Stockton and Darlington Railway Locomotive-Coaling Stage, Shildon, Co. Durham: Historic Building Investigation and Assessment of Significance
Author(s): Marcus Jecock, Elizabeth Stephens, Gary Young, Matthew Bristow
This report describes and discusses the significance and place in railway history of the Shildon locomotive-coaling stage (aka 'Coal Drops'), built by the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) in early 1847 to improve the re-fuelling times of steam locomotives returning empty coal trains to the company’s marshalling yard and engine shed at Shildon before they headed back east to staiths on the River Tees with their next train. Documentary research has shown that the coaling stage was designed by John Graham, the S&DR’s Traffic Manager, acting under the instructions and supervision of William Bouch, foreman engineer of the S&DR’s Shildon Works. It is argued that it represents one of the first attempts - if not the first attempt - in Britain (and given Britain’s primacy in railways, possibly the world) to mechanise the process of coaling locomotives, which up until that time had been carried out by men hand-shovelling from lineside bunkers or wagons parked on an adjacent siding. Historic England carried out the study as part of its Historic Area Assessment (HAA) of Shildon; the HAA forms part of Historic England’s S&DR Heritage Action Zone (HAZ).
- Report Number:
- 75/2022
- Series:
- Research Report
- Pages:
- 57
- Keywords:
- Architectural Investigation Research
