It was initially a stop on the passenger service between Rainton Meadows and Oakwellgate in Gateshead but on 19 June 1844, southbound services to were diverted to Gilesgate and Ferryhill along the newly constructed Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway, allowing through running to London Euston to commence.

Further extensions to this route ultimately led to creation of the Leamside line.

To the south of the warehouse was a cattle dock reached by a dead-end siding.

The Beeching Report dealt with a lot of stations in County Durham which included the closure of the Washington Line, which happened on 9 September 1963, though by this time the few remaining services on the Pelaw to Fencehouses route did not actually stop at Pelaw.

This article on a railway station in North East England is a stub.