EARLY Stockton & Darlington Railway items will be for sale at Durham Book Fair, which takes place tomorrow at County Hall in Durham City.

Book dealer Richard Hodgson, of Kirklevington, Yarm, is taking the items to the fair One is an Abstract of Penalties, a poster published on July 11, 1826, listing more than 30 fines imposed on wagon owners and employees of the railway.

It was published within the first year of operations, presumably in response to transgressions and failings of those involved.

Wagon owners had to make sure rolling stock was identified or could be fined up to £5. An axle bearing failure through lack of grease would be fined £1, a large sum in 1826.

Visitors will also see a framed parliamentary docket, watermarked 1818, complete with a coloured map showing the proposed route of the S&DR line.

It has the title “Proposed rail-road, from the collieries in the western part of the County of Durham, by Darlington, to Stockton-upon- Tees; and communicating by branches, with Yarm and the North-Riding of Yorkshire”.

There will also be a first edition, from about six years before the railway opened on September 27, 1825.

The fair will be attended by 42 exhibitors from all over the country, ranging from Aberdeen to Bristol. Books will cover a wide range of subjects and prices.