History of Seaham - Stories and remarkable and memorable events in the history of Seaham Railways, roads and transport in Seaham The Londonderry Seaham to Sunderland Railway
By the 1850's the port of Seaham Harbour was becoming overloaded with coals arriving at the docks from
over a dozen inland pits. With the sinking of Seaton Colliery (the High Pit) in 1845 and Seaham Colliery
(The Low Pit) in1849 even more coal needed to be transported by sea. Lord Londonderry found a solution.
A railway was to be constructed from Seaham to the docks at Sunderland. The first sod of the railway was
cut on 8th February 1853 but Lord Londonderry was destined not to see his railway completed as he died on
6th March 1854. By August of that year the first coals were transported along the railway to Sunderland docks.
Passenger stations were opened at Seaham Harbour, Seaham Colliery, Seaham Hall, Ryhope and Hendon
Burn in 1855 and passenger traffic began in July 1855 although Seaham Hall station was reserved only for
the Londonderry family. Built at a cost of £50,000 passengers were carried the entire distance of 5.5 miles
in only 15 minutes. The railway was eventually sold to the NER on 6th October 1900. This map of 1867
extracted from Lloyds Topographical County & Railway Map shows the existing railways in County Durham
in 1867. The Londonderry Seaham to Sunderland Railway is indexed as railway number 367.
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