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Copley & Greetland to Low Moor
1849 - Present
Lancashire & Yorkshire railway
Contributors:  © Reproduction prohibited / Bernard Coomber / Michael Kaye / Andrew Stopford / David Taylor / Michael Bradley / Dave Heatley
                  John Sutcliffe / Bob Cockcroft / David Walbank / Michael Kaye / Alan S Bagot / Paul Holroyd / Charles Boylan  / Malcolm Mallison / David Webdale
The Routes
From Greetland junction to Low Moor,
via Halifax Shaw Syke, Halifax Old station, Hipperholme, Lightcliffe, Wyke & Norwood Green.
Also Dryclough junction to Milner Royd junction, via Copley.

Lengths
Low Moor to Halifax section - 5 1/4 miles.
Dryclough junction to Milner Royd junction - 2 3/4 miles.
Greetland junction to Halifax Shaw Syke - 1 3/4 miles.

Original Companies
Greetland junction to Halifax Shaw Syke was opened by the Manchester and Leeds Railway.
Low Moor to Halifax & Dryclough junction to Milner Royd junction were opened by the  L&Y.
The Manchester & Leeds became the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway in 1847.

Openings
Low Moor to Halifax - August 1850.
Dryclough junction to Milner Royd junction - 1st January 1852.
Greetland junction to Halifax Shaw Syke - 1844













Copley
11
Hipperholme
12 Lightcliffe
13 Wyke & Norwood Green

Milner Royd Junction

Milner Royd Junction (23-04-85) : Michael Kaye
We are approaching Milner Royd Junction on the 'Up line' from Halifax, the lines coming in from the left are from Elland & Greetland, 23rd April 1985.
Calder valley Milner Royd junction signal box 18-03-06 : Alan S Bagot
Happily, not yet lost. Situated near Sowerby Bridge on the junction of the L & Y Halifax line.
Calder valley Milner Royd junction signal box 18-03-06 : Alan S Bagot
Interior.
Calder valley Milner Royd junction signal box 18-03-06 : Alan S Bagot
Interior.

Copley
Opened 11-1855. Closed 20-07-1931.
Copley station entrance (13-08-06) : Andrew Stopford
On the Copley - Low Moor line between Halifax & Sowerby Bridge.

Greetland
Opened 07-1844. Closed 08-09-1962.
Greetland map (1890) : Malcolm Mallison
6 inch maps from the 1890 survey.
Greetland : Bernard Coomber
Class 8F at Greetland with coal empties for Healey Mills flat top Greetland signal box in the background.

Shaw Syke station
Opened 1844. Closed ?

Shaw Syke goods (16-12-07) : Andrew Stopford
Built on the south side of Halifax station on the L&Y Sowerby Bridge, Halifax & Bradford line.
Opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1844.
Shaw Syke goods (16-12-07) : Andrew Stopford
The old Shaw Syke goods/parcels station which looks like its about to fall down or be pushed!
Shaw Syke goods (04-03-10) : David Taylor
Following site clearance the GNR warehouse is visible in the distance. See next photo.
 
GNR warehouse (04-03-10) : David Taylor
GNR warehouse west elevation.
 
Shaw Syke goods (04-03-10) : David Taylor
Yesterday I noticed that work seemed to have started on clearing the site of the Shaw Syke Goods Yard for the proposed car park which was announced last year.
Shaw Syke goods (04-03-10) : David Taylor
I went down today with my camera and they are well on with clearing the site of the sidings and yard, sets piled up, but the good news is the contractor told me the building has very recently been Listed and so they cannot now demolish as originally intended.
Shaw Syke goods (27-03-11) : David Taylor
Sorry to say that part of the roof has now collapsed. It was listed last year shortly before proposed demolition but nonetheless I doubt there will be the money to repair it. It's now owned by the Eureka, the National Children's Museum.
Shaw Syke goods (18-05-11) : Michael Bradley
Article from the Halifax Courier Wednesday 18th May 2011 regarding the current state of the former working horse museum.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
South Parade Goods yard Halifax, formerly the “Working at Horses Museum”. The site was quite extensive survival of railway infrastructure up to the past couple of years when the two road open good shed was pulled down for safety reasons. The good shed itself was of Lancashire and Yorkshire origin and was connected up to the sole remaining siding which runs alongside in the yard to the Husnlet 0-4-0 and MK 2 coach which rests as a picnic and lunch are for visitors to Eureka.

Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The Lancashire and Yorkshire good shed formerly the "Horses at Work Museum" in Halifax.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
View of the building from the water lane side pointing north towards the railway station.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
A view of the entrance to the good shed with the intact railway infrastructure before the contractors arrived on site.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
View of the entrance with the track work removed.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
View of the entrance with the track work removed up to approximately 1.5m from the building.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
A close up shot.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The sole remaining siding (now filled in) i believe
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The three way point that connected once all three sidings together, one of the last few photographs of this in place.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The tracked where the point which joined the shed road to the sidings has now been cut short.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
Track removal in progress with the gate posts which formed a gate which ran alongside the open good shed can still be seen.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The view from the 4 foot standing where the good shed road once was.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
Another photo of the point underneath mud and dirt.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
View of the yard
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
Another view of the yard looking in the direction of water lane and the site of Shaw Syke station.
Shaw Syke goods (09-03-10) : Michael Bradley
The rest of the point is hidden in the undergrowth which links to the siding which the Hunslet 0-4-0 and Mark 2 coach stand one.
Shaw Syke goods (06-04-11) : Michael Bradley
General views of the goods shed.
Shaw Syke goods (06-04-11) : Michael Bradley
Close ups of the collapsed roof.
Shaw Syke goods (06-04-11) : Michael Bradley
A  rare view of the interior.
Shaw Syke goods (06-04-11) : Michael Bradley
Maps from the late 19th century. See old maps here -  www.old-maps.co.uk/maps.html

Halifax Old Station

Opened 1855.
Halifax Station (11-81, 08-82) : Dave Heatley

B&W photo taken in Nov ’81 – GN platform being demolished and track recently lifted into freight sidings.
Second photo taken in Aug 1982 showing the bus museum parked out in the open before moving to Low Moor.
Halifax Town Crier Newspaper article
www.halifaxuk.co.uk
Halifax Station (1981) : Dave Heatley
Class25 25125 dragging a failed DMU to Bradford – Hammond St Depot perhaps.
Halifax Station (16-12-07) : Andrew Stopford
Shot of Halifax Station & disused platforms.

 
Coal drops facing south (30-04-06) : David Webdale
Next to the existing Halifax Old station these massive coal drops. The stub of the viaduct to North bridge to the left of coal drops.
The still in use viaduct leading off to Beacon Hill on the far left.

Note : Brandon Hatzer
The coal drops in Halifax are listed Grade II  http://www.calderdale.gov.uk/environment/conservation/listedbuildings/

The description reads - Coal drops. 1874. Built for the Ovenden and Halifax Junction Railway Co. Rock-faced ashlar with wooden bunkers. 15 wooden bunkers each supported between stone piers and to the north an open shed, with beyond a battered wall topped with a parapet. These coal drops are built into the slopping hillside. Each wooden bunker has 2 metal doors which were raised on an iron ratchet geared pulley system. This is a rare and large scale example of railway coaldrops.

I understand if you've already seen this or already know this but hearing it from my Council pretty much asserts they are listed, and so they should be! Better than being knocked down or being converted into flats like every other memory!
Coal drops building facing west 22-04-06 : David Webdale
Little building survives in the corner of the car park above the coal drops.
 

Hipperholme station
Opened 17-08-1850. Closed 08-06-1953. Freight 1966.
Hipperholme station (18-08-12) : David Webdale
The site of Hipperholme station, photographed from Station road bridge facing east.
The bridge parapets here are massive metal things about 10 feet high. I had to stand on the bonnet of my van to get this photo.

Lightcliffe station
Opened 17-08-1850. Closed 14-06-1965.
Lightcliffe station map (1890) : Malcolm Mallison
6 inch maps from the 1890 survey.
Lightcliffe station (1920s) : Charles Boylan
Postcard by the long defunct firm of Lilywhite of Lightcliffe station. I purchased this in 1966 when Lightcliffe station was being demolished from the newsagents across the road from the station. The card from inspection appears to date from early LMS days probably in the 1920's.
Lightcliffe station newspaper cutting (10_06-1965) : Charles Boylan
This is a news cutting from the Halifax Courier about the closure of Lightcliffe Station and the departure of the last train on Saturday 10th June 1965. It appeared in a following weeks edition.
Lightcliffe signal box (09-1974) : Charles Boylan
I have just discovered these pictures I took of Lightcliffe signalbox in September 1974 after its closure.
I don't know its closure date but it was open in July 1970 when I was on the Bradford-Poole train which was stopped there by a preceding train (How cruel to have to spend 5 minutes at the site of your demolished local station!). The signal posts had already been removed and the signal box was demolished shortly afterwards. It also had been repainted just a few years previously. The pictures are taken on an "instamatic" and transferred from slides.
Lightcliffe station (18-08-12) : David Webdale
Photographed from Coach road bridge facing west, just visible behind the footbridge in the above postcard picture.
The house roof just visible on the right behind the trees is on Park close, this was the site of the goods yard. Incidentally, a few hundred yards further down Coach road was Crow Nest house where Titus Salt lived. Tutus was instrumental in the building of a station here & would bring his workers to Lightcliffe for a day in the country. Apparently Crow Nest house was used for Italian prisoners of war back in the 1940s.
Lightcliffe station entrance (18-08-12) : David Webdale
Facing west down Wakefield road, the passenger entrance to the station is just visible on the left, see close up next photo. Further down on the left, by the wooden fencing, is the entrance to Park close built on the site of the goods yard & that's my missus hiding behind that post.
Lightcliffe station entrance (13-08-06) : Andrew Stopford
On the Copley - Low Moor line. Lightcliffe Station entrance from Wakefield Road (almost opposite the Post Office)
Note :
David Webdale
When I was there, in August 2012, I could not see a post office, just some boarded up buildings, something else that's become lost.
Halifax Lightcliffe handbill (1958) : Charles Boylan
A very tatty handbill I found when emptying my parents house which I scanned before it completely disintegrates.
Footbridge facing N East (28-03-04) David Webdale
Taken from a footbridge over the Halifax - Bradford line, facing toward Wyke & Norwood Green station.
The Pickle Bridge line branched off to the right, at the point where the sun goes into shadow, spooky. see photo below.

Pickle Bridge station (Junction House)   See Pickle Bridge line
Opened 17-08-1850. Renamed Wke station 1852. Closed 1896 & new station opened at Wyke & Norwood Green.
Junction House facing East (28-03-04) David Webdale
Don't know much about this building, apparently it was the original Pickle bridge station, situated next to the junction.
Junction House facing  S West (28-03-04) David Webdale
View from Station road. Junction House visible on the right. Footbridge in the distance.

Wyke & Norwood Green
Opened 1896. Closed 09-1953.
Wyke station map (1890) : Malcolm Mallison
6 inch maps from the 1890 survey.
Wyke & Norwood Green North (28-03-04) : David Webdale
Stone buildings & platforms, access from Station road. Behind was a covered footbridge leading down to both platforms.
From old photos I've seen it looks as though the booking office was situated at road level directly above the tracks.

Low Moor
Opened 18-07-1848. Closed 14-06-1965. Freight 1967.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
The new Low Moor station taking shape Tuesday 22 March 2016. The new station is built to the west of the old station site. The new station is built to the west of the Cleckheaton Road bridge, adjacent to the where top of the triangular railway junction to Cleckheaton used to be. In this photo the Cleckheaton Road bridge is just out of shot – to the left of the photo. You can see the Spen Valley Greenway footpath behind the green fence, between the blue vehicle and the lift shaft for the new station. The building with the yellow doors in the centre of the photo used to house the buses and trolleybuses of the ill-fated Transperience visitor attraction.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
The new Low Moor station taking shape Tuesday 22 March 2016.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
The new Low Moor station taking shape Tuesday 22 March 2016.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
Looking towards Halifax. You can see the Spen Valley Greenway footpath in front of the green fence, curving round towards Clecheaton.
The Cleckheaton Road bridge is out of camera shot, just to the right of the photo.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
A Class 158 DMU passes under the Cleckheaton Road bridge on its way to Halifax.
The new Low Moor station (22-03-16) : Paul Holroyd
Low Moor leaflets
Transperience (07-10-84) : Paul Holroyd
Before the ill-fated Transperience opened at Low Moor.
The West Yorkshire Transport Museum Trust held its first public open day at the former Ludlam Street bus garage in Bradford on 7th October 1984.
Low Moor station sign (18-02 10) : Paul Holroyd
Original sign from Low Moor station. Photographed 18 Feb 2010 at Bradford Industrial Museum, Moorside Mills.
Telegraph & Argus The re opening of Low Moor station.
Plans to build a new rail station in south Bradford appear to have escaped Government spending cuts. Fears had been growing
for the future of Low Moor station amid a backdrop of Department for Transport funding reductions. Click here to see article.
Telegraph & Argus (19-05-13) : c/o Paul Holroyd
Bradford's Low Moor railway station project sidelined. Click here to see article.
Halifax, Queensbury, Low Moor & Wyke map (1843) : John Sutcliffe
One inch to the mile map showing Sowerby Bridge in the west and Dewsbury in the east. Published by Col. Colby dated 1843.
(This file size is about 1.4 meg, so it may take a while to download)
Great Northern Railway Low Moor to Dudley Hill : Bob Cockcroft
Note :
The goods shed is an unusual GN building made of stone in about 1892 when the Dudley Hill line was opened. The building is on two levels with storage and some access at the basement level. The rail level was on the first floor and was accessed by an inclined road in to the goods yard. It was never greatly used as a railway site and most local traders were based in the much older LY facility adjacently to it. No trace remains of the LY facilities, but the GN goods depot is occupied by a precision carpenter who builds staircases and large wooden constructions for older buildings as well as for new using pretty fancy technology. The GN goods shed is in very good condition. The only other surviving building is the water meter shed in the yard entrance, it may also have included gas access as well. The signal box went a long time ago (possibly not long after the time the main line was lifted in 1917), the weighbridge some time later (maybe when the yard became disused - accounts vary between 1921 and 1933) and the stable, unusually T shaped, some time between 1948 and 1980.
2-6-4 Tank : Bernard Coomber
2-6-4 Tank loco heads for Halifax out of Low Moor.
2-6-4 Tank : Bernard Coomber
2-6-4 Tank loco stood at Low Moor west box.
Austerity : Bernard Coomber
Austerity class loco shunts empty carriage stock on Low Moor triangle.
Jubilee : Bernard Coomber
Jubilee class No 45565 'Victoria' at Low Moor MPD.
2-6-4 Tank : Bernard Coomber
Tank loco 2-6-4 with a Bradford bound local at Low Moor.
2-6-4 Tank : Bernard Coomber
Tank loco 2-6-4 approaching Low Moor station bound for Halifax on a local stopper.
Low Moor shed (25-04-1962) : Bernard Coomber collection
Photo taken 25 April 1962 this shot is taken of ex LNER B1 class loco number 61386 standing outside Low Moor shed.
Low Moor (13-05-1962) : Bernard Coomber collection
Photo taken 13 May 1962 showing a Bradford bound double-headed excursion train approaching Low Moor station,
the two loco's are ex LMS jubilee class numbers 45562 'Alberta' leading 45695 'Minotaur'.
Transperience 27 May 2006 : Paul Holroyd  see Transperience
The remains of Transperience - West Yorkshire Transport Discovery Park. The yellow building with the dome used to be the Exploratory. Behind the former Transperience Transport Discovery Park, a frequent train service still operates over the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Bradford to Halifax route.
Transperience 27 May 2006 : Paul Holroyd
The remains of Transperience. The Bradford to Halifax main line is at the front of the picture. You can just make out the Transperience tram line curving away towards Cleckheaton. The Exploratory building is to the right of the picture, hidden by the trees.
Low Moor Cleckheaton line 21-08-83 Alan S Bagot
The line curves round from Low Moor towards Cleckheaton.
Low Moor bridge : David Walbank
A bridge that stands in the middle of a field were Low Moor was.
Low Moor No2 west box (28-08-83) Alan S Bagot / Paul Holroyd
During Autumn 1961 the Heckmondwike-Low Moor route was regularly used by London to Leeds and Harrogate trains which were diverted because of engineering work. On 8th October 1961 Deltic diesel no. D 9009 Alycidon worked the 10.10 Leeds – King’s Cross over the route.29th October 1961 saw Deltic diesel no. D 9012 Crepello, class A4 pacific no. 60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower, B1 no 61016 Inyala and B1 no 61135 traverse the route.
Low Moor No 2 Signalbox (25-04-88) : Michael Kaye   see Cabride
We are on the 'Up' line heading towards Halifax and are about to pass Low Moor No; 2 Signalbox, the bridge was once a level crossing and the station was located here to..the line on the left was the remains of a passenger loop and of course it once took you to Thornhill, 25th April 1988
Low Moor signal box boards : Paul Holroyd  31-01-07  website - www.vintagecarriagestrust.org
Boards from Low Moor No 2 East and No 5 signal boxes, currently on display in the Museum of Rail Travel, Ingrow near Keighley.
Click here to see selection of railway tickets & handbills.

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