Stockton railway station built 1893, seen from the south. c1910 
Picture Stockton Archive
A Pictorial History of Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton railway station built 1893, seen from the south. c1910
I TO FIND IT SO SAD TO HAVE SEEN THE LOSS OF SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF HISTORY.
AS A WEE GIRL I REMEMBER THE EXCITMENT EVERY SUNDAY MORNING IN THE SUMMER WHEN MY DAD
WOULD WALK WITH US FROM ROSEWORTH TO THE TRAIN STATION FOR OUR TRIP TO REDCAR.
I WAS ALWAYS AMAZED WHEN THE GREAT STEAM ENGINE PULLED INTO THE STATION AND WE WOULD WATCH THE WHITE CLOUD OF STEAM COME OUT OF THE BIG TRAINS WHEELS, I CAN STILL HEAR
THAT SOUND AND THE ‘JUGAJUGJUG’ AS THE TRAIN MOVED ON THE LINE. TAKING US FOR A GREAT PICNIC ON THE SANDY BEACH AT REDCAR.
OF COURSE IT IS ALL GONE NOW, EVEN THE GREAT SAND DUNES. IT MAKES ME SAD AND A LITTLE
ANGRY AS EACH TIME I COME HOME I SEE ANOTHER PART OF OUR HISTORY GONE FOREVER.
I wonder if Stockton station some day can get its roof back. Our heritage has long gone and now people are starting to realise that our heritage is more important than they first though.
Such a shame that these beautiful stations have been reduced to concrete and Tarmac taxi stops. I will always remember the thrill of going through the heavy turnstile at Thornaby station to get on to the platform for a day trip to Saltburn. Why couldn’t they have been preserved (along with Stockton high street)?
The loss of the Stockton & Thornaby Stations are just an example of the thoughtless and needless destruction of our heritage. Thornaby Station in particular was beautiful example of Victorian cast iron decoration and as you say, melted down for a few pounds scrap value. All over the country preservation orders are slapped on rotten old buildings that are examples of our heritage, but there’s never a thought for our industrial roots. Its as if the Industrial Revolution never began in Britain. Look at the treatment of the world’s very first railway booking hall on Bridge Rd. That’s not just local or even national history – that’s a piece of World Heritage that is, but its barely marked and if left un-recognised as it is, we won’t have it for very much longer. Visiting Stockton these days is an eye opener on how it has prospered and developed, but viewing the desolation of the heart and soul of the town is saddening..
I was very sorry to see the overall roof get taken down in the late 1970s. I always thought it endowed on Stockton the importance of a Main Line Station, though of course those days were long gone. I would like to know what happened to all the moulded Station furniture from the Days of the old N.E.R. and then it’s merger with the other companies to form the fabled and much missed L.N.E.R. I have the idea that these moulds, like ones that can be seen at York painted and looked after, were just thrown away for a couple of quid scrap value. Stockton Railway Station is now a mere stop on a local service, which can be passed without anybody on board acknowledging the importance of this town on the entire World of Railways. This would now have a preservation order on it, but back then there was no such foresight. Although we have lost a great deal of what was left for us, even the old Thornaby Railway Station Buildings were demolished and two bus stops put in its place! What a horrible experience it is waiting for a connecting Train here now. I could go on all day but I will not. I was much saddened by the closure of Thornaby Tees Depot. This place will always be for me at least the home of the first ten class 37 Locomotives. I used to see them all the time around Hartlepool hauling the Coal Trains the region was once famous for.