A J39 loco hauling an excursion train out of Thornaby station heading towards Bowesfield Junction, the photo was taken in the mid 1950s. The coaches are all non corridor which meant once you got in the compartment at the station and the train set off you were stuck in there until the train reached the next station – no walking to the toilets or buffet car! Thornaby town hall is just visible above the first coach, the road bridge in the background carries Thornaby road over the railway but prior to the bridge being built in 1882 there was a level crossing situated roughly about where the third coach of the train is – this crossing allowed Thornaby road to link in a straight line from the bottom of the bank to Victoria bridge, Thornaby Place was in fact originally the continuation of Thornaby Road towards Victoria Bridge. The original Thornaby station was situated the other side the bridge in the photo – originally called South Stockton it was rebuilt on its present site around the time the bridges were built in 1882 & was renamed Thornaby in 1892. The street to the right of the loco is possibly Cleveland Street with the houses of Carlisle Street just visible across the far end – George Street would be just off picture to the right.
Photograph and details courtesy of Dave Summerfield.
I remember the Darkie tunnel and also John Thompson’s fishing tackle shop. I attended the National school 1948-55. A plaque on the wall above the tunnel stated that the tunnel was “Erected 1910”, presumably by the NER. Is the tunnel still in use or has everything changed with the A66 roadway?
The tunnel you mention, is this the tunnel that was to the left side of the coal yard? It came out at the works then left towards Thornaby Place more or less over Thornaby Road from George street. We used it many times as kids, good memories…
Cleveland Street is there as mentioned but the street at the bottom is Weetwood Terrace which led to the National School. Carlisle Street is to the left after crossing Lumsden Street. I lived in Carlisle Street from 1961 to 1964 and went to the National school from 1956 to 1967.
My Grandmother (Lillian Gibson) lived at 52 Thornaby Road which was just to the right of this shot. It was the first house on this side of Thornaby Road and gave a great view of the line and the bridge over the river from the back bedroom window.
I also remember the winter of 1947, I was living in Newby Grove at the time. When I was five, I remember that the snow piled up higher than me! The cold spell lasted many weeks as I recall, the home-made sledge saw a lot of use.
The J39 is possibly on a return excursion after a day at Redcar or Saltburn, the seaside or perhaps the races. Sometimes J39s from West Auckland shed would appear on these workings from West Durham, travelling either via Darlington or by way of Stillington. In the days before widespread car ownership B R would put on hundreds of excursions in season to all kinds of events, football matches, exhibitions, festivals, or just days out. For example, Scarborough would be packed with excursion trains from all over, on Bank Holidays in the summer. They were often very good value for money in terms of distance travelled. One popular one in the 1950s was a summer Sunday excursion from Darlington over to Keswick in the Lakes.
This picture reminds me that there used to be a pedestrian tunnel about 100 yards in front of this train which went under the railway line shown in this photograph, this tunnel allowed users from Thornaby Road to cross under the line and emerge on the opposite side adjacent to the River Tees bank. Thornaby children used to call it ‘Darkie Tunnel’. To the right of the train and out of sight was George Street, The National Church of England School (Miss Sherburn Headmistress, Miss Lilian Goodhall, MBE Assistant Headmistress, and Mrs Stokes teacher) and opposite the school was ‘John Thompson’ fishing tackle shop, Immediately in front of the train, and on the left was the Co-Operative Society Coal Yard – ‘the Co-op-‘. I stood during the worst winter in living memory with my sister Anne Wilson and her friend Gladys Fulton for 3 days outside this coal yards offices in 1947, waiting to buy just one bag of coal.
Footnotes: *The winter of 1946–1947 was a severe winter beginning on 21 January 1947, bringing large drifts of snow to the country, which caused roads and railways to be blocked. Coal supplies, already low following the Second World War, struggled to get through. Towards the end of February there were fears of a food shortage as supplies were cut off and vegetables rotted into the ground. In March 1947 melting snow ran off the frozen ground straight into rivers and caused widespread flooding. More than 100,000 properties were affected and the Army were forced to provide humanitarian aid.
*John Thompson of Thornaby, was famous in river angling circles as a champion angler rated one of Britain’s all time greats, he owned and ran a fishing tackle shop in George Street, Thornaby,.