<< There was an early mail train and a quarter to nine train to Hartlepool which carried Secondary School pupils to Henry Smith's School and St. Joseph's Convent. They returned on the four thirty from West Hartlepool.
Many village folk set their chores to the times of the trains, starting washing by the nine o'clock and the ironing by the twelve o'clock etc. The trains passed under the three bridges, the first by the Trimdon Grange Doctors, the next one carried the road from St. Paul's Post Office by the store and the third one was opposite the pit.
Sadly the second bridge was the scene of a tragedy. A "Henry Smith" school boy was leaning out of the window of the homecoming train and caught his head on the bridge. He died instantly.
All of the bridges have now been demolished and the Steep bank lowered. The bank was really steep and it had been a source of entertainment when the Brewery horse wagon had to struggle to get the barrels up to the top to deliver the beer to the pubs.
Under the bridge by the store was the road to the Foundry. It actually was to be the link from the old pit and was to join up to the Station line. However it was found the pit engines (The Coffee Pot one) was too tall to go under the archway so the line was removed and joined directly with the Station. This was the line that crossed the road between Rodwell Street and Luke Street.
Quite a few scholars lived in Fishburn and had to walk from there to get the school train and walk home again at night. The train ran from Ferryhill via Coxhoe, Trimdon, Wingate, Castle Eden, Hesleden, Hart to West Hartlepool. To go to Sunderland, you alighted at Castle Eden to await the connection to the Wellfield Line. The Castle Eden Station always grew lots of lovely flowers.