Shield Row station, between Beamish and Annfield Plain was opened on 1st February 1894 by the North Eastern Railway. In 1923, as part of the Grouping, it became part of the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) then, in 1948, after the nationalisation of the railways, passed to the ownership of British Railways (BR). The station built, essentially, on a shelf in the hillside with gradients of 1 in 35 towards Consett and 1 in 50 towards Beamish was renamed West Stanley on 1 February 1934.
The stations buildings were typical of the line being timber with the lower part painted green and cream for the upper parts. The footbridge was almost of a copy of the one to be found at Annfield Plain.
Passenger Services
In terms of tickets issued, it was the busiest station on the line. 81,997 tickets were issued in 1898, 117,099 in 1903 and, in 1913, the station issued in excess of 170,000 tickets compared with 79,000 issued at Consett the same year.
Possibly as a result of it’s popularity, at some point in time, the platforms were extended as contemporary photographs show that part of the platform was raised slightly higher than the rest.
Like all the stations on the line, however, competition from the new bus services proved unbeatable and, within a year of the bus service being introduced in 1921, passenger numbers at the station were down by a third. In 1920, 138,664 passengers had booked at the station but, in 1921, this fell by almost 50,000 to 89,760.
The station closed to passengers on 23 May 1955.
Goods Services
A small goods yard with three sidings and a goods shed was situated on the side of the station heading towards Consett. The goods service ended on 11 September 1961 and the station site closed completely.
The site of West Stanley station can be found on Google Maps here: 54°52’41.8″N 1°41’28.2″W – Google Maps
Stanley in the 1960s…
Stanley in the 1970s…
37062 passes Stanley with an empty train of steel wagons for Consett in the late 1970s. Photo copyright Stephen McGahon.
Tracklifting at Stanley…
Once the last passenger train had run to Consett on 17 March 1984, British Rail wasted no time in starting the removal of the track and, only 10 days later track was being lifted through Stanley.
Stanley Today…
As with many of the locations on the line, today there is nothing to suggest that there was ever a station at the location. On the approaches to the station from Beamish, there used to be two substantial bridges that took the line over the A692 road. Both of these bridges were demolished a few years ago to be replaced by footbridges.
In 2016, Stanley Town Council issued a statement that the station was due to be reopened in 2022 following a £1 billion pound investment to extend the Tyne & Wear Metro system. The statement was dated 1 April…
Unlike at Annfield Plain where part of the site has actually been built over, most of the site of the station is now just an open space as shown in the photographs below albeit a row of garages have been built where the station buildings once stood:
when did the regular passenger service last run from west Stanley station to Newcastle (not charter trains)
The passenger service ended on 23 May 1955.
Great shot. The driver looks like the late Tyne Yard man Harry “Choco” Murray. He was a good mate to work with as a second man and always put you in the driving seat for experience .
The second driver working alongside the late Harry Murray is the late Tom Fisher. He can be seen looking through the secondman side window on 37023 at Stanley.
Impossible not to fall in love with Class 37s in the Co Durham snow!