Cargo Fleet railway station

Cargo Fleet
Cargo Fleet
	The site of the station, looking west towards Middlesbrough, in 2010
General information
Location	Cargo Fleet, Middlesbrough; England
Coordinates	54°34′37″N 1°12′34″W / 54.577°N 1.2094°W
Grid reference	NZ512204
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	North Eastern Railway
Pre-grouping	North Eastern Railway
Post-grouping	LNER; British Railways (North Eastern); British Rail (Eastern)
Key dates
8 November 1885	Opened
22 January 1990	Closed
Location
Location

Cargo Fleet railway station served the Cargo Fleet area of Middlesbrough, North East England from 1885 to 1990 as a stop on the Tees Valley line.

History

The station was opened on 8 November 1885 by the North Eastern Railway. The main part of the station was constructed from materials recovered from the closed Middlesbrough excursion station, which saved the North Eastern Railway £1,600 (equivalent to £218,000 in 2023).^[1] It was an island platform situated a mile east of Middlesbrough station,^[2] adjacent to Dockside Road, between junctions with Marsh Road and Works Road. Cargo Fleet was a passenger only station, although there were sidings nearby which handled goods traffic. The 1904 RCH handbook recorded that the sidings served two ironworks, (one that served a brickworks and a wharf) a warrant stores, a timber yard and wharves, a salt works and a wharf.^[3]

On 4 May 1969 the station was one of many to be reduced to an 'unstaffed halt', which meant that the station was attractive to vandals. By 1972 the windows were boarded up, the brickwork had graffiti all over it, the lamps were smashed and the posters were ripped to the point where only peelings remained. After these buildings were demolished, a small brick shelter was built with electric lighting.

Due to the low population of Cargo Fleet (in 1911 it was estimated to have only 682 residents)^[4] and the closure of nearby factories on the line, there was very little passenger demand. British Rail realised that the station would require an outlay of £60,000 if it remained open, so it closed completely on 22 January 1990.^[5]^[6]

References

^ Fawcett, Bill, ed. (2003). A history of North Eastern Railway architecture volume 2: a mature art. North Eastern Railway Association. p. 158. ISBN 1-873513-48-8.
^ Body, Geoffrey (1985). Railways of the Eastern Region. Wellingborough: Patrick Stephens. p. 118. ISBN 0850597129.
^ The Railway Clearing House (London) handbook of railway stations. 1904. A reprint (d. Ausg.) London 1904 with an introd. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970. p. 106. ISBN 0715351206.
^ Hoole, K. (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 156. ISBN 0715385275.
^ Quick, M. E. (2002). Railway passenger stations in England, Scotland and Wales – a chronology. Richmond: Railway and Canal Historical Society. p. 113. OCLC 931112387.
^ "Disused Stations: Cargo Fleet". Disused Stations. Retrieved 4 May 2017.