|
Contributors: ©
Reproduction prohibited /
Andrew Stopford /
Mark Damon Heeley / Patrick Blow / Bernard Coomber / Phill Davison /
Lost Railways |
The Route
From Heaton Lodge, 3 1/2 miles north east of Huddersfield,
on the Calder Valley Main Line
to Stalybridge, via Bradley, Deighton, Huddersfield,
Longwood & Milnsbridge, Golcar, Slaithwaite, Marsden & Diggle.
Openings
Heaton Lodge to Huddersfield 2nd August 1847.
Huddersfield to Stalybridge 1st August 1849.
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 |
Heaton lodge junction
 Heaton lodge junction map 1908
Officially Heckmondwike & Heaton Lodge Junction.
Two short single bore tunnels, take the
Leeds New Line
under the L & Y Calder Valley main line,
forming a flying junction. |
 Heaton Lodge Facing North (c1980)
: Lost Railways
Class 47 passenger at Heaton Lodge joining
onto the Calder Valley mainline, having passed underneath the flying junction.
More tracks & loco hauled passenger trains in those days. |
Bradley
curve
 LNWR boundary marker (17-09-06) : Andrew
Stopford
LNWR boundary marker on the A62 at
Colne Bridge.
Underneath this spot the Bradley Curve, opened originally in 1852,
crosses the A62 in a short tunnel. |
 Huddersfield
Examiner article
Bradley & Cooper Bridge. |
Red Doles
 Red
Doles facing east (c1980) : Lost Railways
The site of Red Doles junction, Fieldhouse bridge
in the background, a 47 hauled passenger on its way to Huddersfield.
Way back in the 12th century this area was used for growing high quality
grass by a method of flooding.
The "doles" were the shares of individual tenants marked out by stones &
the word red is derived from "reed". |
 Red
Doles facing West (c1980) : Lost Railways
The site of Red Doles junction Taken from
Fieldhouse bridge, in the background on above photo, facing towards Huddersfield.
A picturesque 1980s
photo of a 47 hauled passenger on its way to Leeds.
The Newtown goods
track bed can be seen on the right. The bridge over Red Doles road is
just visible in top left. |
Huddersfield station
 Huddersfield
station map (1907) |
 Huddersfield
station (April 1962) : Huddersfield Examiner |
  Head
of Steam (23-02-08) : Lost Railways
Left hand side, the original Lancashire &
Yorkshire booking office. |
  Station
Tavern (23-02-08) : Lost Railways
Right hand side, the original Huddersfield &
Manchester Railway & Canal Company booking office.
(Later taken over by the London & North Western Railway). |
 Huddersfield
station cafe (2005) : Lost Railways
No reason for this photo at all, apart from I think
its a nice wood building. Not many of these left now.
These waiting rooms were built around 1880 when the station was enlarged,
with this new island platform & an overall roof.
The buildings been done up a bit lately, heard a rumour the cafe is to
be closed. |
 Huddersfield
Station (1983) : Mark Damon Heeley
East bound 47 hauled passenger stands on a moist
platform 4. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
East bound 47 hauled passenger rolls into platform
4. |
 Huddersfield
Station (1983) : Mark Damon Heeley
08172 shunter in the parcel bay area. |
 Huddersfield
Station (1983) : Mark Damon Heeley
Bays at the east end of the station for stopping
trains to Leeds & Wakefield. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
Same as above on a soggy Sunday evening. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
A poorly executed photo looking back towards the
station from the end of platform 8. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
West bound 47 passenger awaits the whistle on
platform 1.
47s were standard issue on this stretch back in the 80s. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
Multiple units parked up on the centre roads. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
47 west bound loading up with mail on platform 1. |
 Huddersfield
Station (10-08-03) : Lost Railways
Clagging 47150 Freightliner from Rail Day
10/08/03.
Notice widened platform 1 & no more centre roads. |
 Huddersfield
Station (c1980) : Lost Railways
25 152 loitering on the sidings. |
 Huddersfield
Station (c1980) : Lost Railways
Class 47 east bound passenger approaching platform 8. |
 Huddersfield Station
(c1980) : Lost Railways
Old friend. |
  Huddersfield Station
Royal Scots Grey (24-02-08) : Lost Railways
Night shot 55022, platform 1, return journey
(24-02-08) & Huddersfield Examiner Article (17-01-08).
|
   Huddersfield
Station Examiner Articles (20-06-09) (11-03-10) |
Huddersfield Goods warehouse
 Goods
warehouse facing north (2005) : Lost Railways
Taken from Huddersfield station. This massive building
has been empty for as long as I can remember. Built in 1885 at a cost of
£100,000, five storeys high & very strong, was the largest warehouse in
the country at that date. Walls are red brick with blue brick bands.
Window jambs are blue brick, with blue brick heads & sandstone
Springer's. Wagon lift visible on the right. |
 Goods
warehouse lift facing west (2005) : Lost Railways
The wagon lift taken from Huddersfield station. The
warehouse was a joint L&Y & LNWR venture.
The 30 ton lift, supported on these fancy Doric columns, hauled complete
wagons to the upper floors. |
 Goods
warehouse facing south (2005) : Lost Railways
Photographed from the former goods yard. The building was
designed by the LNWR engineering department. Internally consists of an iron frame, giving the floors a
load bearing capacity of 25 cwt a square yard. Wagons were hauled from
this yard into the building, using a series of capstans.
Wagon lift
visible on the left. |
 Accumulator
facing west (2005) : Lost Railways
The warehouse capstans & lifts were all powered
hydraulically.
To supply the power, this separate plant was built across the other side
of the yard.
It consisted of an engine house used to generate pressure
in a massive hydraulic accumulator
(Big cylindrical tank of water)
housed in that tower on the right. |
    Huddersfield
Examiner articles (20-02-08, 03-03-08, 15-03-08, 27-03-08)
£20 million redevelopment plan due to be
completed in 2009. |
 Huddersfield
Examiner article (28-11-09)
Firm moves into warehouse. |
 Huddersfield
Examiner article (13-05-10)
Work continues. |
 Goods
warehouse entrance (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
Next few shots taken on the St Georges
Project open day.
Entrance driveway from New North Parade. Original cobbles re-laid
down the sides there. Only just finished the day before. |
 Goods
warehouse interior (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
Reception area with nice re-laid wood block
floor. Strong smell of creosote. |
 Goods
warehouse interior (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
Blurb from the parties involved. |
 Goods
warehouse interior (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
Due to the failing light could only manage
some top floor shots, illuminated from the skylights. Massive
floor area. |
 Goods
warehouse interior (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
Staircase seems to go out onto the roof. My
missus & the nice guide lady just visible, miles away, in the
distance. |
 Goods
warehouse interior HD1 office (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
The nice guide lady showed us upstairs of
the office used by the HD1 company. Some tasty veneer & wood
panelling, unfortunately all to be ripped out soon. The office is
situated on the top part of the wagon lift. See next photo. |
 Goods
warehouse wagon lift (28-02-08) : Lost Railways
HD1 offices & wagon lift. Huddersfield
Platform 8 down on the right there. |
Spring Wood Junction
Class 47 Passenger (c1980) : Lost
Railways
 A
47 hauled passenger on its way to Liverpool Lime Street, emerges
from the first Huddersfield tunnel & is about to enter Gledholt
tunnel. The second tunnel on the left was opened on 10th October
1886. Between 1881 & 1883 during track widening, the
recovered stone from the cutting on the left (between the two
tunnels) was used to increase the width of the Huddersfield
viaduct. The tracks veering off to the right are the L&Y Penistone
line. The old building top right is my old school at Spring Grove.
The footbridge I'm standing on was not completed until 1858 after
disputes with the railway company going back to 1848. The tunnel
through Springwood interrupted an ancient right of way from the
top of the town to Paddock Foot. The railway company was required
to have the footpath made passable & to put up & maintain
lights near to the rubbish & holes they had made. |
Paddock
 Class
47 Mail (c1980) : Lost Railways
Class 47 hauled mail train heading west through
Paddock cutting, opening the throttle in here sounds ace.
Evidence of track widening along this section in 1887 on the right hand
side under Church street.
Paddock church visible in the background, the roof tiles are now missing
. |
 Class
47 passenger (c1980) : Lost Railways
Class 47 hauled passenger heading west having
emerged from Paddock cutting & passed under Clough lane.
The incline is about 1 in 100 here. |
 Class
47 passenger (c1980) : Lost Railways
Same view point as above, wider angle lens. |
 Class
25 mail (c1980) : Lost Railways
Same view point as above, long rake of vans for a
25, seems to be managing though. |
Longwood & Milnsbridge
  Class
47 passenger (c1980) : Lost Railways
Same foot bridge as above facing the other way. A
couple of 47 hauled passengers coasting towards Huddersfield past the
site of Longwood & Milnsbridge station. The station was closed on the
7th October 1968. The tracks have been re-laid since these photo's to
smooth out the bend. |
  Peak
& 40 passengers (c1980) : Lost Railways
Same as above with a Peak & a 40. |
 Class
47 Passenger (c1980) : Lost Railways
Class 47 passenger heading west over Milnsbridge
viaduct. |
Longwood Goods
 Class
47 Passenger (c1980) : Lost
Railways
A west bound passenger under Scar lane bridge,
making a bit of smoke for the camera.
The site of Longwood Goods was just beyond the bridge on the right. |
 Class
55 Passenger (c1980) : Lost
Railways
Same place as above & hardly breaking a sweat 55003 Meld drones up the
Colne valley with a Liverpool bound express, .
Always a surprise to see 55s on this line. Meld was one of two loco's
with white window surrounds, the other being 55012 Crepello. Meld worked
up until Christmas 1980 & was cut up for scrap in March 1981. |
Golcar
  Huddersfield
Examiner 05-12-05 & 28-01-08 |
Marsden
 Marsden
station facing west (04-03-06) : Patrick Blow
A special trip organised to celebrate the 175th
anniversary of the opening of the Leeds Liverpool line.
A double header jobbie consisting - in front, Black five No 45407
class 5 MT.
Built in1934 for the L.M.S, weighing in at 72 tons. |
 Marsden
station facing east (04-03-06) : Patrick Blow
Behind, a 1953 class 4 MT No 76079, weighing in at
69 tons, nice. |
Standedge Tunnel
Note : (13-03-10) Mark Damon Heeley
In rail magazine number 638 there's an article about
Leeds to Manchester upgrade this includes a proposal to open the single
bore tunnels at Marsden.
This includes plans to put 4 tracks back up the Colne valley to Marsden
and through to Diggle.
One of the single bores has steel reinforcing where the brickwork bulges
in , it will be removed and repaired so trains can run again.
See Phill Davisons photo below - Central tunnel Supports (12-07-09)
They intend to run 6 semi fast services per hour , between Leeds and
Manchester. Also to put a Manchester bound through line at Dewsbury. |
 Marsden : Bernard Coomber
A westbound freight at tunnel end Marsden about to enter the 3_ mile
long tunnel. |
 Marsden : Bernard Coomber
The westbound freight again entering Standedge tunnel Marsden. |
 Class
47 Passenger (c1980) : Lost Railways
Smokey class 47 passenger exits the twin bore
tunnel at Marsden heading towards Huddersfield. |
The following are Extracts from Phill's Standedge
exploration. See the full set on Phills Blog -
http://blogs.myspace.com/
The South tunnel Diggle end (Nelson tunnel) constructed in 1871
(12-07-09) : Phill Davison
 A
very strange experience awaits!
Little did we know about the strong gusts of wind inside this tunnel,
the vortex type air pressure and thick mist. We weren't expecting the
strange blinking light that seemed to follow us. I've never seen the
glow of daylight from a tunnel entrance switch on and off like it did in
Standedge. Strange things were afoot-but there's more about those
shenanigans later! |
 The
South tunnel (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
Were now peering into the impending gloom from the entrance of the South
tunnel. Three miles of a very long tunnel lie ahead. There is no sign of
the other end 3 miles away! |
 Central
tunnel (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
We were stood in the closed Central tunnel at this point. An oncoming
train was under the hills. I was amazed at the air pressure effect it
created. You could feel the strong wind blow down these adits a good
minute before the train roared past in the live tunnel.
A 'very lively' experience for sure! |
 Connecting
Passage (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
This is a connecting passage between the central, and live railway
tunnel. You could see the canal tunnel below by peering through the
small gap at the side of the stairs. These passage were originally
construction adits, they were dug down to the canal during the
excavation of the rail tunnels. Construction spoil was then transported
away by boat. |
 Air
Shaft (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
This is at the base of the first open air shaft. These shafts were all
between the central and live rail tunnels. Awesome amounts of water
poured continually down these shafts. The sound of water emitting from
deeper within was really quite loud at times. Heavy duty wooden props
have been fitted at the base of this shaft. It reminded me of an old
American Creek mine. |
 Side
passage (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
A few side passages at the Marsden end were bare rock excavation.
Some construction adits had been bricked up, others had been started and
abandoned.
|
 Air
Shaft (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
This is at the base of the third open air shaft. Water again pours down
this shaft like a power shower.
The bright orange is caused by iron contaminating the water. |
 Track
workers 'bothy' (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
Inside the bothy we found an old fireplace complete with chimney stack.
I've heard about these fire places in long tunnels before, but this is
the first time i've ever seen one. Here track gangs working in the
tunnel, would have been able to cook there bacon and eggs and have a
brew. |
 Central
tunnel Supports (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
The central tunnel had these supporting girders fitted near to the
Marsden end.
Extensive work had been undertaken in the South tunnel to strengthen
buckling walls also. |
 Portal
Marsden end (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
The end is in sight at last! The welcome portal of daylight at the
Marsden end awaits!
The mist in the tunnel had started to clear by this time, you can still
see traces of it in the beam of the search light. |
 1871
South tunnel (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
One last shot looking up the tunnel before we reach daylight again. This
is the 1871 South tunnel. |
South tunnel portal (12-07-09) : Phill Davison
 The
It was good to get into the fresh air again, this is the portal for the
South tunnel. It was raining hard when we got to Marsden.
I couldn't manage anymore external shots without getting rain on the
lens. We had a sit down in the tunnel and took a well earned rest. Then
we set off again for the very long 3 mile walk back through the tunnel.
Make sure to see the full
set on Phills Blog -
http://blogs.myspace.com/ |
|
We experienced some strange things
down here, one phenomena we couldn't explain, was the strange flickering
light we saw about 2 miles into the tunnel. At first we thought it was
daylight at the far end. That was until it started to sway from side to
side. We watched it for a bit before we decided it was coming towards
us. It looked like someone was heading our way with a torch. We were a
bit apprenshive about this. But we decided there were four of us, and
one of 'it' |
