Media centre

Thursday 16 Jul 2015

Historic beams to go Beamish

Region & Route:

| Eastern

Two cast iron beams dating back to the 1860s have been donated to Beamish Museum.

The parapets were removed from the railway bridge at Lodge Lane in Danby which carries the Esk Valley line between Middlesbrough and Whitby.

The beams have effectively been redundant at the bridge since the second track was removed in the 1980s.

Engraved with the name of the manufacturer ‘Head Ashby and Co – Teesdale Iron Works’, it is thought that the beams have been in place since 1863 when the bridge was first built, although it remains unclear why they were not removed when the second line closed.

Now, as part of strengthening work at the rural bridge, they have been carefully removed and donated to County Durham based museum.

Neil Gill, Senior Asset Engineer from Network Rail, said: “These historic bridge beams provided support to an important part of the railway network for well over 150 years and I am delighted they will be preserved at Beamish Museum.”

Paul Jarman, Assistant Director Transport & Industry at Beamish said: “We are very grateful to Network Rail for donating these beams to us and to all involved in removing and moving them to the museum.  We felt it was very important to save them and they will ultimately make an attractive and historic feature here.”