Catalogue description North Sunderland Railway Company

The North Sunderland Railway Company (NSR) was incorporated by the powers of the North Sunderland Railway Act 1892 which authorised the construction of a railway from a field belonging to Sir John De Marie Haggerston about fifty yards from the North Eastern Railway (NER) in the Parish of Ellingham to a point in a field owned by the Trustees of the Charities of Nathaniel, Lord Crewe, Lord Bishop of Durham about seventy-five yards from the Seahouses lifeboat house in the Parish of Bamburgh with a short branch starting in a field belonging to Augustus Charles Robert Tewart near Ely Moor Plantation in the Parish of Bamburgh to a junction with the NER in the Parish of Ellingham.

The line which was opened on 1 August 1898 for goods traffic and 14 December in the same year for passengers was four miles six chains long with stations at Seahouses and North Sunderland, the southern terminus being Chathill on the NER. An extension to Bamburgh Castle was projected but was never undertaken.

The NSR was, as a separate company, unaffected by both the Grouping and nationalisation but it was managed by the Newcastle District Goods Superintendent of the London and North Eastern Railway Company from 1939 (which became the North Eastern Region of British Railways by nationalisation in 1948). In fact, the NSR existed until 27 October 1951 when, due to a lack of receipts, the line closed.

Incorporated under Act 55-56 Vic, cap.155 (27.6.1892). This privately owned light railway closed on 27th October 1951. Company did not pass to British Transport Commission but was managed by District Goods Superintendent of North Eastern Region of British Railways at Newcastle.