The Lost Woodhead Line Part 1 - Deepcar, Wortley, Thurgoland
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- The Lost Woodhead Line Part 1 - Deepcar, Wortley, Thurgoland
Welcome to a new disused railway series. We're in South Yorkshire for one of the most famous abandoned railway lines in the UK. We're looking at what was the UKs first electrified mainline railway - the Woodhead Railway.
The section we’ll be focusing on linked the large northern cities of Manchester and Sheffield, crossing the harsh Pennines. And episode (part 1) will be from Deepcar, where the disused section begins, through Wortley and Thurgoland and concluding at the Thurgoland Tunnels.
We’ll start outside the former Deepcar station, now a private residence, but we can see the beautiful station building from the road. This is a still an existing railway line at this point. Until a year ago, had regular trains into the Stocksbridge Steelworks. But just beyond the station, our Woodhead line leaves the Stocksbridge line and heads up towards Wortley. It is here we can get on the trackbed.
Plenty of old railway infrastructure to spot. Posts and overhead line supports to fill your boots with. The trackbed seems pretty unimpeded until it reaches the Stocksbridge bypass, which was built after the line closed. From here we are on the Trans Pennine Trail/Upper Don Trail.
We soon encounter Wortley station. Platform and buildings still exist but are now private residence. The station, opened on 14 July 1845, was closed on 2 May 1955. Because of its proximity to Wortley Hall the station had a private waiting room for the use of the Earl of Wharncliffe, his family and visitors.
From Wortley, the line swaps between cuttings and embankments through the South Yorkshire countryside. We soon reach the junction with the Thurgoland Coal Branch. A branch towards Hollin Moor Pit and Stanhope Silkstone Main.
However we finish at Thurgoland Tunnels. Two tunnels, the original built in 1845. Double track, but proved inadequate for electrification. Therefore LNER started building a new tunnel next to the original. You’ll see the keystone dated with LNER 1947 and BR 1948. The tunnel was completed under nationalisation. The newer tunnel is now open to walk through, but you’ll need your sense of adventure to scramble through the hole into the older tunnel. The tunnels closed in 1983.
The line opened in 1845, built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway. It became part of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in 1847. In 1897 it became part of the Great Central Railway (GCR) and it’s mainline between Manchester and London (via Sheffield, Nottingham, Leicester). In 1923, it was grouped under LNER (London North Eastern Railway). Before upon nationalisation moving under British Railways in 1948.
Before the outset of WW2, plans were drawn up to electrify the section of the GCR between Manchester and Wath and Sheffield. Steam hauled heavy freight trains were struggling over the steep gradients on the line at the time. The project was delayed by the war, but was completed in 1955. The overhead wires energised at 1,500 volts DC. Whilst this was tried and tested technology (and is still standard in the Netherlands), the comparatively low voltage meant that a large number of electricity substations and heavy cabling would be required. It also made regenerative braking by transfer of power from descending to ascending trains in the same section of line comparatively straightforward.
Having seen major investment in the 1950s, the line was controversially closed to passenger traffic on 5 January 1970. Freight continued until 1981 when the line was mothballed. The tracks were ripped up in the following years.
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I remember travelling over the Stocksbridge Bypass, in 1988, and the catenary was still in situ.
This has brought back memories of when I was a kid, in the early 50s. I recall getting the train from Manchester to Sheffield, on the electric train. I can still recall, those black imposing locos, and when going through the Woodhead tunnel, I thought it would never end.
Great memories. Thanks for sharing 👍🙂.
Great video Paul. I’m pretty obsessed with the TPT, so lovely to see this.
👍cheers David
Great video as always. Thurgoland Station was where the picnic benches and information boards are. The coal branch went off here.👍🚂
👍 I wasnt too far away then 😄
Brilliant stuff mate, thanks.
Cheers Jon 👍
Thank you for today's video. A fine walking tour as always. The weather was not good, but the video was fine. Will look forward to your next video, part 2. Enjoy your weekend Paul, and see you on the next. Cheers gentlemen!
Cheers Martin. I love a bit of rain....I think 😄
Have a great weekend.
Hi Paul, I'm so glad you are doing Woodhead! So many happy memories of me going there as a kid watching the trains ( freight) coming out of the tunnel. Beautiful area around Deepcar. Sorry about the crap weather! You are a trooper. ❤😊👍
🙂👍 cheers Carol. Woodhead is one of the few lines I have memories of. Been meaning to do it for some time now.
@@WobblyRunner can't believe they closed it Paul. Too much road traffic on Woodhead Pass. 🤔😱😊
@@Carolb66 100% correct. I dread ever having to drive over that way.
The pair of concrete blocks were for an overhead line tensioner mast
The drowned rats on tour! Really enjoyed it despite the weather and great to see all the comments on here 😊
😄 editing the next section now. We look a bit wetter
@@WobblyRunner Is that actually possible? Some exciting stuff coming up
then. It needed to be to keep us going 🌧️🌧️🌧️
4hours 💧💧💧
The cast iron brackets held the thick 33kv cable that ran between the substations , quite a high voltage for a line side cable , certain substations such as Aldam had a dedicated direct feed from the national grid and at the substations would be rectified by mercury ark and then converted from 33kv ac to 1500 v dc .
Great info! cheers
Some fascinated old electrical stuff lying around isnt there. Like that (cable joiner?) box by the turntable at Penistone
@@WobblyRunner yes , as kids we used to call them coffins, later ones were red fibreglass filled with bitumen, the cable itself was wrapped in bitumen coated cloth woven wire then plastic then more woven steel then waxed paper , the three copper cores were triangular about the size of a dairylee cheese triangle in cross section .
They were very problematic as they aged .
The wath branch ran past my house , I could watch class 76 electric hauled trains all day long .
Excellent. I just missed seeing the 76s in action. Though I remember them parked up at Wath. Hopfully get out and do some of the Wath sections soon.
Excellent video Paul. One of my favourite disused railways so really looking forward to future episodes
I think the charm of the woodhead wouldn't be as great if it was still open as it was the older OLE and the 76s. If it was still open it would probably have lost the wires and just a dmu service but if it remained electrified would be modern 25kv units.
Although I still think it should be still open it has become the Somerset and Dorset for a younger generation
Cheers Russ. I suppose we'll never know :) Though I suppose tunnels aside, and the Stocksbridge bypass cutting it off, it's pretty much an untouched disused line that could be reused in the future.
Excellent mate, are you dry yet? I loved the bit around Deepcar, I'd have nipped down the edge of the line for you to the Station, I'm sure there's hardly any traffic on it now. When you mentioned Fiery Jack I went all cold remembering my visit and the strange characters I encountered.
😄 Good old Fiery Jack.
Yeah just railtours and engineering stuff on there in last year.
Ps. Dry now 💧😄
Was there today ...My fav line--feel emotions for this wonderful line... great video.. thanks Gents
Its got such history hasn't it. What a waste.
I have a photo that I took in 1986 from the Stocksbridge bypass as it was being built, clearly showing the footbridge that used to span the track just to the south (Deepcar) side of where the bypass crossed the alignment.
👍 was that footbridge taken down when they built the road?
@@WobblyRunner Shortly afterwards I believe. It was made of crossed iron lattoce sides, wooden planks for the floor, and had curved smoke deflectors protruding from underneath each side.
Lattice, not lattice.
Brilliant video thanx for sharing again Paul.Line should have never closed i can remember the Woodhead electrics and the gantries so many artifacts still about on the old line.
Criminal isn't it in retrospect. I think of all the disused lines I cover, this one is the most baffling given the capacity issues and links between Sheffield and Manchester
Yes when you see all the road traffic we have looking forward to your next adventure. @@WobblyRunner
@@chrischapman7514 I detest and dread any time I have to drive to Manchester. Actually I got the train a few weeks ago. Was a horific journey. I ended up walking back to Romiley down the canal and got on the stopper, just so I didnt have to deal with the TPE or EMT lot.
Fantastic video Paul. Good to see they’ve kept one of the tunnels open. Lots of history to see along this walk, the line was the only main line in the UK with 1.5 kV DC electrification! The class 77s that used to work the line ended up in the Netherlands after the line closed (from memory). Looking forward to the next video, thanks 😊
Cheers David. A great history isn't it. Living in Sheffield all my life, I would love to have been around when the 76s and 77s were working. Hard to imagine now.
Incidentally, I travelled around the Netherlands by train last year. They've got some interesting old stuff still in use, but sadly I don't think the 77s are.
Great video, shame about the weather but top marks for still getting out there and doing it. Can remember years ago when I started doing hill walking, if I'd believed the weather forecast beforehand I'd have never ventured out at all! Proper character building stuff as we say up north.
You're right :) The amount of times it's turned out nicer that forecast. Or the other way around. Turning up in shorts and t-shirt 😆
Reopen the Woodhead Route!
👍
Very tempting to scoot up that line to the steelworks, completely understand why you didn't, tho! Looking forward to the next installment. 👍
Yeah it's very tempting. Maybe in a few years it'll be a free for all.
Lovely soggy video 😁 bet you were hoping that tunnel was a mile or two longer apart from the blandness of it. I really want to get out on that line in some form, perhaps a ride to incorporate it all in one day.
Well worth it. Shame there's the gap in the middle where you have to go over the top all that way
@@WobblyRunner yeah shame about the woodhead tunnel even more so given there's three of them.
I wonder what the longest tunnel is that you can walk through. One of these would be on another level to Headstone