Contributors:
David Hey / Simon Edgerton / Rikj
/ Andrew Stopford
/ David Taylor / Jonathan Arey
See also Leeds & West Yorkshire railway group
website -
http://flickr.com/groups/leedsrailways/ |
The Route
From Batley west junction to Tingley west junction via
Woodkirk,
& from Tingley east junction to Beeston junction.
Length 5 3/4 miles
Opening Batley to Soothill colliery 1887
Batley - Tingley - Beeston 1st August 1890.
Closure Passengers - 27th October 1951.
Freight - Batley to Woodkirk & Tingley to Beeston 4th July1953.
Woodkirk to Tingley 28th June 1964.
(this section remained open to serve
the Woodkirk quarries)
|
 |
Woodkirk & Soothill os 1985
|
 Lady
Ann Road, Batley (01-01-08) : Andrew Stopford
Photo of bridge abutement at Lady Ann Road, Batley. It carried the
Woodkirk line out of Batley and is just after the junction site. |
 Bloomsdale Road, Batley (21-03-08) : Andrew Stopford
Trackbed in use as a footpath behind Bloomsdale Road. Honestly it is!
Looking away from Batley. |
 Bloomsdale Road, Batley (21-03-08) : Andrew Stopford
Line of the branch in front of the red brick houses (Bloomsdale Road)
- Batley Station to the right.
Was there a bridge over this road? |
Soothill Tunnel western portal SE258250
28-01-06 :
Rikj
websites
www.flickr.com/photos/rikj/
http://www.darkplaces.co.uk/
 This is the western portal at SE258250. It is
obviously still in use for something, as the hum of machinery can be heard
inside the well constructed building here.
There have been repeated attempts
to break in, but behind the outer stone skin is a concrete breeze block
wall, then another layer of stone brick!
Our first thought was that this was for draining the tunnel but it may be
that as the tunnel now lies under several million cubic yards of landfill,
it might be to do with gas management. |
Soothill Tunnel eastern portal
SE263249 28-01-06 :
Rikj
 This is the eastern portal of the 659 yard Soothill
Tunnel at grid ref SE263249.
After following the old trackbed from Woodkirk
station you come to the portal.
The track is very wet and muddy, but there
is little standing water. As usual there is a lot of tipped rubbish.
The security gates are unusually well made and access is not possible. Also,
unusually, a newish concrete floor and drainage channels have been laid
inside the entrance to the tunnel.
A set of steep steps (maybe for track workers) lead up to the road from the
portal. |
Woodkirk station
 Opening
1st August 1890.
Closures
passengers -
23rd September 1939.
Freight - 1964.
Woodkirk
station 1968 : Jonathan Arey |
 Woodkirk
station facing south 28-01-06 :
Rikj
The remains of Woodkirk station.
The section of line between Woodkirk & Tingley remained open to serve
the quarries until 1964. |
 Woodkirk station
house (02-07-06) : Andrew Stopford
Remains of Woodkirk station house. |
 Woodkirk
trackbed (n.d) : Jonathan Arey |
Tingley
Station
 Tingley
station 1900 : Jonathan Arey
Opening
1st August 1890.
Closures
passengers - 1st February 1954. Freight - 1964.
A busy junction in its day, situated between four major
towns.
Passengers would change trains here for Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford &
Batley. |
 Tingley
station buildings 1968 :
Simon Edgerton |
 Tingley
station buildings 1968 :
Simon Edgerton
|
 Tingley
station buildings 1968 :
Simon Edgerton
|
 Dewsbury
Road bridge 1968 :
Simon Edgerton
A653 Dewsbury Road, near what is now the road maintenance
depot at the traffic lights
opposite to the entrance to Tingley Gasworks looking down towards Leeds.
(1968) |
 Tingley
signal
box 1968 :
Simon Edgerton
|
 Tingley
signal box 1968 :
Simon Edgerton
|
 Tingley
station
buildings & signal box 1968 :
Simon Edgerton |
 Tingley
Viaduct
Tingley viaduct (02/2005) : David Taylor.
Tingley Viaduct crossing the Ardsley - Leeds line. |
Beeston junction
Beeston
junction 1960s : David Hey Reproduction prohibited
see David Hey's collection
 2-6-4T
heading empty mineral wagons at Beeston Junction.
Today, a modern out-of-town shopping centre occupies the fields on the
extreme left, whilst the post-war pre-fab housing at
Cottingley in the distance has been replaced by high-rise tower blocks.
The outer tracks at Beeston Junction once formed the start of a fly-over
junction with the Batley Branch. |
 Beeston
junction 1980s
: David Hey Reproduction prohibited
The same spot twenty years on, but a view
already consigned to history following the completion of the ECML
electrification scheme connecting Leeds with the main line at Doncaster,
a 3-car Metro-Cammell dmu heads towards Wakefield in 1983. |
 Beeston
junction August 1961 : David Hey
Reproduction prohibited
The 'down' track crossed the main line by a
flyover, which can be seen in the background of this August 1961 shot of
Class A1 60117 Bois Roussel heading a
Leeds-bound goods.
Tingley Gas Works can be seen on the horizon. |
 Beeston
junction
1980s : David Hey Reproduction
prohibited
In the opposite direction, an unidentified Class
40 heads a weed-killing train towards Leeds. |
See
Railway Ramblers gazetteer
