The Killingworth Waggonway was constructed between 1762 and 1765 to transport coal from Killingworth Moor Pit to the River Tyne at Willington Quay.
Horse-drawn wagons known as chaldrons travelled along timber rails carrying coal from the collieries to riverside staithes, where it could be loaded onto ships and transported around Britain and beyond.
As coal mining expanded, the waggonway grew with it. In 1802 the route was extended to serve West Moor Pit, passing through the area that now forms Rising Sun Country Park. Further branches were added to Killingworth High Pit in 1808 and Burradon Colliery in 1820, creating a busy network of routes linking local collieries.
The waggonway also played an important role in the development of railway technology. Originally worked by horses on timber rails, the line evolved as engineering advanced. In 1819, George Stephenson worked with William Losh of Walker Ironworks to develop the patented Losh Rail, a cast-iron rail designed to be stronger and more durable than earlier wooden and iron-plated track. The new rails could withstand heavier loads and reduced the need for repairs, helping to improve the efficiency of coal transport. The design proved successful and Losh rails were eventually adopted across much of the route. By the early 1820s, steam locomotives were increasingly replacing horses on parts of the waggonway.
One of the waggonway's most significant legacies can still be found on railway lines around the world today. The Killingworth Waggonway used a gauge of 4 feet 8½ inches , the distance between the rails. George Stephenson adopted the same measurement for the railways he later helped to develop.
As Britain's railway network expanded, this gauge became widely adopted and eventually established as the international standard. Today, the same gauge is still used on railways throughout Britain and much of the world.
Although the rails have long disappeared, visitors walking through Rising Sun Country Park are following part of a route that helped shape both the North East's industrial heritage and the development of modern railways. The legacy of the Killingworth Waggonway lives on not only in the local landscape, but on railway lines throughout much of the world today.