| Sheffield,
Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
This line ran from Sheffield to Manchester
via the famous Woodhead tunnel; the line was known as the "Woodhead
Route". The company was one of the founder members of the Manchester,
Sheffield and Lincoln Railway which became the Great Central Railway upon
its extension to
London. The line was electrified with DC to reduce costs.
However, much of the route, including
the tunnel, is now closed.
Following Corus' recent announcement
(29/04/2003) of the closure of Stocksbridge Steelworks the remaining Sheffield
to Deepcar section must be under threat.
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| Survey |
To be entered |
| Engineers |
Joseph
Locke |
| Act |
To be entered |
| Contractors |
To be entered |
| Opened |
To be entered |
| Closed |
Partly |
Manchester to Wath empties entering Penistone.
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Clickable Schematic of route
[Key] |
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Local area
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This line runs from Manchester to its
suburbs, then continued on through a remote area and through the famous Woodhead
Tunnel to Penistone and other small towns before running into Sheffield.
Chronology
Top
Description of route
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From Sheffield to Manchester.
Stocksbridge
Steelworks
Top
Exchange sidings at Deepcar, looking west. |
Stocksbridge Steelworks viewed from above,
looking west. |
The steelworks is still served by rail by the
remaining section of line from Sheffield to Deepcar and then to the Steelworks.
At Deepcar there are exchange sidings on the first part of the branch. One of
the three lines has recently been lifted and it is obvious that there were formerly
many more.
Penistone
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Doncaster to Huddersfield service entering
Penistone. |
Class 47 draws steel flat wagons towards
Sheffield. |
Wath to Manchester train. |
Manchester to Wath empties enter station.
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Penistone looking towards the former junction.
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Peniston station from the junction.
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Penistone station sat in the 'V' of the junction
between the lines to Manchester and Huddersfield. Today the electrified line
to Manchester is closed and lifted - it is now a walkway. The station building
still stands, now used as various shop premises. The line from Barnsley to Huddersfield
remains open to DMUs.
Woodhead
Top
Single bore Woodhead tunnel, looking east
into the tunnel. |
Looking east over the staggered Woodhead
station platforms. |
Looking south over Woodhead station. |
The line is closed at this point and is now
a walkway from here westwards. The two staggered platforms remain here as do
the double track Woodhead tunnel and two original single track Woodhead tunnels.
Roy Peaker told me by email that "The
north tunnel is used to transmit electicity. The cables are laid in a trough
and water cascading down a series of weirs keeps the cables cool. I know because
I travelled on the narrow gauge railway back around 1976 on an IRS trip. I know
the north tunnel is fully lined and the south is only lined where needed. They
are both incredibly straight but was told by an engineer that one of the two
had a slight dog leg in it. I have a booklet the central electrticity generating
board: Newsletter No 82 March 1970, which describes the project."
Page created on 25/03/2002
Page last edited on 18/02/2004
E-mails to: Ewan
Crawford
