BISHOP AUCKLAND station is now a humble affair beside a supermarket, but once it was a railway hub with lines radiating from it going to almost all points of the compass across the county.
It evolved piecemeal, without any overall plan, starting in 1843 when the Stockton & Darlington Railway arrived, and terminated briefly, and ending in 1905 when the station assumed an unusual triangular formation with a restaurant in the middle of the triangle. Trains ran to Crook and Tow Law from 1845, to Frosterley on the first stage of the Weardale Railway from 1847, to Durham from 1857 and to Barnard Castle and beyond from 1861.
For a century, Bishop was at the centre of this hub, but the Beeching Axe from 1962 to 1965 ended all that, with everything cutback except the mineral line up Weardale and the passenger trains into Darlington. Many station buildings fell derelict for 20 years before their demolition in the early 1980s, after which the Morrisons supermarket moved onto the site and a large car park took over the goods yard to the north.
For those who never saw the station in its heyday, it is a very confusing affair, so our captions should be treated with a little caution in the hope they will spark the flow of information. If you can add anything, please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk
The Durham platforms in the 1930s, overlooking by the 1905 station clock
A great early 1950s view showing a train arriving from Durham and the north. St Peter's Church in Princess Street is in the background, but what is the large building on the left overlooking the station?
Platform No 1 was for trains to Barnard Castle
The line weaving north through Bishop Auckland in July 1962 with St Peter's Church, in Princess Street, on the left
The signalbox at the north end of Hunwick station, which was the first station out of the Bishop Auckland on the line to Durham
Bishop Auckland in operation: a J26, No 65735, arrives from West Auckland to pick up the 9.10am train to St John's Chapel on May 4, 1962
A large number of passengers awaiting the arrival of a special train at Bishop Auckland station on September 11, 1967
A fine fleet of cars in the Station Approach garage in November 1972 with the station in the background. The Approach swept vehicles off Cockton Hill Road, over the northbound track and into the triangular island at the centre of the station
Trolleys lined up and facing redundancy in February 1974
An unromantic diesel stands at what is left of Bishop Auckland station in April 1981
The bit of the station that was surviving in October 1985
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