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The (former) railway, part of which was in use in the 18th C, was built by Lord Carlisle without an Act of Parliament as it was built on his own land. It carried coal from the various collieries along the line of what is now the A689 to Brampton. By the mid-19th C, the line connected the Haltwhistle to Alston line (at Lambley) with Brampton on the Newcastle to Carlisle line. It was one of the first non-Stephenson railways to convert and adopt the standard gauge of 4’8½" and in 1836 the ‘new railway’ opened officially under steam traction with the Rocket Link in use from the following year. For more info see Link.