Almost 90 years ago the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), installed huge signs on the railway lineside between London and Edinburgh to indicate to passengers places of interest and the distance to their destinations while travelling on their new streamlined Coronation train hauled by Gresley A4 Pacific steam engines. Now, to mark the 200th anniversary of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and celebrate 200 years of passenger rail travel, new signs to a similar design will be erected along the surviving parts of the 1825 line between Shildon and Stockton to make passengers aware of the historical significance of the line they are travelling on.
While many of the original 1930s signs along the East Coast Main Line (ECML), were scrapped in the 1960s at the time of the Beeching cuts, several did survive. The most famous of these is the half way sign between London and Edinburgh situated north of York. Just north of Darlington Station a sign was erected to mark the route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway which, on 27th September 1825, ran the world’s first scheduled locomotive hauled passenger train hauled by George Stephenson’s Locomotion No 1. This track crossed the ECML on a flat crossing and remained in use for freight traffic until 2nd July 1967. The original LNER sign is still in position and was recently restored and is now a listed building.
To coincide with the 200th Anniversary celebrations of the S&DR this year, an idea to install five new signs on the Shildon to Stockton on Tees line and inspired by those of the original LNER of the 1930s, was suggested by Maurice Burns to Network Rail two years ago. From the very outset Network Rail were very supportive of the idea and the ‘S & D sign project’ was developed by Maurice with support from friends Richard Barber, Gordon Best and Nick Carter. The proposal was to install five signs located at Shildon, Heighington, Darlington North Road, Urlay Nook (near Allens West station) and Bowesfield in Stockton on the principle that Network Rail would install them if Maurice could coordinate the design, supply of materials and oversee the order for fabrication. Maurice and colleagues have worked closely with the charity Friends of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (FSDR) to turn ambitions into reality. Niall Hammond, the Chair of Trustees for the FSDR, secured grants and all involved are grateful to The Railway Heritage Trust, Durham County Council and Northern Trains for their generous support. The project team are also exceptionally grateful to Network Rail and their sub-contractors Amco Giffen, Construction Marine Limited and QTS Group for their in-kind support and the Network Rail commitment to install and care for the signs in future.
Five signs will be erected on the Shildon to Stockton route, and agreement has also been reached for a sixth sign to replace a ‘lost’ one which indicated the branch westwards north of Darlington. Originally this pointed towards the ‘Lake District, Teesdale and Weardale’ but with the closure of the Stainmore route to Penrith and the Lakes, and the branch to Middleton in Teesdale in the early 1960s, the sign was cut down by British Railways. By chance, back in 1965, Maurice was doing some steam engine photography, saw the remains of this scrap sign lying on the ground and recorded it on film. The new sign, to be located on the ECML, will promote the route to Shildon, Bishop Auckland and Weardale where, today, it is still possible to travel from Darlington to Stanhope in Weardale using the heritage line from Bishop Auckland to Stanhope on days it is operating.
With funding in place and agreements confirmed, the order has now been placed for six signs to be manufactured by Northern Heritage Engineering based in Darlington, only a stone’s throw away from the location where the original signs were made at Darlington North Road works. Once manufacture is complete, all the signs will be installed at agreed locations during 2025 to coincide with the 200th anniversary.
Once the signs are in place, a dedicated webpage will be added to the Friends of the S&DR website celebrating the project and encouraging those passionate about rail heritage to visit and look out for the signs as they travel along the world’s oldest public passenger railway.
Photograph by Maurice Burns