Fawdon Wagonway

Fawdon Colliery was set-up around 1810, and its coal was originally transported via the Kenton and Coxlodge Waggonway to Wallsend. In 1818, the Fawdon Wagonway was built by Benjamin Thompson, one of the colliery's owning partners, on a new route to Scotswood. The line used inclined planes and stationary steam engines. The re-routing was the cause of controversial discussions between Thompson and the owners of the properties, over which the track ran. Thompson installed a series of stationary steam engines along the 1 miles rail track between the Kenton Bank and Hotchpudding Planes. Stationary steam engines transported the coal wagons through the hilly landscape at a speed of 7 mph. Each…