[Note 151.4]

[Note 151.4] "It oft puts me in mind of a new railway coach." :- In 1839 the railway company decided to take on passenger conveyancing itself and by early 1840 receipts from passenger services amounted to six per cent of the total revenue. The early railway companies set out to capture the coal trade from the new collieries and had little interest in passengers. [Ref: http://www.haswell-history.co.uk/railway.html]. In 1836 about eight miles of the eastern division of the Sunderland and Durham railway was opened, by several trains of wagons laden with coal, being brought along a new branch from Haswell colliery to the main line, and conveyed thereon to Sunderland, where the coals were shipped amidst the loud huzzas of the spectators, the firing of guns and a numerous display of flags hoisted on many conspicuous places. [Ref: Durham Mining Museum http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/h001.htm]