Opened in 1888 the Gare is two and a half miles long and cost £219,300 to construct of slag provided by the local ironworks who also contributed to the transport costs. The Stockton & Darlington Railway Company constructed a line from the blast furnaces at Cargo Fleet to the Tees Conservancy Commissioners’ Railway at Tod Point to transport the slag. During the opening ceremony of the South Gare the line was put to an unusual use as trains from Middlesbrough took special guests to the base of the lighthouse. Later, as there were no trains running on the track, workmen boarded a flat bogey propelled by a sail. Other images of the sail trains can be seen on the Archive.
Image courtesy of Mike Holliday, information courtesy of ”South Gare” a Cleveland Urban Fringe Scheme publication. Also featuring in ‘Lighthouses of the North East Coast’ by Robin Jenkins.
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