The South Tynedale Railway is a new narrow gauge railway, built to British two feet gauge or 610 mm metric equivalent, which runs from Alston in Cumbria, into Northumberland, in Northern England. It has been constructed by volunteers on the formation of a former standard gauge branch line from the historic Newcastle and Carlisle Railway.

Photo: HELEN KATHRYN hauling a passenger train on Gilderdale Viaduct. It is one of five viaducts, which were constructed
tothe south of Lambley. This viaduct on the line forms the boundary between the counties of Cumbria and Northumberland.
It is a historic monument, one of four historic viaducts along the line. Photograph by Tom Bell.

Two hundred years ago, Alston was the commercial centre of an important lead mining area, producing about 10,000 tonnes of lead per year. On 26th August 1846, the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Company obtained an Act of Parliament, allowing it to build a branch line, 27 kilometres long, to the lead mines of the North Pennines at Nenthead.

On 13th July 1849, a second Act was obtained allowing the Company to abandon the very steep section of 6.4 kilometres from Alston to Nenthead, and to improve the alignment between Alston and the Newcastle and Carlisle main line at Haltwhistle. The construction then proceeded rapidly and the line was opened in sections, between March 1851 and 17th November 1852. The plans for the line showed three viaducts over the River South Tyne and seven embankments over its tributaries. In the north, the contractors followed the plans reasonably carefully, constructing one viaduct and two embankments, but to the south, different contractors replaced five embankments by five viaducts and altered the gradient of the line, so that a ninth viaduct was required. The branch line served the communities of the South Tyne Valley for 126 years, until it was closed completely on 1st May 1976.

Photo: 0-4-0 diesel locomotive no. 9, built by Hunslet of Leeds in 1952, with a train of three carriages and guards van.
The station at Alston was opened to goods traffic on 5th January 1852, but passenger trains did not commence until
21 May 1852. Passenger trains terminated at Lambley until the completion of the Lambley Viaduct. The viaduct was
opened to rail traffic on 17th November 1852. Photograph by Tom Bell.

Following the announcement in 1973, that the Haltwhistle to Alston branch line was to close three years later, the South Tynedale Railway Preservation Society was formed. The original intention was to purchase the entire line, but this plan failed and the standard gauge track was rapidly lifted.

On 2nd July 1977, the members of the Society decided to build a narrow gauge line along part of the old formation and reached agreements with Northumberland and Cumbria County Councils who had purchased the trackbed. Passenger trains started running on 30th July 1983 to a temporary terminus, named Gilderdale Halt, about one mile north of Alston. The Society has permission to extend the line to Slaggyford village in Northumberland and has opened two extensions, on 12th December 1986 and 4th September 1999. Today the line is 2¼ miles or 3.6 kilometres long, with trains terminating in Northumberland at the new station of Kirkhaugh.

When work started on rebuilding the railway, the Society did not possess any workshops or buildings, in which to store the locomotives and carriages, but at the beginning of 1984, the volunteers started to construct a building to house the locomotives. Now, the Society owns three buildings in which the volunteers can undertake the complete rebuilding of all rolling stock and to store the majority of the vehicles.

Photo: NAKLO, in rebuilt condition, approaches a level crossing, used by farm vehicles, near Kirkhaugh Station.
Photograph by Tom Bell.

The passenger service commences on Good Friday and trains run every weekend, bank and most school holidays until the end of October. Steam locomotives are used on trains on most Sundays in June and July and daily from the last week in July to the end of August. Special events for families and children, with steam locomotives in service, are run in May, June and October. Special steam trains with gifts for children and seasonal refreshments for adults are run in December, before Christmas.

Mission Statement for the South Tynedale Railway:-

“To provide satisfaction for our customers and volunteers by operating a friendly, safe and efficient narrow-gauge railway.”