaw and George’s bridge was washed away by the floodwater. He rebuilt, this time with four spans, and that was the bridge which carried the horsedrawn train on the opening day. The bridge fell out of use in 1856. The deck was removed in 1901, so now only the parapets remain, and taken to a museum in York where it remains to this day – although there has been talk for 20 years of bringing it back to Shildon.

The Northern Echo: 6. Although the line from Witton Park into Shildon requires in some places some imagination to trace, everywhere there are little railway details dating right back to 1825 to spot. Many relate to the boundary walls and hedges that the railway had to by

6.    Although the line from Witton Park into Shildon requires in some places some imagination to trace, everywhere there are little railway details dating right back to 1825 to spot. Many relate to the boundary walls and hedges that the railway had to by law erect on either side of the track. This is near Broom Mill farm, as the track approaches the foot of Brusselton incline.

The Northern Echo: 7. Much of the trackbed from Broom Mill up to Brusselton has been lost by open cast mining and agriculture, but as you approach the hamlet of Brusselton, you begin to spot the stone sleepers in their original position and then you come across this fine

7.    Much of the trackbed from Broom Mill up to Brusselton has been lost by open cast mining and agriculture, but as you approach the hamlet of Brusselton, you begin to spot the stone sleepers in their original position and then you come across this fine “accommodation” bridge, built in 1825 to accommodate the wishes of the farmer who wanted to get his cattle from one side of his farm to the other. Unfortunately, the road bridge which once stood beside it has been destroyed.

The Northern Echo: 8. In recent years, volunteers with the Brusselton Incline Group have done a splendid job clearing overgrowth to reveal the lines of stone sleepers which once carried the rails that, on opening day, bore the wagons as they were pulled 1,960 yards up the

8.    In recent years, volunteers with the Brusselton Incline Group have done a splendid job clearing overgrowth to reveal the lines of stone sleepers which once carried the rails that, on opening day, bore the wagons as they were pulled 1,960 yards up the incline by the stationary engines at the top. This picture shows the difficulties facing the engine man at the top of Brusselton who somehow had to know when the time was right to start hauling the wagons up when they were one-and-a-half miles away. Initially, a tall pole was erected at the bottom with a disc on top of it. When the disc was spinning, it meant the wagons were ready. To see the disc, the engineman had a telescope permanently fixed near his chair. This is said to be the first recorded example of a railway signal system anywhere in the world. However, it was no good in fog, so long wires attached to bells or rappers were installed.

The Northern Echo: 9. Two 30hp engines, built by Robert Stephenson in Newcastle at a cost of £3,482 15s, hauled the wagons up Brusselton incline and lowered them 880 yards into Shildon where Locomotion No 1 was ready on opening day to take them wagons on. The

9.    Two 30hp engines, built by Robert Stephenson in Newcastle at a cost of £3,482 15s, hauled the wagons up Brusselton incline and lowered them 880 yards into Shildon where Locomotion No 1 was ready on opening day to take them wagons on. The steam-powered engines were fed by water from a reservoir built behind the engine house. Once Timothy Hackworth had got the engineering on the incline working well, on a record day in 1839, 67 runs were made carrying 2,120 tons of coal up and down it.

The Northern Echo: 10. The line drops down the bank from Brusselton and through where the vast wagonworks were, employing 2,500 people until 1984, and then into Shildon where, outside the Masons Arms pub, the wagons on opening day were coupled to Locomotion No 1 to begin

10.    The line drops down the bank from Brusselton and through where the vast wagonworks were, employing 2,500 people until 1984, and then into Shildon where, outside the Masons Arms pub, the wagons on opening day were coupled to Locomotion No 1 to begin the inaugural journey. The engine let out a whistle to tell the thousands of spectators that it was about to set off, and they fled in fear, believing it was about to explode. The Masons Arms is now the Cape to Cairo African restaurant and is just down the road from the railway institute which is hosting next Sunday’s exhibition.