History of Seaham - Stories and remarkable and memorable events in the history of Seaham Railways, roads and transport in Seaham George Hardy and the Londonderry Railway
George Hardy and the Londonderry (Seaham to Sunderland) Railway
George Hardy was the chief engineer for the Marquis of Londonderry responsible for all aspects of the Londonderry Railway, Londonderry Engineering Workshops and maintenance and repair of the Londonderry fleet of steamships. The Londonderry railway from Seaham to Sunderland was begun at Seaham on 8th February 1853. One of the last public acts of the 3rd Marquess of Londonderry was to cut the first sod of turf. The 75-year-old peer performed the ceremony with a silver-mounted spade and mahogany wheelbarrow in which he placed a piece of turf to signify the beginning of the enterprise. Lord Londonderry did not live to see the completion of his private railway from Seaham to Sunderland. He died one year later on March 6th 1854 but his widow, Lady Frances Anne Vane, a lady of considerable business acumen, managed the completion of the project at a cost of approximately £100,000.
George Hardy was at first appointed to take charge of the railway workshops in 1855. Upon the death in 1883 of the manager, Matthew Waister, George was appointed as manager of the railway and engine works a position he held for the next seventeen years until the railway was sold in 1900. Born in South Shields in 1825 he moved to Seaham when he was 30 years old and lived in the town for the next 45 years. He kept a diary of his life and his journal gives a history of the railway as well as glimpses of other interesting events in Seaham from 1855 until 1917 when he died at the age of 92. He was very much involved in public life in Seaham. He was a member of the old Local Board and its successor the Urban District Council. He was a Guardian of the Poor, a prominent member of the United Free Methodist Church and was one of the first officers of the 2nd Durham (Seaham) Volunteer Artillery from which he retired with the rank of Major.
With skill and ability, he organised and developed the rolling stock and engineering works to deliver an effective mineral and passenger line for the Londonderry family. The first coals were taken along the line to Sunderland in August 1854 and the line was opened for passenger traffic along its seven-mile track in July 1855. There were passenger stations at Seaham Harbour, Seaham Colliery, Seaham Hall, Ryhope and then Sunderland. In those days the Sunderland Station was at Hendon and the Seaham Hall station was reserved for the private use of the Londonderry family and their guests.
There were three classes of travel (1st, 2nd, 3rd). From Seaham's main station the train stopped at Seaham Colliery (now the main station) and then Ryhope before arriving at the Sunderland station at Hendon. The first train in the morning left Seaham at 8.00am and there was a further four trains to Sunderland - the last leaving at 7.00pm. Fares for 1st class were 1 shilling, 2nd class 9 pence, 3rd class 6pence each way.
The journey from Seaham to Sunderland took 15 minutes!
Extract from Bradshaws's Railway timetable 1860
Seaham Harbour Station - Courtesy of the Brian Slee Collection
Seaham Hall Station - Courtesy of the Brian Slee Collection
Several locomotives were entirely built at the Seaham Harbour Works up to October 6th 1900 when the Seaham to Sunderland Railway was sold to the North East Railway Company. The sale included thirteen locomotives of which four were side tanks and one a saddle tank and eight tender engines. The locomotives were painted green picked out with orange-coloured lines with the initials “L.R.” and a coronet on the side plates.
The Number 9 side-tank engine with 57-inch diameter wheels
Photograph courtesy of the Brian Slee Collection
The passenger rolling stock consisted of three first class, two second class and thirteen third class coaches and four brake vans. The goods and mineral stock consisted of 2,862 vehicles, seventy-three of which were goods wagons with the remainder being mineral and coal wagons.
The Seaham to Sunderland Railway was a fully equipped passenger and goods line with a full service of trains and rolling stock. The highly efficient state which the railway attained was due more than anything to George Hardy who was connected with it from three weeks of it opening in 1855 until its sale in 1900.
An in-depth article setting out the history and details of the sale of the railway to the North East Railway Company was written by the Railway Magazine in 1901. This very interesting article giving all of the details of the sale can be read below: -
Extract from The Railway Magazine 1901 (Fred Cooper)
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