Woodhead Route- The final day 17/07/81

[GoTrainspotting]

best railworks route

[Booie1952]

The locomotive bodies outside Reddish Depot were nothing to do with the scapping. They were stripped of their bogies a few years previously for refurbishment to enable Reddish to undertake the "G" exam instead of sending them to Crewe. The breakdown crane from Newton Heath was used to remove the bodies.

[kevleisa]

i clicked like but its so sad to see the end of them

[highwirer]

Amazing. Those opening scenes typified Yorkshire in that period. Sad to see all those 76's lined up for scrap at the end. Interesting to hear my 2 hometowns - Rotherham and Crewe - mentioned as places for scrapping old trains. I knew CF Booth in R'ham well, next to the old station at Masborough. All these classic lines should be refurbed, not just for every day use. Imagine how great it would be if they used Woodhead to regularly showcase old engines from York etc. Magical!!!

[speedemon81]

Reminds me of the scrapping of the 86 class electrics in Australia, to be replaced with 5000hp Diesel's

[Isochest]

@speedemon81 Oil is on the wane. Even if it was not, common sense tells a person to conserve a resource. The same globalist conspiracy in action. A Dumb Action. Where is this world going? We need a revolt against this reassertion of Feudalism.

[easybeat]

@Isochest On the roads much talk is of electric cars. No-one mentions what to do about road haulage. A 44-tonne HGV isn't going to get far on battery power, so what's the alternative?

[G0IMB]

For lorries, the only alternatives is electric trains like these. Let us get back to this kind of transport system.

[MrJezza31]

thank god we still have 1 76 left

[firemanvic36c]

I was a fireman in the 1950s at Frodingham depot-Scunthorpe-and used to take train loads of steel as far as Wath,via the Dearne Valley,sometimes changing over at Mexborough,bringing back empty bogie bolsters,or mineral wagons empty and loaded,and still very keen on steam,but in 1975 became a HGVdriver and driven over A628 hundreds of times,and revisited many places i used to know when on the footplate,i worked for E Thorpe based at Thurgoland,came across this and it jolted my memory

[G0IMB]

@firemanvic36c Good it did this:-))

[firemanvic36c]

@1967nj too true look whats happening again,privatising everything,and making more millionares,all we seem to produce now is bloody wealthy -ankers

[Isochest]

@firemanvic36c Yeah: A few at the expense of us all:-((

[dearne75]

@ssnakula yes you can see it was all planned out.Fiddlers ferry still gets 16 trains a day-all imported coal-while our pits and railways are destroyed probably forever

[Isochest]

@dearne75 I agree that even if our coal was "dear" it is home produced. The bean counters could not stretch their imagination to accounting the benefits of home produced energy to UK Plc. This was to me as a child the kingpin of UK economic policy in the 1970s. Cheap energy: we had cheap electricity and gas and the cheapest petrol/diesel in Europe at this time.

[G0IMB]

@dearne75 This is all part of an agenda rather than a conspiracy. Like the award to Siemens for the cross London trains. Given to Deutschland on a plate, our Government's Job Destruction scheme has been dictated to by their masters at Bilderberg: Our Bankster Fiends:-(

[LOCOMOTIONNUMBER1]

Good old workhorse. They would pull anything up a bloody big hill.

[Bignadim]

Thanks ever so much I will look into Olivia`s website I might even get hold of Hornbys early Intercity 125 in BR blue as had no luck with Model Zone or Hattons even local model shops. so those EM Class 77 are a must Damn Hornby dont make rising pantograph loco`s no more.

[Bignadim]

Also did any go into preservation?

[drgaffa]

@Bignadim, Yes only one, No. 26020(76020) was presevered, I belive its at York NRM.

As to your question if any one makes a model of the EM1 & EM2 (77) classes, Answer yes, Silver Fox models, and I understand that Olivias' models has commissioned Heljan to produce a limited edition of the EM1.

[Booie1952]

@drgaffa 26020 has been preserved it's in the Science Museum in Manchester. The loco was a bit of a celebrity, appearing at the Festival of Britain in 1951 and breaking the tapes at the opening of the New Tunnel. Did you notice 76022 still sporting the "Ferret & Dartboard" Totem. I worked at Reddish from 1973 until its closure. The 76's were buggers to work on, nothing lightweight about them!!

[Booie1952]

@Booie1952 Sorry 26020 is now at York. Originally she was at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. I remember a senior supervisor and a fitter going there to sort the exhibition out.

[Bignadim]

Does anyone make 1:76 scale model of this very nice electric units to run on my predominately Hornby/Bachmann train layout with occassional Heljan running the circuit!!!

[vorlonb3]

I remember seeing these trains in use many years ago, this film brings back a lot of memories. What a shame BR's blinkered 'oh its costing too much lets shut it' policy killed it. A crying shame on all the lives lost building it.

[tolgug]

Good video but very sad to see this line on the brink of destruction.

If it had been in Scotland it would probably have been reopened by now.

[Isochest]

@1967nj Yep, I reckon UK plc is now the Rent Boy's arse of the World: Pimped but not paid. People trafficked & it's body parts stolen to boot. How more low can it go!!!!

[Isochest]

We Brits have a penchant for trashing good infrastructure, possibly because we view things in the short term. Network Rail sees Rail Freight market share rising from the current 11.5% to over 20% of tonne miles over the next quarter century. This will mean a 12 times increase in the number of domestic containers at least, as coal/oil trains will drop off in volume in this period. The Woodhead Route could find itself as the East West highway of Northern England ere long.

[spenner1973]

Fabulous footage of a line that should have never closed. I have personally been campaigning for years for us trans pennine trail users to get the woodhead tunnel opened and put back into use, but somehow over the past 15 years this has fallen upon very deaf ears

[Trapperjohn4077th]

I feel confident that one day the Woodhead route will reopen . I hope this will be in my lifetime !!

[gainsbourg66]

All money and effort over 30yrs gone into the mostly failed Peak Rail line round the corner could, and should have gone into preserving Woodhead. It was a ready made, viable, intact line just waiting to be privatized. Also, Dinting Railway Centre was connected to the route could supply and stable the locomotives. I pleaded with these organisations to make a bid for Woodhead but they just carried on with their own impossible pipe dreams and rubbished the idea. A tourist line between 2 big cities!

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@gainsbourg66 I've written a story about reopening both routes!

[TheMiserablegit]

If the Tories have anything to do with this route they will turn it into a guided busway. There are no profits for their business owning sponsors in running railways.

[Markjuk]

@TheMiserablegit - Umm I think you will find it was LABOUR that didn't want to fund the Cambridge to St Ives rail reopening but were prepared to fund a guided busway. Please get your facts right.

[Isochest]

@Markjuk Now that is a gargantuan Money Waste: 166Million for a concrete monstrosity:-)

[TheMiserablegit]

@Markjuk What facts? I cant get my facts wrong because I didnt quote any. It was just an expression of an opinion. If you need me to get my opinions right you will need to clip electrodes to my head.

[mikegotteri]

All the men that DIED cutting through the moorland from Dunford Bridge to Woodhead & they close the line? :'-(

[trainlover658]

why'd the route close in the first place?

[Isochest]

@trainlover658 because it was a freight only route, they did not need a public enquiry. Originally they did need one and plenty of freight shippers and hauliers objected to line closures. An amendment to the rules "necessary at the time" for our Machiavellian pork Barreled political Cistern

[dampFreddie]

@trainlover658 : I worked with a civil engineer who had been on one of the tunnel relinging projects: it goes through very porous rock, under a very wet moor and without reboring it is hard to keep dry enough for 25KV AC conversion. Ironically, it carries power cables and optic fibres under the penines today! ( also DC was non standard for overhead routes despite being "pioneering" )

[Isochest]

@dampFreddie Even so the Severn Tunnel being a Porous Hole should not present problems for 25kv ac OHLE despite running under the sea for 2 miles. Should be interesting.

[mutt40106]

Really sad film, my dad used to drive the 76ers over the woodhead pass. what a shame they shut the line down especially with a tunnel through the pennines that was far superior than the current line - totley / cowburn etc... Great footage and has brought back many memories. I totally agree with a lot of the comments on this footage about the stupid government not knowing their a**e from there elbow !!!! Thanks for the memories SIOZ68.

[Isochest]

@mutt40106 Yes, the electrified route was and still is the best.

[Isochest]

@mutt40106 I'm sure this route will have to be revived one day. We are at the end of the Oli age.

[Isochest]

@mutt40106 I Bloody Agree:-)))) I think Woodhead should be reopened and both this and the Hope Valley line must be wired. The goonvernment are not interested in anything else but lining their own pockets: True "illuminati" lackeys

[theredraven]

@Isochest I'm confused as to why the government should have anything to do with this. It's not their job to run trains.

[Isochest]

@theredraven What is your motive for replying now? Do I know you?

[theredraven]

@Isochest I want your justification for keeping an entity that lost money for nearly 40 years out of the 49 it was in existence for in state ownership. It's bad enough poor private operators get taxpayer dosh hand over fist.

[Isochest]

@theredraven Well I don't know who I am talking to and I have not seen the open accounts for this route if it was even audited separately. How dare you demand such a thing from me. Something I do not have the figures for: Even if I did I would not give to you: Chutzpah Indeed! Your comments are disgraceful but unsurprising.

[theredraven]

@Isochest Read a decent historical railway journal (Backtrack, Steam Days etc). That's how I know these things. British Railways may have been cuddly but it was exceedingly expensive.

[Isochest]

@theredraven Hmmm? I know.

[Isochest]

@theredraven But they regulate investment in rail. And control Franchises and their length: All important when it comes to deciding on investment

[MrWhothefoxthat]

i new the gent that drove that train littel tommy. is son had the pub in glossop. the manor. he was called cyril he now lives on gamesley. seen lots of pics. he used to take coal into british steel at openshaw manchester in the 60s. bless im

[lhrlyc]

not sure what the first line means ... doesn't seem to make sense ...

[MrWhothefoxthat]

no one mentions the deaths of the men that built that tunnel or how thay lived. there buired in the chapel above crowden. lest we forget.

[Bevoin1970]

Brilliant...!! I just love this old stuff.

[cgrextreme]

i have this footage on a hour long film called "THE WOODHEAD ROUTE" its quite a sad film which shows the demise of the line. what a waste :(

[mondy67]

brings back memories i was in deepcar signal box till the last train at 13yrs old!!!.

Absolute disgusted with the closure of this route, look at the hope valley line nothing but trouble with the cowburn and totley tunnel capacity probs at hazel grove and numerous restrictions round chinley ,this was pure madness and yes they could easily link sheff midland with the woodhead route just build a bridge across the parkway/nunnery square ,well supertram did it!!!.

[pcc19700]

I used to watch the 76s thunderin through Hadfield station when i was a kid,those were the days,also my dad took me to Reddish when they were breaking up the 76s....i found and took home 1 of the 76s control box from the cab kept it in the garage for years until my mum decided to give it to the bin men ;-((...could of been a rich man now,never mind thanks for posting your film it brings back fond memories,cheers.

[v2factoryman]

Great footage bringing back many happy memories. I lived in Reddish as a boy and my grandfather was an instructor on the EM1s and EM2s, although he died when I was only four. I caught his interest in railways and spent many happy hours spotting at Reddish. Happy days with friends wandering around the depot, never got thrown out. It was tolerated provided you behaved sensibly. Would never happen now! Many thanks for posting this.

[Markjuk]

What is the latest on the power lines being diverted through the "newer" tunnel? Has this been allowed to happen? I still think the Labour government is full of it (sh*t), tax us to the hilt on to go "green" yet won't fund project such as reopening this line. Instead chucking money at stupid projects like guided busways.

[soundseeker63]

As far as I know it hasnt happened. National grid may renew the cables in one of the older tunnels.

I totally agree with you. This government has managed to completely avoid putting any real investment into our railways, but has been very quick to introduce punitive measures against motorists and businesses, giving nothing back in return.

The men who gave thier lives building these railways would be turning in their graves if they could see this. Tragic and ironic. People never learn do they :-(

[shineonfloyd]

@soundseeker63 This goverment have'nt a clue think they would shut all the railways down if they have the chance total shite all of em.

[EchoPark69]

@shineonfloyd This goverment???

[shineonfloyd]

Government still shite

[Isochest]

@shineonfloyd Yep!

[jimbojetset2008]

@Markjuk they have put a concrete road down the woodhead tunnel seems a shame as its only for cables

[Markjuk]

I still cannot believe after the mistake made after the beeching cuts of the 60's and continuation by both Labour and Conservative governments until the mid/late 70's that this line disappeared as recent as 1986 (when the line was lifted). The Government should pull its finger out and get this and other major rail lines reopened.

[flanneryged]

Letting this new line go to ruin is perhaps

"the" most shortsighted decision of the last 40 years as far as the Rail network goes.The ammount of Freight which could have been put on Rail in the North West alone is mind-bending.Over 4 million Lorrie journies per year could have been saved if this line had been kept open.Also the dirty tricks department

who advocated it's closure and backed it

up with some very dodgy Maths should be

Horsewhipped.A real tragedy after the struggle to build it

[Trainbuff2008]

Typical UK summer then, this line fasinates me as a rail ethusiast it must have been the first ever electrified line to be torn down. such ashame!

[cleckheatoncentral]

today proven why the Woodhead line is needed now. Freight train break down near Manchester. Sheffield train is now cancelled.

[f8735]

If it where rebuilt then I would also hope it would be electrified throughout. The only problem might be a snarl up as you get into the more clogged parts of the network approaching manchester. A spur through sheffield onto the woodhead from the Midland route would be quite difficult to acheieve though

[Isochest]

4 tracks instead of 2 between Guide Bridge & Ardwick: And some trains originating from Victoria:-))))

[diesfie]

At 06:52 The nameplate says something unreadable and "1947 - 1952".

In the exact those years one of these engine was hired to Dutch State Railways so they could gain experience in Electric Lokomotives for sake of the fast expanding railway- electrification.

Could this be the same engine ??

[Isochest]

This loco went to the Netherlands either before or after WW2 and worked on the Utrecht -Eindhoven main line.

[baconsandwich2007]

It says "Tommy. So named by the drivers of the Netherlands state railway to whom this locomotive was loaned". And yes, that was the original EM1. But because it was "non standard" it was withdrawn in the late 60's/early 70's.

[shineonfloyd]

Managed to get some photos of these in about 1980,81.Saw these in their old guise as E26001/and E27000 back in 1966 at Reddish and Man Picaddily alas no pics then.Another waste of space with our goverment .

[soundseeker63]

This is mad! I used to go gorge walking around here as a kid around 95-99, we used to slide down the weir just a few hundred yards back from where those cars are parked in the opening shot. I had no idea just a few years before I was born this was a major electrified rail line! Almost looks like it was never there now :-( Mad they closed it, so soon after it had been modernised too. Our government never seem to learn. How well used would it be today too!? With the A628 and M62 so overburdened!

[Isochest]

History does repeat itself. This is the future and the future's Bright! :-)) Slow electric freight trains are the future of Road Transport.

[kernowfem]

i believe plans are now in place to re open the woodhead route as a tram link from sheffield to manchester.

[cutterschoicenotmine]

I have this video. I hope they get max line speeds upto 180 in my life time. 125 is the don and 140 I cant wait to ride.

[Isochest]

I've ridden at 140mph between Lisbon & Setúbal on a Pendulino (Portuguese spelling) in 2006. It's worth it (Vale a pena) :-))))

[cleckheatoncentral]

Great comment: but here is the future already proposed even planned by the tories!! HS2 coming from St Pancreas probably most on the Former great central. Possible new station at Leicester/ Nottingham. Carry on to sheffield: must build a new station possibly @ Sheffield Victoria: HS2 then splits with Woodhead to Manchester and a spur to Leeds on old Midland Sheffield Bradford line. (new station @ Leeds central site) Eurostar: Manchester-Sheffield- Nottingham-Paris-Amsterdam/Bru­ssels.

[Isochest]

Well, it needs to be on a new alignment even if it takes the same route because of the speed. Portuguese Railways had to re-build their Algarve line. I've travelled on both, befor & after. Look at the new AGV "Darth Vader" 360km/h EMUs to see how long haul travel shall be. But I'd want the trains to be built in the UK. That is not much to ask.

[john1801rambo]

@cleckheatoncentral - I'll believe that when it happens! If it does it would be great to see Woodhead reopened.

[MK55A]

@cleckheatoncentral HS2, we in our lifetime will not see it, this is just another PR from the Tories, I can tell you now, thousands of surveys have been done on disused lines, but not if any has re-opened. You mention Leeds Central, they were supposed to re-open Leeds Central along with the viaduct at Leeds City in 2000, but the management at the time refused, so again we are stuck with what we have got. Now frieght as basically disappeared from the railways, i should know, i work for them !

[Isochest]

Well, the (Investment) Capital Party is having it's conference here in Manchester and they really haven't got a hope in hell of understanding what damage they've done to UK manufacturing and transport infrastructure (they don't care). They're just looking forward to Directorships for sacrificing the National Interest. HONOUR is a word NEVER saisd nowadays.

[cleckheatoncentral]

If this was in Scotland, the line would be re-opened now. Every line re-opened is an overnight success: Alloa-Sterling, Larkhall-Glasgow, Edinburgh-Tweedbank, Bathgate-Aidrie. Just think...reopening in Main line between Britain's largest cities Manchester-Sheffield:that most mean sucess.

[beeble2003]

@cleckheatoncentral "Every line re-opened is an overnight success" Well, of course they are. That's because they only re-open the lines where demand justifies the cost!

[stuartthegrant]

I would like to understand the logic of closing Woodhead. Too me its insane short sited thinking. Or vested intrests???

[Isochest]

The rules of the day did not allow freight users to object to a line closure: Something our Pathocratic Masters devised! Grate, doesn't it! It's insane, I agree!

[Isochest]

Stinks of both! And yes, The Capital (as in investment money, not Labour (work is a four letter word to them)) Party do stink!

[Isochest]

Both! England is a Rotten Borough!!

[donkeywarmer]

The door from 76 051 is proped up agaisnt a wall at barrow hill engine shed.

[Isochest]

My God! It's 31 years since I saw the inside of the roundhouse at Barrow Hill!

[donkeywarmer]

theres a big event there at the end of august. visit there website for details

[Isochest]

I might be off work then: Could be worth a family visit!

[Isochest]

Ruth Kelly has made a 180 degree U-turn on electrification and the Government on renewable energy. It will be interesting to see after years of Blair: The Plutocrats Mr Fixit. If Brown has the guts to do something positive: like Woodhead reopened complete with 25kv ac catenary with connections to the ECML (and possibly a newly electrified MML) of course!!

[Isochest]

Well, the oil price is on the up and up. My next thing is about feed in tariffs for you & I generating electricity. I'll write to Bev on this one & get the Corporate Rebuff, no doubt. It's interesting feed in tariffs are disliked by big generators but the future is us all generating power on our roofs.

[Isochest]

I got a pussyfooting rebuff on this: Brown is hell bent on us being ripped off by the Dirty Big Six!!

[jh7260]

as teeage train spoteersin early 70's we used to travel from Nottingham to places like Wath Reddish and Penistone to see 76's...something about them i suppose,perhaps because they were different,sad video but v interesting and brings back memories

[cleckheatoncentral]

I have been for a cycle on the old trackbed just outside Hadfield to woodhead tunnel. It must have cost more in demolition than just altering the transformer stations to AC voltage!! What a stupid decision like : "CAN WE SHUT DOWN THE M62 BECAUSE THE ROAD SIGNS ARE THE WRONG COLOUR??"

[lesleytaylor10]

Exactly! I doubt that there are many other European countries who would close down an electrified mainline railway!

[Isochest]

none, I reckon.

[Isochest]

No other European country would do this: We copy the US which is concerned with short term rewarding of company directors who bilk the company they're in charge of at the expense of ordinary shareholders and the general population. ("Venture" (Vulture))Crapitalism at its worst: and I play the markets :-(((( Our politicians call this "Innovative" by the way!

[Isochest]

Spot on: and lets put Warning Lights on cars that exceed 30mph: I'd fit 'em to my car & not moan. My car is not my manhood! :-))

Converting woodhead to 6.25kv as a stopgap would have cost little: The 81-85 locos could have been used and the 76's could have been sold to Nederlanse Spoorwegen: A mutually beneficial situation. I believe because the UK Government were not interested in selling 76s to NS, an electrification scheme in Holland was cancelled.

[HORNEBEEDUBLO]

That is interesting as it says in this video that the NS had no interest in the class 76s.

[HORNEBEEDUBLO]

That is interesting as it says in this video that the NS had no interest in the class 76s.

[lesleytaylor10]

It needs to be remembered that the Woodhead line was costly to run as the electrified section was only about 40 miles long. Freight trains had to be swapped over to diesels at Rotherwood and Mottram yards. The line could have been kept open using diesel traction, which would have been better than closure and maybe it would have been worth re-electrifying to 25KV in later years when the line once again handled more traffic. A class 323 Manchester-Sheffield service could have been another plus.

[GWR1940]

Shut the M62 and re-open the woodhead!

this country went wrong somewhere,why did this happen,

Bring back this famous route,the North needs this

[Isochest]

Spot on! Wot, no oil!

[Isochest]

I'd love to give it a go just to give the petrolheads and the MOD nukeheads (those who are stopping windfarms and tidal generation) food for thought!The status quo is not the product of consensus but of subversion! Shut the M62 just for that!

[Isochest]

That would be what I would have done: Change alternate substations (Newton, Dunford, Lewden Crossing, Wharncliffe Wood, Orgreave)to 6.25kv ac: Use clases 81-85 (equipped for this) and flogged the 76s to Nederlanse Spoorwegen. Sadly, rational, constructive thinking is not a part of the politics here. We are sadly familiar with Machiavellianism, the politics of Sociopaths.

[GWR1940]

Hello,yes the Hadfield/Glossop section is still there,i understand this to have been altered to 25kv,it was an excuse!

it wasn't worn out at all,the system could have lasted years,it's just a crime when they closed the woodhead,

[lesleytaylor10]

Yes, the last class 506 1500VDC EMUs run on the line for the last time, one Friday in 1984. The conversion of the line to 25KV AC was completed that weekend and class 303s served the route from the following Monday.

[lesleytaylor10]

Yes, the last class 506 1500VDC EMUs run on the line for the last time, one Friday in 1984. The conversion of the line to 25KV AC was completed that weekend and class 303s served the route from the following Monday.

[lesleytaylor10]

Yes, the last class 506 1500VDC EMUs run on the line for the last time, one Friday in 1984. The conversion of the line to 25KV AC was completed that weekend and class 303s served the route from the following Monday.

[lesleytaylor10]

Yes, the last class 506 1500VDC EMUs run on the line for the last time, one Friday in 1984. The conversion of the line to 25KV AC was completed that weekend and class 303s served the route from the following Monday.

[Isochest]

Spot on! The same excuse was used for the Milwaukee Road De-electrification in the US: That railway went into oblivion after that event just after the first oil crisis. Their maintenance costs more than doubled: Line speeds dropped etc... Don't expect politicians to learn: They're just Status Monkeys, looking out for themselves for the moment: True Psychopaths/Sociopaths: Not real Altruistic Human Beings :-)))

[lesleytaylor10]

One of the feeble excuses for closure was that the overhead line equipment was worn out. This is rubbish as the surviving Manchester Piccadilly to Glossop/Hadfield section uses most of the original equipment with all the insulators changed for 25KV operation.

[lewisner]

Its ironic that part of the Arriva bid for the Transpennine franchise 4 years ago included reopening the Woodhead route.The bid was rejected of course.

[Isochest]

This is the way our "élite" think: The British way in their view is to "fix" something that works by breaking it. These people trashed our rail infrastructure and our manufacturing industry. The mainstream political parties have demonstrated they are no friends of the railways and continue to do so. European countries are preparing themselves for the imminent oil crash but the Grate & the Gord do otherwise! :-(((

[DroylsdenGaz]

My Dad used to work on the 76's @ Reddish depot and I would spend many Sunday afternoon sat in the cab of one whilst he was working (imagine that these days!) The route holds significant memories for me and it angers me to think that the journey from Manc to Sheff would take just over 30 mins compared with 50 mins these days. Is that progress? Sadly, I think it's just a pipe dream believe it will open again...

[Isochest]

The drivers and maintenance staff at Reddish were spot on lovely people: They'd go out of their way to guide you round the depot and would escort you and warn you of any loco movements: A common sense approach to running an efficient sustainable transport link: Roll on the Oil Crash and the end to Pathocracy!

[Isochest]

@DroylsdenGaz Sounds wholesome to me. The old culture was that of underpaid but passionate easy going rail staff who'd bend over backward for railfans. The staff at Reddish back in 1977 were real Gentlemen. Glad to see the pay has gone up but don't fancy my chances of getting in any depot

[cleckheatoncentral]

what a shame, a crime against all people of the north. How could an electric railway between two major cities be scrapped? I think we shall never see it re-opened (thanks National grid- they probably shot themselves in the foot- a reopened electic line would do more business from them!) As the guy said what a awful carry on !

[Isochest]

It shows England is London-Centric Rotten Borough: The Capital Party under Brown want it to stay that way. The SNP in Scotland are a spike in the side of the Corporatist Gordon Brown!

[Isochest]

An excellent film covering a national disgrace. More power to the overhead wires!/Um filme excellente cobrando uma vergonha nacional. Mais força às catenárias!

[GWR1940]

Great film,

what a waste this was!

the line would have paid now!blame the Goverment

only ever saw a passenger excursion coming out of Woodhead tunnel ,at the Dunford end

just before the line closed

Kind Regards

Andrew

[lesleytaylor10]

The line should have been kept open at the time using diesel traction to keep costs down. It was an excellent diversionery route.

Upgrading to 25KV may have been justifiable in later years.

[realbrrring]

I'd only want it to reopen if they rebuilt the 76s too. Wouldn't be the same with a 66!

[lesleytaylor10]

That wouldn't be very practical! The line if re-opened and electrified would be nice served with a class 323 Manchester to Sheffield EMU service.

[Isochest]

Well, it's got to be electric anyway nowadays: there will be virtually no fossil oil in 40 years time according to estimates by BP!!

[baconsandwich2007]

I want this line re-opened, and I want it now!!! Bloody shame it was shut in the first place.

[zontargoesforth]

my dad worked in torside and woodhead signal box he used to take me along when i was a kid ,memorys of something i havent seen for nearly 30yrs ,now then if this video intrests you ,write to your mp and demand an inquiry as the line eventhough taken up is about to be lost for ever due to the national grid siting power cables though the 1954 tunnel

[parallelepipete]

I wrote to Ann Coffey about this in December (2007), and I'm still waiting for a reply in May. She has a reputation for not bothering to reply to constituents' letters - hope yours is a bit more diligent!

[Isochest]

Jesus Christ! That's worse than my MP Bev Hughes. As a fan of electric traction , if I were you I'd type in "Rail Electrification in Sweden", a video on edshult's channel. To look at a 1940s video & see how cheap cheerful & easy rail electrification really is. Bugger the Oilwash! Peak Oil is here!

[jaygleeson]

I think the narrators final words in this video sums its all up. Criminal this was shut. Especially now where extra capacity is needed!

[petereaton1]

Great Video.

Thanks for showing.

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