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Mineral Railway
There were two railways in Weardale. The first was the Stanhope and Tyne Railway designed by the engineer
Robert Stephenson (son of George Stephenson). This linked up the stone, iron ore and lead ore mining areas of
Weardale with the coalfields of Durham and the industrial areas of Tyneside. This line also conveyed passengers.
In 1846 the Weardale Iron Company line was completed, this line was used to transport ironstone to Tow Law,
this connected Fraser's Hush Quarry and Rookhope to the Stanhope and Tyne Railway. It also stopped carrying
passengers. In 1854 the Rookhope and Middlehope line was constructed which connected Scutterhill to the rest
of the line.
The second line to be constructed in Weardale was the Wear Valley line, which ran along the valley bottom.
This line was constructed to link up Wearhead with Bishop Auckland. This line was not just a mineral line but
also carried passengers.
When the Stanhope and Tyne Railway closed down in 1941 a new route had to be taken to get the minerals from
Rookhope so an aerial ropeway was built to link the Rookhope mines to the Wear Valley line at Eastgate.
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