A section of what may be the world’s oldest standard gauge railway will be protected and studied with the aid of a £75,000 award.
![Close-up of the wooden waggonway. PAUL JARMAN](https://www.mortonsdirect.co.uk/heritagerailway/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2016/08/HR-219-p42.jpg)
As highlighted in Heritage Railway issue 180, the wooden railway was discovered in 2013 during a dig prior to Shepherd Offshore beginning redevelopment work at the former Neptune shipyard site in Walker, Newcastle.
The railway dates from the 1790s when horse-drawn waggons carried coal to the River Tyne for shipment. Compacted coal waste covering the railway had resulted in a remarkable state of preservation.
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