Cleveland Railway

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The Cleveland railway is a former railway line running from the outskirts of Middlesbrough through the Eston Hills and via the town of Guisborough to reach the former Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway near the village of Brotton on the East Coast of England. The Cleveland Railway's original act was for a line east of Guisborough, but it also developed the line to the north west line across private land to a junction on the Eston branch of the Middlesbrough - Saltburn line (then part of the Stockton & Darlington Railway company). The Eston branch served numerous Iron ore mines located within the Eston Hills, and the Cleveland Railway decided to tap into this market building their track round Eston moor to reach Guisborough. It opened in 1861, but by this stage was operating in competition with the Middlesbrough and Guisborough Railway (M&G) who had built their line running south from Middlesbrough approaching Guisborough from the West. In 1863 both the Cleveland Railway and the M&G were absorbed into the NER and the Cleveland line west of Guisborough became redundant, closing in 1865. NER then connected the line east of Guisborough to the M&G line before Guisborough, meaning trains had to reverse out of the terminal before continuing along the line to Loftus. It remained this way until its closure in 1964.