The north-east of England was one of the key centres of Britains emerging economic and industrial power during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Based around the coal and iron industries, the north-east was at the forefront of technical and industrial developments during the period.As the scale of the local industries expanded, so too did the railway infrastructure to support them. Aside from the main line network dominated by the North Eastern Railway there were a number of privately owned lines that linked collieries with harbours and coal staithes. One such example was the Lampton Railway located in County Durham and with