THIS new edition of a book first published in 1991 contains the extensive research undertaken over four years by the author in the 1980s. It charts the development between 1858 and 1870 of the Border Counties Railway (BCR), which eventually ran between Hexham and Riccarton Junction through some of the wildest and most thinly populated areas of the county, and the Wansbeck Railway which ran along a 25-mile route from Morpeth to Rothbury.
Passenger services on this line ended in 1952 and four years later the last passenger train ran on the BCR line. The last goods train ran on the Wansbeck line in September 1966 and one month later this entire branch line network finally closed.
In association with this book the author has written Northumbrian Railway Reflections – three compact volumes titled ‘Tracks and Traffic’, ‘Commercial Considerations’ and ‘Accidents and Anecdotes’.