Notes: Waterhouses station was in the village of Esh Winning but the goods station was in Warehouses village (half a mile to the south-west) close to Waterhouses Colliery. The goods yard comprised a goods shed, dock and a 3-ton crane. A signal box opposite the yard controlled access to the yard and to Waterhouses Colliery. There was also a signal box at the east end of Waterhouses station.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEERNESS VALLEY RAILWAY
The Deerness Valley Railway was incorporated by an Act of Parliament of 30.7.1855 and was sold to the North Eastern Railway on 13.7.1857.

The line opened for goods on 1.1.1858 from Deerness Valley Junction on the Durham to Bishop Auckland line to a point near the junction of The Stanley Incline and the line to East Hedley Hope Colliery. A passenger service wasn't introduced until 1.11.1877 when a single platform terminus was built part way along the line at Esh Winning, the station was named Waterhouses; passenger trains never went beyond Waterhouses. A second station was added at Ushaw Moor on 1.9.1884.

The passenger service on the line was always of secondary importance with a number of collieries being accessed from the branch.

There were seven signal boxes, these were sited at: 'Deerness Valley Junction' (at start of the branch), 'New Brancepeth' (controlled Ushaw Moor Station and access to New Brancepeth Colliery closed in 1953), 'Ushaw Moor Colliery' (controlled access to Ushaw Moor Colliery closed in 1960) 'Flass Junction' (controlled the three way junction to Cornsay Colliery (closed in 1953) & Brickworks and to Esh Colliery closed in 1968 and Hamsteels Colliery closed in 1958), 'Lymington' (a gate box controlling minor road crossing to a quarry and one street of houses), 'Waterhouses Goods' (controlling access to Waterhouses Colliery closed in 1966, Waterhouses Goods Yard and the level crossing over the main valley road at the start of Waterhouses village). The final box was at Waterhouses Station.

Beyond the East Hedley Hope junction, the line was known as The Stockton & Darlington Railway Deerness Valley Branch with the rope worked Stanley Inclines giving access to Stanley Drifts and Wooley Colliery and on to Bank Foot Coke Works and Chemical Plant at Crook. It was built for Joseph Pease & Partners the owners of Waterhouses Colliery, who also owned the complex at Bank Foot.

The two stations remained in use until the 1960's for occasional miners' gala trains with morning passenger trains taking bands, banners and passengers into Durham and bring them back again in the afternoon. The freight service continued until 28.12.1964.

The line originally had two wooden trestle viaducts; the viaduct over the River Deerness to the west of Ushaw Moor station was demolished in the winter of 1967/68 when the track was lifted.

The line has now been converted into the 8 mile Deerness Valley Railway Path which starts at the Broompark Picnic Area and passes through the villages of Ushaw Moor and Esh Winning. County Council ownership terminates on meeting the B6299 near Stanley Crook. A further section links to the B6298 on the outskirts of Crook.

Tickets from Michael Stewart. Bradshaws from Nick Catford. Route map from Alan Young.

Other web sites: Ushaw Moor Historical Website includes 7 galleries of railway pictures
Durham Miner Project web site

Further reading: Durham's Railways by Charlie Emett - Sutton Publishing 1999
ISBN: 0750920769

To see the other stations on the Deerness Valley branch line click on the station name: Ushaw Moor see also Deerness Valley Junction