One of my favourite places to photograph trains, passenger and freight, can be found in Lamesley, a small village setting which is overshadowed by a huge Railway Marshalling Area, Tyne Yard which I have lived near to for most of my 28 years. It is currently owned by DB Shenker, but was an EWS Yard during the time shortly following privatisation and a busy BR Yard previous to that.
Once a bustling, busy, noisy Yard, it’s now a shadow of its former state, only seeing a few freight movements per day but it is visited by CrossCountry Trains Class 220/221 'Voyager' units whilst stabling overnight, and sees a fair bit of Charter Services stopping by on their steam hauled way via Newcastle for coal and water top-ups.
Not only that but as a bonus, the ECML runs right alongside its full length making it a decent place for a good photo opportunity.
Although it brings back many memories every time I stop of watching the trains go by with both my Grandad and Great-Grandad, I can’t help wonder just how many Loco’s, Freight Trains and Shunters hustled and bustled all day and all night! It must of been quite a place to see heyday!
There was recent talk about the site being shortlisted as the place to build the new Hitachi Super Express, however a new site was found further off into the Durham Countryside….shame, it could have seen the re-emergence of Tyne Yard as a busy bustling place once more! If I ever get to build a large model railway layout, I’d love to base it on this, my favourite spot.
