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Finchale View, HOUGHTON LE SPRING, DH4 6SD

The railway line through Leamside formed part of the original railway route from London to Edinburgh. Long distance trains were diverted onto current route through Durham, which is more direct, when that line opened in 1872. Local passenger trains continued to run on the line through Leamside until the 1960s, while the line was also busy with freight. It was also a useful diversion route for express trains at times when the main line via Durham was closed for engineering work. The railway line fell into disuse in around 1992. It is currently "mothballed" - still owned by Network Rail, in case it is needed to be brought back into use in the future, but not currently maintained.

Fields at Leamside in County Durham. The railway line to the right of the fields has been disused since the early 1990s.

This bridge carries the road over a railway line. The railway is now disused.

This road from West Rainton to Durham crosses the dismantled railway, once the East Coast Main Line - see Image for history.

The railway line through Leamside formed part of the original railway route from London to Edinburgh. Long distance trains were diverted onto current route through Durham, which is more direct, when that line opened in 1872. Local passenger trains continued to run on the line through Leamside until the 1963, although Leamside Station was closed in 1953. The line was also busy with freight. It was also a useful diversion route for express trains at times when the main line via Durham was closed for engineering work. The railway line fell into disuse and was "mothballed" by BR in 1991. It is still owned by Network Rail. But following the removal of rails at former level crossings and by theft near Penshaw in 2003, the line has been closed permanently. NR started removing all track in 2013. When the line was first built, there was a level crossing here. The bridge was built later, to enable the road to avoid the level crossing. The level crossing was then removed. (Further information on this railway and on Leamside station, including photographs before and after closure, can be forund at http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/leamside_second/index.shtml )

Leamside was once a station on the East Coast Main Line, see Image for history.

Road signs warn of a double bend in the road, and a hump-backed bridge which carries the road over a railway line. Originally the road had continued straight ahead, with a level crossing across the railway. The railway line is now disused.

There is little sign now of the railway station which once occupied this site. The railway line through Leamside formed part of the original railway route from London to Edinburgh. Long distance trains were diverted onto current route through Durham, which is more direct, when that line opened in 1872. Local passenger trains continued to run on the line through Leamside until the 1960s, although Leamside station closed in 1953. The line was also busy with freight and was also a useful diversion route for express trains at times when the main line via Durham was closed for engineering work. The railway line fell into disuse in around 1992. It is currently "mothballed" - still owned by Network Rail, in case it is needed to be brought back into use in the future, but not currently maintained.

The railway line through Leamside formed part of the original railway route from London to Edinburgh. Long distance trains were diverted onto current route through Durham, which is more direct, when that line opened in 1872. Local passenger trains continued to run on the line through Leamside until the 1960s, while the line was also busy with freight. It was also a useful diversion route for express trains at times when the main line via Durham was closed for engineering work. The railway line fell into disuse in around 1992. It is currently "mothballed" - still owned by Network Rail, in case it is needed to be brought back into use in the future, but not currently maintained.

Station Road in West Rainton leads downhill to the site of Leamside railway station, which closed in 1953. The station was behind the buildings where trees have now grown and matured. In the background, the concrete bridge carries a country lane over the A1(M) trunk road.