Greenesfield, Darlington Junction Railway Station

Greenesfield Station was built by George Hudson's Newcastle and Darlington Junction Railway Company close to their incline, which linked to Carlisle (HER 3447). They had gained parliamentary powers to build a station and a "high-level" bridge across the Tyne (see HER 4132). The station was completed by June 1844 to a design by architect George Townsend Andrews of York. It was designed to impress - the principal range of buildings was 108m long with an Ionic colonnaded façade to the north. At the east end was a two-storied hotel. The platform was paved with slabs of York stone and was accessed via a high arched doorway west of the hotel. This opened into a train shed, built of squared ashlar with Ionic pilasters and wrought iron roof trusses and columns made by Hawks Crawshay. The lower courses of the southern and eastern walls still survived in 2001. The line was opened publicly on 18th June 1844 with the arrival of a train from Euston carrying the Hon. H.T. Liddell and other dignitaries. The journey had taken 8 hours and 11 minutes. Greenesfield Station closed to passenger traffic in August 1850 when the Central Station in Newcastle was opened. It was converted into railway workshops for the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway. The hotel became offices. A new station was built on the curving viaduct approach to the High Level Bridge c. 1885-6.