Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Coal was the driving force behind the railway both literally, as the fuel used to stoke the
steam engines, and as the chief reason for its construction. The route connected the coalfields
near Bishop Auckland (the area tinted pale blue on the map) with the manufacturing centres
of Darlington and Stockton, where the coal powered the towns' burgeoning industries. It was
freight services transporting this 'black gold', not passenger trains, which made up most of
the traffic during the new railway's first few years.
Operations on the line during those early days remained very different from today's rail-
ways, lacking modern timetables, signalling or even proper station platforms. Regular pas-
senger services were initially formed of horse-driven coaches, although steam locomotives
were used for hauling freight. Not until 1833 did the route become steam-only. This has led
some people to question the status of the Stockton & Darlington Railway as the true birth
of rail travel. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which ran regular steam-driven passen-
ger services from its inception in 1830, was arguably the first genuine public railway in the
modern sense. Regardless of how it began, the revolutionary impact of this mode of transport
on human communications and mobility can scarcely be overestimated. The coming of rail-
ways transformed landscapes and lives not just in the north-east of England but throughout
the world.
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