Welcome to the 11th episode of Tales from the Rails, a podcast dedicated to uncovering the hidden stories of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

This month, hosts Caroline Hardie and Angela Pickering explore the overlooked contributions of women in the railway's history.

Join Caroline and Angela as they delve into the lives of resilient women who defied societal norms to influence the evolution of the railway. From shareholders like the Peacock sisters to widows running essential passenger services, discover the stories of these pioneering women who were often written out of history.

Our Star of the S&DR is this episode's guest presenter, Angela Pickering, so stay tuned to find out why we have picked someone who is still alive.

Tanfield Railway: tanfield-railway.co.uk

The Railway Station Shop www.therailwaystation.shop

Friends of the S&DR: www.sdr1825.org.uk

Inventing Railway Stations on the S&DR

This month we take a close look at how railway stations evolved on the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

No such thing had been invented in 1825 when the railway opened, but quickly, the company started to provide facilities that would become the railway station as we know it today.

The legacy of this was to ensure that subsequent pioneering railways would be designed with railway stations from the start and for many rural areas in Britain, the railway station run by a stationmaster would be the model adopted.

This month’s Star of the S&DR is Percival Tully who managed two of the company’s depots, inherited a pub, briefly brewed and was landlord to another pub and then emigrated to America.

In our news this month, Caroline gets cross with the government for failing to help rescue the world’s earliest railway station.

That’s got to be worth a listen to!

This month on Tales from the Rails, we are talking about education.

Who had an education or skills in the early days of the Stockton & Darlington Railway, who didn’t, and how did senior S&DR staff decide to improve educational standards amongst its workers? And did the workers appreciate this? Did engine drivers prefer to fry their pocket watches in the pub?

We are joined this month by Dave Reynolds of Shildon Railway Institute, which just happens to be the earliest railway institute in the world.

Dave has written a book on the history of ‘The Stute’ called An Insatiable First: 190 Years of Shildon's Pioneering Railway Institute (you can buy it on Amazon at the link below).

We are also joined by Timothy Hackworth’s Great Great Granddaughter, Jane Hackworth-Young. Timothy had a lot to do with improving the literacy of the workforce – while he wasn’t improving the reliability and efficiency of the locomotives. Listen in and find out more. Other links in this month's episode include:

Books Our very own illustrated limited edition hardback coffee table book, The Stockton & Darlington Railway 1825-2025 Dave Reynolds' An Insatiable First: 190 Years of Shildon's Pioneering Railway Institute Robert Young's authoritative Timothy Hackworth and the Locomotive Mike Norman's It Wasn't Rocket Science

Competitions Research on the Rails Write on Track Railway 200 Poetry and Prose Project