Notes: This populous industrial suburb of Newcastle grew from a population of 3,500 in 1851 to almost 28,000 in 1871 yet it did not have a station until 1889. The station was built at the western end of Armstrong’s huge Elswick Works site, its workforce (exceeding 11,000 by 1900) providing a significant proportion of the station’s traffic.

From about 1875 until the early-20th century the North Eastern Railway built a number of stations with island platforms and/or over-track station buildings, and Elswick had both features. Its 25ft-wide island platform had a lengthy glazed awning supported by iron columns and spandrels with the Star of David motif – as at Heaton (1887). The timber-built offices were above the up line. In 1895 Elswick issued more tickets than other Carlisle line intermediate stations, except Blaydon.

For many years Elswick was a ‘ticket platform’ where passengers’ tickets on Newcastle-bound trains were collected. Situated close to Scotswood Road, Elswick was vulnerable to tram and bus competition, yet it remained heavily used until the inter-war years.  In the 1950s traffic declined. Sunday trains ceased to call in 1952 and, from 11 September 1961, it was unstaffed.

The Newcastle (or, more accurately, Gateshead) to Carlisle line was the first to cross the breadth of England from the east to the west coast. Horse-drawn goods trains commenced between Blaydon and Hexham in late-1834, and passenger services on 9 March 1835. Newcastle passengers were conveyed to and from Blaydon by horse-omnibus or boat. Steam locomotives hauled passenger trains from the opening day. On 11 June 1835 a 1¼ mile extension opened eastwards to Derwenthaugh, followed by 7½ miles from Hexham to Haydon Bridge on 28 June. Carlisle to Blenkinsopp Colliery, near Haltwhistle (20 miles), opened on 19 July 1836. On 1 March 1837 trains were introduced on the 2½ miles from Derwenthaugh to Redheugh (Gateshead), passengers being ferried by steamboat across the Tyne to a ‘station’ in Newcastle at No. 66 The Close, where the later High Level Bridge crossed the river. (The Close was one of a scarce breed of rail-less stations in Britain, others being Dartmouth and Hull Corporation Pier.)

The omnibus service from Blaydon to Newcastle continued; its terminus in Newcastle was at an office at 50 Westgate Road. The gap between Blenkinsopp and Haydon Bridge was eventually completed, allowing directors to travel between Redheugh and Carlisle (London Road) on 15 June 1838. The formal opening was on 18 June. This event was less than

N&CR rails reached Newcastle via a three-mile route including a ‘temporary’ Tyne bridge at Scotswood (which was eventually replaced with the present structure in 1870). Formal opening to a station at Railway Street, close to the Shot Tower, took place on 21 May 1839; regular services began on 21 October. The new Forth terminus, replacing that at Railway Street, opened on 1 March 1847. From 1 January 1851 the company used Newcastle Central, shared with the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway. Although access to Carlisle Citadel had yet to be achieved, the 60½-mile route was complete.

The Newcastle & Carlisle was absorbed into the North Eastern Railway empire in July 1862. Its eccentric arrangement of right-hand running was discontinued after the re-signalling of the route for the standard left-hand operation in 1863-4.

In the 1960s the transformation of the townscape surrounding the railway between Newcastle and Blaydon began. Many of the terraces of two-storey Tyneside flats were demolished and high-rise blocks took their place, and more recently the Elswick works site has been all but cleared and redeveloped as a business park.

On 4 October 1982 passenger services ceased to use the Newcastle – Scotswood – Blaydon route. Trains were diverted from Newcastle West Junction over King Edward Bridge, then via Norwood Junction and Dunston to Blaydon. This alteration saved expenditure on maintaining Scotswood Bridge, and on points and crossings renewals at Blaydon and Newcastle West

Sources:

• Railways in Northumberland by Alan Young (Pub: Martin Bairstow 2003) from which this article is adapted.
• Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales by M A Quick
  (Pub: R&CHS 2002)
  
• A history of the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway by Bill Fawcett (Pub: NERA 2008)
• Private and untimetabled stations by Croughton, Godfrey; Kidner R W and Young, Alan  (Pub: Oakwood Press 1982)
• The High Level Bridge and Newcastle Central Station by John Addyman & Bill Fawcett (Pub: NERA 1999)

To see other stations on the Newcastle - Blaydon click on the station name: Newcastle (N & C 1st site), Newcastle (N & C 2nd site), Scotswood Works Halt, Scotswood & Blaydon