The Weardale Railway is a single track branch line which originally extended from Bishop Auckland to Wearhead in County Durham, a distance of about 40 km. (25 miles). It was built in the 1840s to carry passenger and freight traffic. As late as 1992 the line remained in use as part of the national network, serving a large cement works at Eastgate (latterly owned by the Lafarge group), and providing a summer Sundays-only passenger service between Bishop Auckland and Stanhope.

As of 2008, the track remains in place between Bishop Auckland and Eastgate, although only the 5 mile section between Wolsingham and Stanhope is in regular use. The rails were lifted in the 1960s from the extreme western section of the line between Eastgate and Wearhead (passing through Westgate and St John's Chapel). The trackbed itself has been removed in at least one place on this last section.

In 1993 British Rail announced its intention to close the line following the loss of the line's last significant commercial customer. In March of that year, Lafarge decided to service the Eastgate cement works by road and end its use of rail. Local authorities sought to find some alternative use for the line and it was considered that the only immediate possibility was a steam-hauled tourist service.

The Weardale Railway preservation project was started in 1993 at the time that British Rail ended freight and passenger services on the line. The intention was that a private company should take ownership of the line and start a steam service for tourists on the scenic western end of the line. The operating company was known as the Weardale Railways Ltd (WRL), a company limited by guarantee.

The Weardale Railway Trust (WRT) is a voluntary group whose members are supporters of the project. WRT was initially just a "supporters' club" but it assumed a more prominent role as WRL got into difficulties. In 2006 WRT took a 12.5% minority stake in the ownership of WRL. Large amounts of public sector grant finance were obtained or conditionally pledged from various donors including local regional development agency One North East. Durham County Council and the Wear Valley District Council also actively supported the project. The Manpower Services Commission contributed to the wages of paid staff in what had become an area of high unemployment. This allowed a 40 strong workforce to be recruited, a depot and base of operations to be established at Wolsingham, the station at Stanhope to be restored, and services to be started in July 2004.

The station at Wolsingham serves as the terminus at the southern end. The station building is now a private house. It is unusually extravagant in design, with yellow brick and ashlar stone, large gables, mullion windows and a charming oriel window overlooking the platform. Its grandeur may stem from its intended use as headquarters by its founding railway, the Wear Valley Railway. It opened in 1848 and closed in 1953. It is a Grade II listed building.