The words coal and Durham are bound together in the history of the county with many coalmines and their railway lines staying open until the 1960s, when the film in this programme was taken. Ex-North Eastern Railway J27 0-6-0 and Q6 0-8-0 locomotives were employed on the many hilly routes, as they serviced the collieries and BR yards. For those who thought National Coal Board locomotives simply shunted trucks around are in for a surprise as local cameraman Peter Hutchinson’s superb film shows, with all sizes of colliery workings, from 40 wagons down to 7 wagons which needed a banker on 1 in 20 gradients. Continuing the coastal journey from Billingham to Newcastle – started in Marsden Rail No.4 ‘Darlington’ – we cross the River Tyne before heading south on the East Coast Main Line. A narrow-gauge clay pit railway, together with a narrow-gauge locomotive being delivered by traction engine also features. In addition to film at Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale a detailed film of Co. Durham’s most westerly line – the Weardale Line - brings the programme to a close.