Waggon to be restored for historic railway's 200th birthday

A replica of the historic coal waggons which once plied the Hetton Colliery Railway is set to be restored and given pride of place in the railway's 200th birthday celebrations.

The famous Stephenson engineered Hetton Colliery Railway, which was the first railway in the world to be built to use only steam and gravity power, celebrates its bicentenary later this year.

The Chaldron Waggon was built for the opening of Elemore Golf Club. Originally located at the club entrance, it was later moved further onto the site.

A very early type of coal waggon, chaldron waggons were used as a measurement of weight before weighbridges were in use. By the beginning of the 18^th century this was standardised at 53 cwt. They were used on the Hetton Colliery Railway and throughout the Great Northern Coalfield. The type of livery chosen was used until 1911 when the company became Lambton and Hetton Collieries, the last of the original design could still be seen as late as the 1930s.

The waggon is set to be uplifted from its current position and moved to a local workshop this weekend. There it will be rebuilt and refurbished by Howard Stafford, a member of the Hetton Colliery Railway 200 Carnival Committee, and his friend Jeff Benison. 

Once restored, the waggon will be used to promote, educate and celebrate as part of the events to mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Hetton Colliery Railway later this year.

The former Elemore Golf Course where the waggon is currently located, is itself about to go through a major transformation with plans to turn it into an eco park with a community-led cafe, garden and visitor centre over the next 12 months. The plans will also see improvements to the Stephenson Trail, which follows the route taken by coal waggons on their way from Elemore and Hetton collieries to the River Wear.

Councillor Claire Rowntree, Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council, who chairs the Elemore Project Group which is overseeing plans for the former golf course's transformation into a country park, said: "This is an incredibly exciting year for Hetton with the transformation of the former golf course coinciding with Hetton Colliery Railway celebrating its 200th birthday.  It will be wonderful to see the waggon restored in time for the celebrations for the bicentenary of Hetton Colliery Railway later this year."