In last week's Durham Memories we found that by the year 1844 Durham was served by three railway stations. Only one of these was located in the city, at Gilesgate, which was built in 1844 and linked to the Leamside line by a branch line running from Belmont.

Durham's other two stations were at Shincliffe Bank Top, built in 1844 on the Leamside line and another at Shincliffe village or Shincliffe "Town" Station, built in 1839 on a local line from Sunderland. The Leamside line to the east of Durham was at this time the main line from London to the North.

The present main line, to the west of Durham City, including the city's railway station and viaduct did not yet exist.

Even when the present Durham station and viaduct were built in 1857, they were still not part of the main line from London. They were merely part of a new branch line from Bishop Auckland to Durham. This was the Bishop Auckland branch of the North-Eastern Railway and approached the city from the south west along the course of today's Brandon-Bishop Auckland footpath.

It reached the city's outskirts at Relly near Langley Moor and then followed the course of the present main line. Entering the city, it crossed the viaduct towards the station at the top of the hill.

When Durham viaduct and station opened in 1857, the engineers were highly praised for their achievement.But it crossed the boggy Flass Vale and it had proved challenging.

However, the engineers would not realise the full importance of their work. They did not know their viaduct was destined to be part of the main line and they would have been very satisfied to learn that their viaduct is still be in use almost a century and a half later.

Past Durham station, the line continued north to Newton Hall. At this point, the original line departed from the course of the present one, veering off to the east, where it crossed the River Wear via the little-known Brasside to Belmont viaduct to join the Leamside line.

Dating from the 1850s, the viaduct exists today and crosses the steep gorge of the river at Kepier Woods. The railway across this viaduct has long since gone and the viaduct is not accessible to the public, but it can still be seen from the woodland below.

The Brasside to Belmont viaduct was one of two associated with the Leamside line to the east of Durham City. Another existed on the Leamside line itself, to the south of Sherburn, where the railway crossed a small stream. Built in 1844, it was later converted into an embankment.

On the western side of the city, the new stretch of railway from Langley Moor to Newton Hall became part of the main line from London in the early 1870s. The northward continuation of this line from Newton Hall to Newcastle via Chester-le-Street and the Team Valley was completed in 1868 and the southern section from Relly to Tursdale was completed in 1872.

The completion meant that the main line was now to the west of Durham City. The old Leamside line to the east gradually declined in importance and is now a disused line. It branches off from the main line at Tursdale near Ferryhill. Sadly, the opening of the new main line also resulted in the demise of the old Gilesgate branch line of 1844 and its station was demoted to goods only.

Gilesgate was not to be the last passenger station in the eastern part of Durham City. Elvet was first proposed as the site of a station in the 1830s and in 1893 it got its chance when the Sunderland to Durham Railway was extended.

The oldest railway line in the city area, in 1893 it was taken across the Wear by an iron bridge from Old Durham Colliery.

It terminated at the newly-built Elvet Station, which stood behind Old Elvet where the magistrates' court is sited today. Its opening led to the closure of its sister station at "Shincliffe Town" which was the original terminus on a separate branch of the line.

Elvet continued to operate a passenger service until 1931 and then worked as a goods only station until 1949. Once a year, until 1953, it continued to transport passengers from Sunderland and east Durham for Miners' Gala Day. The building was demolished in 1963. Durham's other two stations continued to operate throughout this period.

Shincliffe Bank Top closed its passenger service in 1941 but continued as a goods station until 1963. Gilesgate Goods station operated until closure in 1966.

Today, Durham has only one railway station, but there are plans to reopen the Leamside line to passenger traffic.

There is the possibility of a new station at Belmont connected with this line and who knows, Durham may find itself once again at the heart of a regional railway revival.

* The history of Durham features prominently in my new book entitled North-East England: places, history, people and legends published by Business Education Publishers of Sunderland. It is available from bookshops.

Published: 16/05/2003

If you have any memories of Durham City, Chester-le-Street, Derwentside or the Durham coast, including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with readers of The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF or email David.Simpson@nne.co.uk. All photos will be returned.