Can you believe this whole site was transported stone by stone to Beamish too?

This is the site of the original Rowley Station, which is carefully preserved at the Open Air Museum. It was opened by the Stockton & Darlington in the 1840s, around a decade after the S&T commenced operations on the line. They didn't originally run passengers on this side due to the sheer complexity of it. The S&DR had the guts to but only on the simpler sections, but even these were inclined planes. Services from here originally ran from Hownes Gill, through Rowley, to Waskerley, then Tow Law and Crook. Instead of locomotives, carriages were sandwiched between wagons on stationary engines. Horrendous, slow and dirty work.

The station, originally named Cold Rowley, was nothing more than a room in its earliest days, but was expanded in the 1870s into the form we still see at Beamish today. At the same time, modern goods facilities and sidings were provided. Its geography meant trains were regularly marooned here in the snow, as you can see below.

The station only lasted until the 1930s. The rise of bus services which were more frequent and convenient stunted any prospect of a future for some of these lines, and from there services from Darlington ceased at Tow Law. Goods remained until 1966, with the line dismantled a few years later. Frank Atkinson, the founder of Beamish Museum, leased the station for peppercorn to ensure its survival, and it was all shifted over to the museum.

As ever, I heartily recommend Rob Langham's work on the Stanhope & Tyne. This particular post is heavily influenced by his work "The Wear & Derwent Railway" from 2022 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wear-Derwent-Railway-Rob-Langham/dp/1398106526