The initial idea for a railway from Middlesbrough to Redcar came from a Redcar man, Stephen Coulson, who made a proposal at a public meeting in the Crown and Anchor in 1841. It was agreed that a railway would enable Redcar to increase its popularity as a seaside resort by attracting visitors from South and West Yorkshire who had to endure long journeys in horse drawn coaches. A railway would greatly reduce the travelling time. It would also enable the town’s fishing industry to supply markets further inland, and reduce the cost of coal supplied to the town.

The Middlesbrough and Redcar railway (M&RR) obtained an Act of Parliament on 21 July 1845. The 7¾-mile line started at the bottom of Sussex Street in Middlesbrough (where the new Middlesbrough Station was built in 1847 at Dock Hill Junction) and ended at a station in Redcar, near to the present Clock tower. It followed the high water mark of the river Tees, where a sailor's trod (or Black Path) had existed for centuries. The M&RR was opened on 4 June 1846. The inaugural train consisted of the famous Locomotion No. 1 assisted by the Great North of England Locomotive A, followed by a carriage and two wagons. The cost of the venture had been £36,000. Two stations were provided at Cleveland Port and Lazenby.

The M&RR was successful, though there were seasonal differences in the number of passengers carried. In September 1846 there were 7,316 passengers, but the figure had fallen to 1,619 in December. By the late 1850s railway excursions were popular, usually for the middle classes and Sunday Schools, churches and Oddfellows from Teesside. A six-penny (2.5p) trip to Redcar was introduced on Monday afternoons in 1860, a year earlier there had been over 1,000 travellers from Darlington, Gainford and Barnard Castle. The M&RR proved even more profitable when branch lines were run off to the ironstone mines in the Eston Hills. Bolckow Vaughan put the first branch to Eston mines in 1853. The Eston Hills were further penetrated with the opening of the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway (MGR) in 1854 and the Cleveland Railway (CR) in1861. Both of these lines were to form part of the North Eastern Railway (NER). The M&RR was amalgamated into the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) on 23 July 1858.

The discovery of ironstone meant that whole new towns were created on the south bank of the M&RR at South Bank and Grangetown. This further increased the number of day-trippers on the line and stimulated demand for an extension of the line to Saltburn. In the early 1800s, Saltburn consisted of approximately 16 cottages. The Ship Inn exists to this day but then there were probably additional three public houses in the hamlet – the Nimrod, the Dolphin and the Seagull, the latter being adjacent to The Ship. Also among the cottages were gin shops, Geneva Gin then costing 1d a glass. The hamlet was right next to the sea and under Cat Nab, being an extremely secluded place. Although the inhabitants ostensibly earned their living from fishing and seal hunting, smuggling was rife; brandy, gin, tobacco, lace and silks being brought in as contraband.

Ironically the secluded quaintness of the hamlet, which had proved such a great asset for the smugglers, turned out to be the basis for the town’s development and improvement as a seaside resort. Whilst on a visit to the area, Henry Pease, a local ironmaster and a director of the S&DR, noticed the qualities of the valley during a cliff top stroll. He thought it would make a good seaside resort if provided with a railway. He also wished to serve the ironstone mines at Upleatham, which were owned by his relatives J and JW Pease. For both of these reasons, Henry Pease formed the Saltburn Improvement Company and in 1858 the decision was taken to extend the railway from Redcar to Saltburn, the line opening on 17 August 1861.

When the Zetland Hotel was opened in 1863, the railway tracks were extended to run into the rear of the hotel, allowing the gentry extremely easy access. In order to make Saltburn provided formidable competition to the other local resorts; the Improvement Company embarked on a substantial land purchasing and building scheme in 1860, buying land from the Earl of Zetland. The Company’s intention was to turn the Northern part of the town into a resort whilst restricting the Southern part to a high quality residential area, which would attract the more genteel people.

In the 1860’s the miniature railway, boating pond and Italian Gardens were built along with the 500 feet long pier, which opened in 1869. The owners of the Middlesbrough Estate eventually took over from the Saltburn Improvement Company. They developed the lower promenade, built the Assembly rooms opposite the Zetland and made the pier more accessible by opening the water balance cliff railway on 28 June 1884. The Valley Gardens and Pier were illuminated in 1887 and the Brine Baths were opened in 1891. In the following year, 10,000 brochures were printed to publicise the town, which became more popular than Redcar and Coatham. Admission charges to the pier and gardens were insisted upon to deter the lower elements. It was only gradually that the town realised the economic advantages of catering for day-trippers and installed amusements on the sea front, together with pierrots and steam roundabouts and swings on Cat Nab Pleasure Ground.

The current Middlesbrough is the fourth station that served the town. The tender for the station was for £47,530 along with £21,852 for the ironwork. The station, designed by William Peachey, opened on 3 December 1877. It originally had two through platforms 600feet in length and spanned by an overall roof, rising to 60 feet above rail level. A bay platform was provided at the east end of the northernmost (down) platform. The station served a population of 104,767 and issued 996,148 tickets during 1911. Two years later, 249,990 tons of pig iron, 220,099 tons of bars/joists and girders, 184,325 tons of road stone and 9 wagonloads of livestock were handled. The RCH indicates that the station could handle all forms of traffic and it was provided with a 10-ton crane.

The roof was destroyed in a daylight air raid on Bank Holiday Monday, 3 August 1943. The present station has concrete platform canopies, which date back to 1957, with some Victorian iron work at the east end and a NER tile map on the down platform. The station approach road is straddled by Zetland House, which opened in 1960.

Behind the station are the two through goods lines, from Tees Marshalling Yard, which rejoin the Saltburn branch at Whitehouse Signal Box. The line to Middlesbrough Dock diverged from these lines at Dock Hill SB, which was on the east side of the bridge over Albert Road. The dock was opened on 12 May 1842, taken over by the S&DR on 13 July 1849 and extended in 1874, 1885 and 1889. It had 21 miles of sidings and could take ships up to 13,000 tons. The docks were sold by British Rail in 1966 and closed in 1988. The last remaining branch to the dock area, to the Tees Storage Company, was abandoned on 31 December 1982. There have been plans to turn the dock into a marina or a Tall Ships Centre. However, apart from the construction of the new Cellnet Stadium for Middlesbrough FC, very little redevelopment of the dock area has yet taken place.

From the station there is a fine view of the Transporter Bridge, which was opened on 17 October 1911. This is the largest of four such bridges built in Great Britain, the others being located at Newport (Gwent), Runcorn (now demolished) and a private bridge at Warrington. Unlike these bridges, which are of the suspension type, the Transporter Bridge has a cantilever structure. It has a span of 850 feet and a clearance of 160 feet above the river. The towers are 225 feet high and 570 feet apart. The moving platform can hold up to 600 persons or up to 10 vehicles. In spite of a decline in its importance, the bridge is still maintained in working order, the most recent closure at the end of September 2000, being to replace the main haulage cables.

At Guisborough Junction, the Whitby branch diverges from the line to Saltburn. The MGR built the first part of which was opened to goods traffic on 11 November 1853 and to passengers on 25 February 1854. The signal box was one of the few on the NER to have the word Junction on its name board. It lay in the vee of the two lines and was the largest box on Teesside with 140 levers. Unfortunately it was destroyed by arson on 7 June 1980. The junction was worked by hand until a temporary box was opened. The layout is much simplified and has been controlled by Middlesbrough SB since 9 May 1982.

The goods lines currently end at Whitehouse Signal Box, having been taken out of use beyond there on 6 December 1982. A single goods line continues to South Bank Coke Ovens but has seen little (if any) use. There used to a line (the Owners of the Middlesbrough Estates), which ran from Vulcan Street, via the swing bridge over the dock to rejoin the M&RR. This end of the line was opened to goods traffic between 1861 and 1874 and was probably abandoned by 1970.

Cargo Fleet station was originally opened as Cleveland Port station. It was renamed Cargo Fleet in August 1867. The current station (now closed) opened on 8 November 1885. In 1911, the station served a population of 682 and issued 55,070 tickets. The station did not have any goods facilities, though the RCH lists the following private sidings-

Cargo Fleet Iron and Brick Works and Wharf

Cargo Fleet Iron Works

Cargo Fleet Salt Works and Wharf

Cargo Fleet Timber Yards and Wharf

Cargo Fleet Warrant Stores

The line all the way from Cargo fleet to South Bank was flanked by numerous industrial installations, each with its own branch. These have largely been landscaped and built over by the new Dockside Spine Road. The branch to Cargo Fleet ironworks diverged south at Cargo Fleet SB (closed 16 December 1973). This was the location of the original Cleveland Port station, opened on 4 June 1846 and closed on 9 November 1885. The spur to the Cleveland Railway (CR) also diverged south at this location. The CR was an attempt by the ironmasters on the north bank of the Tees, to gain an independent access to the Cleveland Ironstone. They had plans to build a bridge over the river, but the opposition forces, including the Tees Conservancy Commissioners, hired a gang of navvies to disrupt the building of the jetty. This culminated on 10 September 1860 with the Battle of the Tees between three tug loads of TCC navvies on one side and the CR men on the other, who beat off the waterborne attack. The CR finally opened from Normanby Jetty to the Skelton Mines on 23 November 1861.

The CR could not compete effectively with the M&GR on account of the 1 in 35 ascent of the escarpment south of Normanby. After the opening of the Saltburn Extension in 1872, regular traffic ceased over parts of the CR. A short branch was opened on 1 January 1902 to Eston. The northern section of the CR remained linked to the Normanby jetty until 1966.

The original South Bank was opened as Eston Station in June 1853, at the junction of the Bolckow Vaughan’s Eston Mines branch. A new station was approved on 19 February 1862 and by September 1874 further extensions were necessary. As the station was incapable of being extended, a new station at South Bank was proposed. This was to be located half a mile to the west of the original station, to serve the growing town of South Bank. The new station, goods warehouse and three cottages were authorised in 1880, at a cost of £7,703. Before the new station had been opened, Eston was renamed South Bank (in January 1878). The 1853 station reverted to Eston when the new station (Southbank) was opened on 1 May 1882. The new station was renamed South Bank in November 1891. The original station was closed on 22 November 1885 on the opening of Eston Grange (or Grangetown) station. The 1882 South Bank Station was closed on 23 July 1984, to make way for a new access to the Dockside Spine Road. Two wooden platforms were provided close to the site of the 1853 station, and opened as South Bank on 23 July 1984.

In 1911, South Bank issued 370,690 tickets. Two years later 348,634 tons of pig iron, 149,110 tons of rails, iron and steel, 90,087 tons of bars/joists and girders and 85,493 tons of road stone were handled. The RCH indicates that the station could handle all forms of traffic with the exception of horsebox and carriage traffic. It was also furnished with a 5-ton crane. Numerous private sidings are also listed. South Bank closed to goods traffic on 2 October 1972. The current station sees a very limited service in peak hours only.

Bolckow Vaughan’s Eston Branch diverged to the south; it was opened to goods traffic on 6 January 1851 as a private line to the company’s mine. The discovery of iron ore in the Eston Hills in 1850 established Teesside as one of the major iron and steel producers in the country. The Eston Mines produced up to 750,000 tons of iron ore a year and closed in 1949 at the end of the 99-year lease. There was a passenger service on the line some time after 1851, the trains running on a Friday and Saturday only. After the NER had absorbed the S&DR, NER locomotives hauled the trains to and from Middlesbrough, whilst Bolckow Vaughan locomotives provided the haulage on the branch. Ambulance trains were also provided for accident victims; the passenger service was withdrawn on 1 January 1902, with the opening of the NER’s Eston Branch from Cargo Fleet.

Eston Grange station was opened on 22 November 1885 at a cost of £4,185 and renamed Grangetown on 1January 1902. In 1911, the station issued 82,385 tickets, facilities being provided for passenger traffic only. The nearby signal box, opened on 30 May 1954 controls the line between South Bank and Redcar. The Tees Dock branch diverges to the north, east of the SB. This branch opened to goods traffic on 6 April 1963 and is the destination for most of the potash traffic from Boulby Mine. The dock also handles export steel and coal as well as some imported car traffic.

To the south of the line, lies the Lackenby Works of British Steel (now Corus). Dorman Long & Co developed the complex. The first steelworks opened on the site in 1912 and the Universal Beam Mill opened in September 1957. This complex was referred to by British Steel as the South Teesside complex and it parallels the railway for nearly two miles. It has one of the largest private rail networks in the country, comprising 280 miles of track.

A deviation to the south of the original M&RR was opened on 19 June 1978, from Redcar Ore Terminal Junction to Coatham Bridge in Redcar. This diversion was to allow for the construction of the British Steel Redcar Works on the site of the 1916 Dorman Long works. This was planned to be the largest steel works in Europe (it also was to be a major user of water from the Kielder Reservoir in Northumberland), however building started just when the demand for steel slumped and the plans have never been fully realised. Only one blast furnace was built, the parts for the second furnace can be seen on the ground near to the first furnace. These are used for spare parts to keep the furnace operational. The original route was retained from Redcar Ore Terminal Junction for a short distance to provide access to the exchange sidings for the Ore, Coal and Lime terminal.

Warrenby station was on the original M&RR route. The station was opened to passengers in 1916 and closed with the opening of the replacement station of British Steel Redcar on the 1978 deviation. Beyond the new station, an overbridge carries the internal British Steel line (opened circa 1980) over the Saltburn line. This internal line is used to carry molten iron from the Redcar Blast Furnaces to the Lackenby in 16 axle torpedo ladle wagons, 82.5 feet long and weighing 704 tons.

At Coatham Bridge on the outskirts of Redcar, the route rejoins the route of the 1861 line to Saltburn. When the line was opened to Saltburn, it was found that it would not be possible to extend eastwards from the 1846 Redcar Terminal, which was closed to all traffic on 17 August 1861. On 16 April 1862, the S&DR decided to seek a tenant for the old station buildings, suggesting that they could be used as promenade rooms. An offer of £40 per annum was received, subject to the company carrying out alterations costing approximately £200. Nothing more is known and the next move occurred on 24 August 1870, when the Darlington Committee of the NER (the S&DR amalgamated with the NER on 13 July 1863) decided that the buildings should be sold. It would take three auctions before the property was sold in June 1873 to a John Cowl for £2,250. The NER decided that part the old station should be reinstated, to provide a coal depot for Redcar. This use continued until the 1950s. The old station remained standing until the 1960s, part of it in use as a cinema, but it has now been demolished and shops erected on the site.

Redcar Central opened on 17 August 1861 as Redcar, being renamed in October 1950 but not appearing in the timetable with the new name until June 1951). In 1911, the station served a population of 11,140 and 353,939 tickets was issued. Two years later, 220,348 tons of gravel/sand and 42 wagonloads of livestock were handled. The RCH indicates that all forms of traffic could be handled, and the station was furnished with a 5-ton crane. The following private sidings are also listed-

The station consisted of a single platform with an overall train shed, favoured by the S&DR. In 1935, an up platform was provided for Saltburn to Darlington trains. On 1 November 1970, the station reverted to its original form of a single down platform. An excursion platform was provided on the east side of the station. Two-platform working was reintroduced in 1976. In recent years, the original train shed and buildings have been converted into industrial accommodation and two platforms provided outside of the train shed. Beyond the station is Redcar SB, which opened on 14 March 1937 as Redcar East SB.

Redcar East opened as Redcar East Halt on 18 May 1929, the Halt being dropped from the title in 1937. Upleatham SB (closed 4 September 1968) controlled the branch diverging south to serve Upleatham Mine. The branch opened to goods in 1861 and was abandoned by September 1923.

Longbeck station was opened to passengers on 13 May 1985. The Signal Box (a gate box prior to 1932) controls the line to Saltburn and the branch to Boulby as far as Crag Hall (Skinningrove).

Marske station served a population of 3,101 in 1911. In that year, 84,308 tickets were issued. Two years later, 172 tons of barley and 6 wagonloads of livestock were handled. The RCH indicates all forms of traffic could be handled and the station was furnished with a 1-ton crane. The following private sidings are also listed-

Marske was closed to goods traffic on 5 April 1965.

Saltburn West Junction is where the NER’s Saltburn Extension (to Brotton and Loftus) diverges from the 1861 line into Saltburn. The extension was opened to goods traffic to Brotton on 1 July 1872 and opened to passengers to Loftus on 1 April 1875. Passenger services were withdrawn to Brotton on 10 September 1951. The line remained open to serve the Skinningrove Steel Works, but was extended to serve the Potash Mine at Boulby on 1 April 1974.Saltburn Shed and coal Yard were in the vee of the lines to the station and Brotton. The coal depot closed to all traffic except coal on 3 April 1967 and to the residual coal traffic on 22 May 1984.

Saltburn served a population of 4,754 and issued 144,236 tickets during 1911. Two years later, 12 wagonloads of livestock were handled. The RCH indicates that all forms of traffic could be handled, and the station was furnished with a 5-ton crane. As originally built, the station had a single platform with an overall roof. This was extended northwards by the provision of a carriage road and excursion platform. The station was further enlarged by the LNER, who provided three bay platforms to the southwest. It has a fine three-arched entrance now leading to an empty platform, as only two of the LNER bays remain in use. Beyond the station proper, the original platform continued over a pedestrian subway, dated 1865, to a small station included in the back of the Zetland Hotel. This was used also to take supplies to the hotel; this traffic ceased in January 1970. The hotel, designed by William Peachey of Darlington, has closed and the building has been converted into "executive flats".

In compiling the notes, I am indebted to the following sources of information-

K.Hoole Regional Railway History Volume 4 - North East England

K.Hoole Railway Stations of the North East

K.Hoole Railways in Cleveland

P.J.Holmes Stockton and Darlington Railway 1825-1975

R.A.Cook and K.Hoole North Eastern Railway Maps

W.W.Tomlinson The North Eastern Railway

Branch line Society Don and Tees Rail tour 22 March 1986

Railway Clearing House [RCH] Handbook of Railway Stations 1904

Cleveland County Council The Seaside Run – Middlesbrough to Saltburn Railway