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| | The Bellingham Heritage Centre |
 | | The Border Counties Railway was built between 1855 and 1862, running from Hexham station on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway, up the North Tyne valley to Bellingham and across the border into Scotland, joining the Carlisle to Edinburgh line at Riccarton Junction, an isolated settlement with no road access. |
 | | Running north from Hexham, the stations on the line were at Wall, Chollerford, Chollerton, Barrasford, Wark, Reedsmouth Junction, Bellingham, Charlton (closed 1862), Tarset, Thorneyburn, Falstone, Plashetts, Lewiefield Halt, Kielder, Deadwater, Saughtree and Riccarton. |
 | | Originally intended to serve the colliery at Plashetts (now submerged deep under the Kielder Reservoir) and other small mines in the area, the 42 mile single track line eventually formed a vital lifeline for these small communities of the North Tyne for around a century, until it was finally closed in 1958. |
| www.bellingham-heritage.org.uk /railway.html (208 words) |
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