The Woodhead Route. A Transpennine route lost to history

kevsmith Mar 9, 2023

  1. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    It is always difficult to pick on any, one, bad decision made by British Railways over the years since 1948 as there have been so many but the closure of the Woodhead route across the Pennines in England stands out as particularly,er, Stupid.

    So much so that serious consideration is now being given to re-open it.

    I have been showing my fellow Z modellers on my Port Shaughty thread on the progess I'm making on a Z scale Class 76 electric, a loco closely linked with the line, but thought a wider audience might appreciate this overview.

    A pioneering 1500 V DC electrified line that connected Sheffield and the South Yorkshire coalfields with Manchester in Lancashire

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    I'll illustrate it with pictures taken by my dad and myself but sadly I missed lots of opportunities to take a lot more near the time of closure (It was the time of Cars, Girls and Beer!)

    The line was originally built as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire which, with the London extension built later, became better known as the Great Central Railway (GCR). At the grouping after World war 1 the railway became part of the London North Eastern Railway (LNER). After World war 2 when the railways were in a pretty parlous state the LNER was nationalised by the British Government and became part of British Railways

    As this thread go alongs I'll look at how the line went from scenes like this

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    To this

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    where the only running line is the diesel railcar single line to the right that heads to Huddersfield

    More soon

    Kev
     
  2. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Big breath..Here we go with the History

    The line opened in 1845 (Really early) and electrification was mooted by the Great Central Railway very early on as the grades on the eastern side were so onerous for Steam loco haulage. Nothing happened then but the LNER made definitve plans and started erecting masts etc in 1936 before WW2 intervened and the project was shelved again.

    After the war the green light was given but a new twin bore, Woodhead, tunnel needed to be constructed and the work was completd in 1955

    1500V DC electrification was chosen allowing regenerative braking on downhill trains to be used. This was well proven technology in extensive use in the Netherlands and the prototype 76 'Tommy' was sent to Holland to be tested before the line opened

    A class 77 (EM2) on an Hourly 'Clocker' Sheffield-Manchester train

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    The down side was the feed and substations needed to be a lot closer together

    From a photography point of view the masts and caternay are nowhere as obstrusive as they are these days with 25Kv AC equipment

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    The eastern end of the passenger services were at Sheffield Victoria station. On a foul day dad got this class 76 26020, which will come off and the steam loco on the centre road (looks like an LNER B1 4-6-0 to me) will take the train forward to the east coast
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    The eastern end of Victoria where the yards were must have beem fantastic in the 1950 and '60s

    EM2 (Class 77) 27004 and EM1 (Class 76) 26046 wait their next turn

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    more soon

    Kev
     
  3. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    That last pic is classic!(y)
     
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  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    You folks are lucky. Here in the States, once the rails have been lifted, getting them put back is a usually futile effort. :(
     
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  5. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Er, Boss, We done bad....

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    Not the best place to derail. The throat of the west end of Nunnery carriage sidings

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    Under the wires. A brand new class 40 1-Co-Co-1 passes through Wortley in June 1959. D215 was later named Aquitania

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    More soon
     
  6. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    After the EM2 Co-Cos were withdrawn from passenger services on the Woodhead line they went into store before the entire class were sold to the Dutch national rail company NS. They were rebranded as NS 1500 class and had the light clusters upgraded. They retained their Names and nameplates

    Eventually two returned to the U.K for preservation. 2700 a.k.a 1502 'Electra' is at the Midland railway centre at Butterley

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    returned to BR black

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    Last I heard 27001 aka 1505 'Ariadne' is in the Manchester Museum of science and industry


    Of the Class 76s 26020 is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York and a complete cab from 76 039 is stuffed and mounted in the Manchester museum and we had a cabside at Barrow Hill roundhouse

    less fortunate after withdrawal were the three car Class 506 EMUs that worked from Manchester to Hadfield and Glossop

    Seen at Godley Junction
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    I debated whether to include this. we were on a railfanning trip around Manchester when I took this. it was on as Zenit SLR and it's rubbish really but we all had to learn somewhere. I think it was taken at Dinting but memory goes grey along with my hair!

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    Kev
     
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  7. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    Some sad pictures of the remnants of Wadsley Bridge

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    The line is only used for the Stocksbridge Steelworks occasionaly

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    The station served the Hillsborough aea of Sheffield and was busy on Saturdays when Sheffieold Wednesday FC were playing at home

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    Kev
     
  8. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Looks like it was built and well maintained, until recently.:(:unsure:
     
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  9. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    You can't take this picture of Penistone station now. fences, trees and a walking trail have all sprung up snce I took this one

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    Nothing remains of the unique elevated Signal Box

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    I've always been tempted to model this one!

    Kev
     
  10. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    What is the fate of this structure? Abandoned? Preserved?
     
  11. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

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    The main building is now in commercial use

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    The line to Huddersfield is still used. Before the area was gentrified where it passed the Signalbox was pretty desolate.
    Difficult to believe this was once a busy electrified juntion. The Class 142 railcar, which is also now history, is on a Sheffield-Huddersfield local train



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    Just pass the platform in the Huddersfield direction isd the impressive curved viaduct

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    Here is a RARE picture!
    DP2 ,the prototype of the Class 50s used a Deltic type bodyshell with new generation English Electric motor and electronics. Introduced in 1962 it served in regular traffic until it was written off in the Thirsk Accident. Dad only ever took three pictures of it. The OHL is very prominent in this view of Woodburn Junction.

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    Kev
     
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