51L: The finely detailed railway model. A brief background to the North Eastern Railway

North Eastern Railway: A brief biography

Prior to Grouping in 1923 the North Eastern was the fourth largest railway company in great Britain. It was formed in 1854 by the amalgamation of the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway, the York & North Midland Railway and the Leeds Northern Railway. It later purchased the Stockton and Darlington and the Newcastle and Carlisle in 1862 and 1863 respectively. In the year before Grouping the Hull and Barnsley Railway was also taken over. The NER metals spread from Berwick on Tweed in the north to Leeds and Hull in the south and Carlisle in the West.

NER locomotives were a light shade of green and were accompanied by crimson red carriages a striking combination. Carriages had a reputation for comfort and were well appointed. Bogie clerestory stock was introduced in large numbers from 1895 and thereafter 4 and 6 wheel stock was reduced to excursion traffic traffic. The NER was the middle partner in the busy East Coast main line from Scotland to the south. These services, using dedicated stock, East Coast Joint Stock; were operated jointly with the Great Northern and North British Railways from 1874. .The NER also served the east coast holiday resorts of Whitby, Scarborough and Bridlington and prepared a wide range of eye catching posters to encourage excursion trains, even going so far as to list holiday accommodation.

The North Eastern Railway was a significant operator of ships through subsidiary companies and was the principal dock owning company in Britain, including most of the ports between the Tyne and Hull. The NER was a heavy mover of mineral traffic and was a keen user of the hopper wagon. Indeed the use of such wagons was nearly universal and went back to the earliest days of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Goods traffic on the NER was far more important than passengers. Indeed the NER carried more goods and minerals than any other line in Great Britain. With the exception of the Midland it had the largest wagon fleet of any other British railway company.

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We suggest the following further reading:

North Eastern Record, Volume 1, HMRS
North Eastern Record, Volume 2, HMRS
North Eastern Record, Volume 3, HMRS
A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Vol 4, The North East
North Eastern Album, K Hoole
The Pre-Grouping Railways, part 1; C Heap, J van Riemsdijk
Railway Archive Volume 1, P53, S Barnfield, The North Eastern Railway Tennants,
Locomotive and Train Working in the Latter Part of the Nineteenth Century, Volume 2, E L Ahrons

Many of the these books may be obtained from specialised book sellers for some suggestions press here.

Societies for the North Eastern Railway:

The North Eastern Railway Association

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