Newcastle and Berwick Railway

Introduction

This line is open. To the north it connected to the North British Railway and to the south to the Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway and Newcastle and Carlisle Railway. The company was bought by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway which itself merged with other companies to become the North Eastern Railway.



Dates

  /  /1847York and Newcastle Railway Newcastle and Berwick RailwayYork, Newcastle and Berwick Railway
The York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway merge to become the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway.
  /  /1847Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Opened from Heaton (Newcastle and North Shields Railway) to Tweedmouth.
  /  /1848Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Extended from Tweedmouth over the Royal Border Bridge to Berwick by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway.
  /  /1862Wansbeck Railway
Line opened from Morpeth to Scot's Gap. The Blyth and Tyne Railway's Morpeth [BT] station was used. This terminus was approached by first crossing over the Newcastle and Berwick Railway and then joining the Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway) at an east facing junction, trains then reversed into the terminus.
  /  /1871Wansbeck RailwayNewcastle and Berwick Railway
Curve (authorised in original Wansbeck Railway Act) put in to allow North British Railway trains to run into the main Morpeth station in either 1871 or 1872. The two companies built the curve towards each other, meeting in the middle. With this opening, the Wansbeck Railway trains stopped using the Morpeth Branch (Blyth and Tyne Railway)'s terminus.
15/07/1967Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Edinburgh Waverley to Leeds 'North Briton' derails at Acklington. The train was travelling at 75mph and derailed due to the track condition. No casualties.
30/05/2008Newcastle and Berwick Railway
High Level Bridge re-opens following a £43M refurbishment.
  /12/2010Newcastle and Berwick Railway
Floodlighting on the Royal Border Bridge damaged by flooding.

Portions of line and locations

This line is divided into a number of portions.


Gateshead to Newcastle



Fairburn 2-6-4T no 42131 takes a train towards Pelaw through Gateshead near the site of Borough Gardens shed, thought to be in the late 1950s. The ...
John Alexander //
BR Standard class 9F 2-10-0 no 92064 with an eastbound freight running alongside Gateshead shed between King Edward Bridge and Greensfield Junction in ...
K A Gray 07/05/1966
B1 4-6-0 no 61241 with a westbound freight running between Greensfield and King Edward Bridge Junction in October 1962 passing Gateshead shed. ...
K A Gray 06/10/1962
Gresley A4 Pacific no 60003 Andrew K McCosh runs west between Greensfield and King Edward Bridge Junction on 20 October 1962 with the 2.35pm ...
K A Gray 20/10/1962
4 of 5 images. more




This three track (carrying two tracks) viaduct is in Newcastle upon Tyne.
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Met-Cam DMU crossing the Tyne on the High Level Bridge in 1986. ...
Bill Roberton //1986
Newcastle's High Level Bridge in 1986, with an ECML HST passing over.
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Bill Roberton //1986
The road exit at the Gateshead side of the High Level Bridge lies in the 'V' of the two approach lines. Although there are pedestrian walkways on both ...
Mark Bartlett 27/05/2023
The High Level bridge, among others, at 12.20 in the morning. It may be hard to find remains of the tunnel from Manors, but the Quayside is a buzzing ...
Ken Strachan 26/07/2021
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This junction is directly east of Newcastle Central station. It is the junction between the old main line to the south and the main line north to Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley. The keep of Newcastle Castle is located in the 'V' of the junction.
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An up coal train on the ECML about to run through Newcastle East Juction in the summer of 2004. The train will bypass Central Station to reach the ...
John Furnevel 06/07/2004
The view from Newcastle Keep as an LNER Azuma passes in May 2022.
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John Yellowlees 09/05/2022
66084 away to pass through Newcastle, on the Abbot & Co 1848 bridge over St Nicholas Street, on 17th November 2020. This unexpected train was an ...
Duncan Ross 17/11/2020
An elevated view as a HST leaves a slightly rationalised Newcastle Central, heading north in mid 1988 or early 1989. 
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Crinan Dunbar //1989
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This magnificent through station is covered by three long curved trainsheds 60 ft wide designed by architect John Dobson with subsequent additional coverage. Dobson was responsible (with builder Richard Grainger) for the reconstruction and expansion of large areas of Newcastle in the 1830s and 40s. The station is on the East Coast Main Line and serves other lines such as those to ...

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See also
Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Crew changeover at Newcastle Central platform 3 on Sunday 22 January 2023. The train is the recently arrived 1130 Edinburgh Waverley - London Kings ...
Andy Furnevel 22/01/2023
A GNER Kings Cross - Glasgow Central service rounds the sweeping curve off the King Edward Bridge to enter the west end of Newcastle Central in the ...
John Furnevel 08/07/2004
31298 heads east through Newcastle Central with an engineers train in 1974. The former D5831 later saw Departmental service as 97203 but was withdrawn ...
Bill Roberton //1974
67008 at the rear of a UK Railtours excursion just arrived at Newcastle after a visit to the former Blyth and Tyne Railway on 7th April 2018. The tour ...
David Bosher 07/04/2018
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Newcastle to Manors

This junction is directly east of Newcastle Central station. It is the junction between the old main line to the south and the main line north to Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh Waverley. The keep of Newcastle Castle is located in the 'V' of the junction.
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An up coal train on the ECML about to run through Newcastle East Juction in the summer of 2004. The train will bypass Central Station to reach the ...
John Furnevel 06/07/2004
The view from Newcastle Keep as an LNER Azuma passes in May 2022.
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John Yellowlees 09/05/2022
66084 away to pass through Newcastle, on the Abbot & Co 1848 bridge over St Nicholas Street, on 17th November 2020. This unexpected train was an ...
Duncan Ross 17/11/2020
An elevated view as a HST leaves a slightly rationalised Newcastle Central, heading north in mid 1988 or early 1989. 
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Crinan Dunbar //1989
4 of 18 images. more


The north end of the remaining island platform at Manors, just north of Newcastle Central, seen looking back from the ex-13.30 Kings Cross to ...
David Bosher 12/08/2021
Manors station is not what it once was when it had nine platforms and was an interchange. It lost its trains on the North Tyneside loop to the Metro ...
David Panton 27/03/2019
Manors Northern Rail station is quite isolated from the Metro station (surely breaking some unwritten naming rule) and is absurdly difficult to get ...
David Panton 25/03/2019
A Northern DMU on a Morpeth - Metro Centre stopping service, formed by 156443, runs into Manors station on 12 November 2011. ...
Bill Roberton 12/11/2011
4 of 7 images. more





Heaton to Berwick

A Northern Rail Class 156 has left Heaton depot and awaits the signal to join the ECML at Heaton South on 26 March 2019. ...
David Panton 26/03/2019
An unidentified A4 heading north out of Newcastle on a foggy day in the 1960s. The train has passed Heaton South Junction see image 29598 and has ...
K A Gray //
With the signal gantry at Heaton South Junction visible in the right background through the smoke and haze drifting off Heaton shed, Peppercorn A2 ...
K A Gray //1960
3 of 3 images.


An unidentified A2 with a down train on the ECML north of Newcastle in 1962. The Pacific is about to pass the fogman's hut at Little Benton. ...
K A Gray //1962
A V2 accelerates past Little Benton with an Edinburgh bound freight in 1962, shortly after crossing the A1068 Coast Road and passing the Wills ...
K A Gray //1962
An unidentified Gresley V2 2-6-2 with a northbound freight at Little Benton on the ECML, thought to be in 1962. The train has just crossed the A1058 ...
K A Gray //1962
An A2-hauled freight has just crossed the Coast Road heading north away from Newcastle in 1962. The train is about to pass the fogman's hut near the ...
K A Gray //1962
4 of 10 images. more


A4 60001 Sir Ronald Matthews takes an ECML train past the site of Little Benton Sidings, south of Benton Quarry Junction in the 1960s. ...
K A Gray //
1 of 1 images.


With more than a hint of fog hanging over the East Coast Main Line, A3 Pacific no 60070 Gladiateur takes a train north on the approach to ...
K A Gray 15/06/1963
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This two platform station was raised on an embankment to the south of a bridge over Weetslade Road. It had no goods yard and was located in the west of Dudley. Annitsford itself was to the east. The main station building was on the southbound platform.
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A southbound ECML service passing Dudley, some 7 miles short of Newcastle Central, on 18 August 2010. ...
Colin Alexander 18/08/2010
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This station was to the north of the Weetslade Road bridge and served Dudley Colliery which was to the north and on the east side of the line, approached by reversing from the south onto a reversing spur. Buildings survived here after the station relocation and the signal box was here, on the west side of the line.
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This is a two platform station. The passenger station is on the north side of a road overbridge (Station Road) and the former goods yard was on the south south. The station was to the west of Cramlington itself, but this has expanded and now surrounds the station.
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The footbridge at Cramlington station is to receive attention, to completely revamp and refurbish it. ...
Network Rail /11/2021
A southbound Voyager runs through Cramlington station, Northumberland, on 8 November 2007 [Ref query 8061] ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2007
Gresley J39 0-6-0 no 64923 north of Cramlington on 20 October 1962 down light engine. ...
K A Gray 20/10/1962
Tweedmouth shed's A1 Pacific no 60116 Hal O' The Wynd approaching Cramlington, Northumberland, in October 1962 with the 7.28am Berwick - ...
K A Gray 20/10/1962
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This was a two platform station on the north side of a level crossing. The station and level crossing no longer exist.
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This was a two platform on the south side of a level crossing. The main station building was on the southbound (east) platform, the Netherton side of the railway. A smaller building was on the northbound platform.
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This is a two platform station on the East Coast Main Line about a third of a mile south of the old Morpeth town centre over the River Wansbeck. There is a fine Tudor style two storey station building, with platform canopy, on the southbound platform. The architect was Benjamin Green, architect for the Newcastle and Berwick Railway stations. On the south side of the building three ...

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142016 from Newcastle, just terminated at Morpeth with a Sunday service on 15th June 2018. The train will move forward onto the first few yards of the ...
David Bosher 15/06/2018
The Morpeth goods shed looks rather eerie in this view looking towards the Blyth and Tyne line. I was eating my dinner while parked in front of it, ...
Ken Strachan 10/04/2022
UK Railtours' excursion from Kings Cross passing Morpeth station in Northumberland and crossing the southbound track to take the freight line to ...
David Bosher 07/04/2018
An Edinburgh bound Virgin East Coast service passes Morpeth with 91122 in charge on 29 April 2017. ...
John McIntyre 29/04/2017
4 of 23 images. more


An ECML Edinburgh bound Voyager passes Morpeth Junction just north of the station on 8 November 2007. The line diverging to the east in the foreground ...
John Furnevel 08/11/2007
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An aerial view of embankment works north east of Morpeth station alongside Morpeth North Junction. The view looks south west towards the station. ...
Network Rail /11/2022
1 of 1 images.


This is a two platform station in the south of Pegswood and just west of the former Pegswood Colliery. Original buildings have not survived. There was no goods yard.
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This was a two platform station to the south of a level crossing. The main station building was on the northbound platform. Longhirst itself was around a mile to the west.
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The closed station at Longhirst on the ECML between Morpeth and Widdrington, photographed in August 2010. The station lost its passenger service in ...
Colin Alexander 16/08/2010
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This is a two platform station a mile and a half south west of Widdrington. It is located in the new village of Widdrington Station. There is a level crossing at the north end. The original station building remains on the southbound platform.
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Down ECML train about to pass over Ulgham Lane level crossing south of Widdrington, Northumberland, on 19 July 2011, heading for Edinburgh Waverley. ...
Colin Alexander 19/07/2011
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This was a two platform station with staggered platforms on either side of a level crossing. The northbound platform was to the north and southbound to the south. The main station building was opposite the northbound and on the east side of the line.
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A southbound HST runs over the level crossing at Chevington, Northumberland (station closed 1958) on 17 May 2014. ...
Peter Todd 17/05/2014
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This is a two platform station. The main station building, on the northbound platform, is now a house. There is a car park on the west side. The station is immediately south east of Acklington itself.
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The up platform building at Acklington, Northumberland on 19 July 2011. One of the quieter stations on the ECML, Acklington is currently served by 1 ...
Colin Alexander 19/07/2011
The main station building at Acklington, Northumberland. Photographed on 19 July 2011 looking north. ...
Colin Alexander 19/07/2011
Acklington looking north. ...
Ewan Crawford //
The converted goods shed standing alongside Acklington station, Northumberland, seen here on 19 July 2011. ...
Colin Alexander 19/07/2011
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This was a two platform stations with staggered platforms and the main station building on the southbound platform, a little south of the northbound. The station was a mile west of the village which was over the River Coquet on its south bank.
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One of the large Benjamin Green 'Tudorbethan' stations designed for the Newcastle and Berwick Railway and opened in 1847 was at Warkworth, ...
John Furnevel 08/10/2012
You have been warned! Approaching Warkworth level crossing, October 2012. See image 40692 ...
John Furnevel 08/10/2012
Another of the 'wayside' stations built by the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. This is the approach to the 1847 station at Warkworth (now a private ...
John Furnevel 08/10/2012
The 09.30 London Kings Cross - Edinburgh Waverley about to clear the level crossing at Warkworth, Northumberland, on 8 October 2012. Anybody who has ...
John Furnevel 08/10/2012
4 of 4 images.


This is a two platform station with the main station building, a modest modern structure, on the southbound platforms. There are car parks on either side of the line. There is a signal box at the north end of the southbound platform and sidings and a coal yard at the south end, east side of the line. The station is on the electrified East Coast Main Line.
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Alnwick Branch (York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway)
Early morning mist drifting inland off the North Sea shrouds the landscape on the southern approach to Alnmouth on 24 May 2004. View west from a ...
John Furnevel 24/05/2004
Unidentified Inter City Express heading south towards Alnmouth. ...
John Steven 07/03/2010
An up Voyager speeds through Alnmouth on 12th July 2015. Notice the signal box, and the viaduct over the River Aln just visible on the far right - '18 ...
Ken Strachan 12/07/2015
A Virgin Voyager on a Cross Country service about to call at Alnmouth in May 2004. ...
John Furnevel 26/05/2004
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An up EWS coal train crossing the viaduct over the River Aln, just north of Alnmouth station, in May 2004. The listed structure (also referred to as ...
John Furnevel 24/05/2004
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This was a two platform station. The main building was on the southbound platform. The station was on the west side of Longhoughton itself. Longhoughton has expanded since closure of the station.
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Southbound East Coast train near Longhoughton, Northumberland, on 19 February 2012. ...
John Steven 19/02/2012
An East Coast train heading north on the ECML at Longhoughton, Northumberland, on 11 March 2012. ...
John Steven 11/03/2012
Northbound and southbound CrossCountry Voyagers about to pass on 11 March on the ECML at Longhoughton, Northumberland. In the foreground are runners ...
John Steven 11/03/2012
Spring time in Northumberland, an unidentified CrossCountry express races north near Alnwick on 7 March 2010. ...
John Steven 07/03/2010
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This was a two platform station on the north side of a level crossing. The main station building was on the northbound platform was a waiting room on the southbound.
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This was a two platform station to the north of a level crossing. The main station building, stone built and of two storeys, was on the southbound platform.
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The Newcastle & Berwick Railway was responsible for some imposing station buildings - not to mention goods sheds! This is Christon Bank, standing ...
John Furnevel 16/08/2007
The handsome station building and goods shed at Christon Bank, a few miles south of Chathill on the ECML, closed to passengers on 15 September 1958 ...
Bill Roberton 08/04/2016
Looking west towards the level crossing over the ECML. The grassy verge was the course of a 2'9' gauge tramway to Embleton Quarry, a mile and a half ...
Bill Roberton 08/04/2016
Wayside station? Entrance to the former Newcastle & Berwick Railway's station at Christon Bank, on the ECML in rural Northumberland. ...
John Furnevel 16/08/2007
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This is a two platform station on the East Coast Main Line. It is largely complete. The main station building, two storeys in stone, is on the northbound platform with a stone and timber waiting room on the southbound. To the south is a level crossing and a signal box at the south end of the northbound platform. Chathill is a small village on the west side of the station.
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North Sunderland Light Railway
Chathill station down platform and station building were looking well maintained when photographed in April 1969 from the 08.xx Edinburgh - Newcastle ...
John Clark 08/04/1969
Standing on the level crossing at Chathill, Northumberland, in October 2012 looking north along the ECML towardswhat was once the main station ...
John Furnevel 16/08/2012
Chathill, with one or two plants on the platform ... ...
John Yellowlees 22/06/2017
The 13.00 East Coast Edinburgh Waverley - London Kings Cross service speeds through Chathill on 30 August 2013. ...
Colin Alexander 30/08/2013
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This was a two platform station with staggered platforms. The southbound platform was north of a level crossing and northbound to the south.
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This was a two platform station to the north of a level crossing. The station building was on the northbound platform. The small village of Lucker itself was to the south.
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This was a two platform station on the north side of a level crossing. The fine two storey station building was on the northbound platform.
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The former station that once served the village of Belford, Northumberland (population 1,250) located some 15 miles south of Berwick on the ECML. ...
John Furnevel 22/08/2007
Sign for Belford Junction taken from the Level Crossing on 1st January 2019. In the distance crossover points can be seen. ...
Gordon Steel 01/01/2019
A southbound CrossCountry service photographed near Belford, Northumberland, on 19 February 2012. ...
John Steven 19/02/2012
NER water column, located between the Down Main and Down Loop, to the north of Belford in 1987. An electrification mast in the background signals its ...
Bill Roberton //1987
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Rural tranquility on the ECML in April 2012. The former crossing keepers cottage at Cragg Mill (or Crag Mill or Cragmill) in Northumberland. Located ...
Brian Taylor 05/04/2012
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This was a two platform station on the south side of a level crossing. The main station building was on the northbound platform and has not survived.
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A CrossCountry Voyager heading North at Beal on 7th July 2010 ...
Graham Morgan 07/07/2010
A Peckett 0-4-0 tank engine at Beal level crossing on the site of the former station (closed in 1968), along with other railway memorabilia. ...
Graham Morgan 07/07/2010
Part of the site of the Newcastle and Berwick Railway station at Beal, Northumberland, photographed on 9 October 2012. Closed to passengers in January ...
John Furnevel 09/10/2012
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This was a two platform station on the north side of a level crossing. The main building, a stone two storey building, was on the northbound platform. The goods siding was on the west side, north of level crossing.
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221132 on a Northbound CrossCountry service approaching West Goswick Farm level crossing, Northumberland, in July 2011. ...
Graham Morgan 27/07/2011
91109 approaching West Goswick Farm LC at the head of a Northbound East Coast service in July 2011. The location is just a little South of the former ...
Graham Morgan 26/07/2011
66420 just South of the site of Goswick Station approaching West Goswick Farm LC at the head of the daily intermodal service from Grangemouth to Tees ...
Graham Morgan 26/07/2011
The former Goswick station alongside the ECML in Northumberland, photographed in 2006. ...
John Furnevel 24/10/2006
4 of 4 images.




This was a two platform station on the north side of a level crossing. The main station building, a two storey stone building on the southbound platform, still stands. Scremerston itself is a mile to the west. The site is close to the east coast.
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The former station at Scremerston, Northumberland on the ECML, photographed in October 2006. ...
John Furnevel 24/10/2006
4472 Flying Scotsman with twin tenders attached approaching Scemerston, Northumberland, with a special in the late 1960s. ...
Bruce McCartney //
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This station on the East Coast Main Line was south of the Royal Border Bridge and at a junction with the line to Kelso. The location was a station, junction, locomotive shed, yard and start of a zig-zag line to dockside (Tweed Dock).
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See also
Kelso Branch (York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway)
Looking west along the Tweed estuary towards Tweed Dock in October 2012. The last leg of the zig-zag of the former freight only branch linking ...
John Furnevel 07/10/2012
Dock Road Viaduct on the former zig-zag line opened in 1878 to link Tweedmouth goods yard with the recently opened Tweed Dock. The viaduct carried the ...
John Furnevel 07/10/2012
9019 Royal Highland Fusilier roars through Tweedmouth on 19 September 1970 with the 10:30 Aberdeen - Kings Cross. The Deltic will have taken ...
Bill Jamieson 19/09/1970
The north end of the former repair shop at Tweedmouth MPD in September 1970, with the once all-important bike shed prominent in the foreground. ...
Bill Jamieson 19/09/1970
4 of 34 images. more


This is a double track 28 arch viaduct which crosses the River Tweed between Berwick-Upon-Tweed and Tweedmouth. It is 2152 ft long.
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The iconic Royal Border Bridge in Northumberland will be repaired throughout 2022 in a major project led by Network Rail.
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Network Rail 20/01/2022
Engineers have been working on the 170-year-old structure since January 2022 to repair all 28 arches of the Grade I listed bridge, which sits across ...
Network Rail //
High level repairs being made to the Royal Border Bridge. Network Rail engineers have risen to the challenge of working with the 170-year-old landmark ...
Network Rail /11/2022
Some serious strengthening work taking place on the Royal Border Bridge in 2023. Mind you, it has lasted well. ...
Duncan Ross 27/05/2023
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This box is west of the former Tweedmouth station in the 'V' of the former junction between the approach to the Royal Border Bridge and line north to Berwick-upon-Tweed and the former Kelso Branch (York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway).
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This is an island platform station. It is located at the north end of the Royal Border Bridge on the north bank of the Tweed.
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North British Railway
View from the ex-11.00 LNER Azuma service from Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverley, departing after its call at Berwick-upon-Tweed on 6th June 2023. ...
David Bosher 06/06/2023
A unidentified class 47 at Berwick upon Tweed with an Edinburgh to Kings Cross service on 14th August 1976. ...
Doug Nicholls 14/08/1976
A unidentified class 47/4 arrives at Berwick upon Tweed from Edinburgh with a Kings Cross service in August 1976. ...
Doug Nicholls 14/08/1976
A rather grimy 43299 at the rear of the Highland Chieftain waiting to depart in National Express East Coast days. ...
Colin McDonald 10/07/2009
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Scremerston Colliery Branch










Widdrington Colliery Branch