Lambton Hetton and Joicey collieries railway at Philadelphia, 1967

Image: © Alan Murray-Rust Taken: 18 Apr 1967

This was one of the most extensive colliery railway networks inherited by the National Coal Board, with a main line running for several miles to connect a number of collieries to staithes along the River Wear. The locomotives used for main line work were large 0-6-2 tank engines, larger than the general run of colliery locomotives and very similar to engines used on many of the public railways in South Wales. Locomotive 31 built by Kitson of Leeds in 1907 is heading up from Sunderland with a rake of empty wagons. The other locomotive, no.5, was built by Robert Stephenson of Newcastle in 1909. This locomotive survives in preservation (in 2020 at the North Yorks Moors Railway). The location is Lambton Works which was the headquarters of the railway. In the background is the remaining headgear of the former Dorothea Pit, but this time serving only as an emergency shaft.

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