Pockerley Waggonway - Train Travel 1825 Style

[cessna152towser]

My only steam train ride so far this year was three weeks ago when I visited the Pockerley Waggonway.
The railway is set in 1825 when the Stockton and Darlington Railway first carried passengers on a steam hauled train as a publicity stunt. Prior to that, trains were normally used only for hauling coal and were often horse drawn.
This is the scene as you arrive in the station yard.

The fingerpost sign directs you to the train in archaic English, while in the background an old boiler improvises as a ticket booth.

The roster includes a working replica of Stephenson's Locomotion number 1

Inside the shed we find the Steam Elephant, a working replica of an 1815 colliery locomotive.

Meantime the enginemen are preparing the replica Puffing Billy of 1813 for the trip. An identical original engine, the Wylam Dilly, built in 1815, is displayed in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.

The enginemen bring the experience to life, with their period costumes and they speak an archaic dialect.

Soon the train gets under way.
It is fascinating to watch the overhead beams on the locomotive rock back and forth as they transmit the reciprocal motion from the piston to the crankshaft.

The train steams through the 1825 countryside.

The view from the train towards Pockerley Manor, note the ridge and furrow ploughed fields and the riven oak fencing.
More to follow shortly.

[cessna152towser]

Toll house at a land boundary, where the linesman would exact a toll from the engineman on behalf of the squire.

The gibbet. In the early nineteenth century the bodies of hanged criminals were sometimes hung to rot where they could be seen from the passing stagecoach or train, as a deterrent to would be criminals.

Pithead Horse Gin. The engine would have been wound by horses to raise baskets of coal from the pit.

No visit to the Pockerley Waggonway would be complete without visiting Pockerley Manor. The manor house was known to exist since Norman times and is listed in the Domesday Book, though it has been restored and furnished as it would have appeared in 1825.

The chef is busy in his kitchen.

This fair maiden seems oblivious to the intruder from the twenty first century with his digital camera.

For me the most interesting exhibit was the spinning wheel, dating from around 1700. Three of my four grandparents came from weaver families.

The vaulted cellar in Pockerley Manor.

From the garden of Pockerley Manor, a wisp of steam rises from the distant train among the trees.

We leave 1825 in the mists of time.

[walkerk]

Thanks for the great pictures. Those engines look basic in the extreme. Should be popular now thet "steampunk" is the new rage.

[Cynthia]

As always, wonderful photos! Thanks so much for sharing with us!

[Dr Mac]

Wonderful adventure! Appreciate letting us go on the ride via your pics.

[McClef]

Fascinating - didn't know anything about this period railway!

[GMan]

That is so neat. Thank you.

[Colonel MacNeal]

Great pics of a simpler time.
Thanks, ColMac

[Zardoz]

awsome photos for the railfan! Thanks!

[Rollo]

Fantastic !