A notable freight traffic electrification: North Eastern Railway

The track runs over a portion of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway

THE North Eastern Railway was one of the first in Great Britain to adopt electric traction, having as far back as 1904, when Sir George Gibb was general manager, successfully applied electrical operation to the Newcastle and Tyneside suburban traffic, one of the earliest electric traction installations for other than underground lines and on a considerable scale. This railway now claims a pioneer reputation in respect of electric traction applied to heavy freight haulage, and on a system including many special electrical features.

In 1911 the general manager, Sir A Kaye Butterworth, instructed Messrs Merz and McLellan, consulting electrical engineers, to report on the question of electrification with reference to the special conditions of the North Eastern system, and following the visit of the chief mechanical engineer, Mr Vincent Raven, to the United States of America, in 1911 the directors decided to proceed with a preliminary scheme, and electric working was started on July 1, 1915, on the Shildon-Newport line, a limited service being run, as the overhead track equipment was not completed.

The Shildon-Newport route was selected for trial, this being an important freight line dealing almost exclusively with heavy mineral traffic. Some historical interest attaches to this selection, since the track runs over a portion of the original Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first public railway on which steam locomotives were used for The fact that the first trial of heavy freight haulage on a large scale in England should be carried out on this particular route is noteworthy.