Woodhead Route- Kendal Green LC to Barnsley Jct.

DMU cab ride on the Wath Branch

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• woodhead
• railway
• route
• train
• EM2
• 76
• Wath
• branch
• DMU
• cab

[cleckheatoncentral]

This is a double track electric railway serving a huge population and excellent situation for a Europort type container good yards with the M1. So why was it shut down in 1981??? It makes no logical sense! Bring the lot back!

[kathodenstrahl45]

cool!

[Isochest]

@andythesoupdragon Yeah and you get these buggers up your arse. If I did 55mph in a 40 zone, the Porkies would be pulling me up to give me a bloody stuffing. Still I've heard some good tales off friends who are bike couriers who have set up such folk for speed traps

[Manofkent77]

any possibility yet that they might re-open the two Silkstone tunnels as part of the Dove Valley trail path?

[andythesoupdragon]

@MK55A It's fortunate the British loading guage is so tight,otherwise there'd be alot more railways converted into motorways. Some of the road lobby still seem to think they'd be able to run express coaches on these routes at 100MPH or more. Having been tailgated by a Scottish citylink coach at 55MPH in a 40 zone (mostly the A8 past Edinburgh airport) countless times illustrates the idiocy of coach transport

[tolgug]

Shortest and best route between Manchester and Sheffield...

...hard to believe it was just thrown away like an old fag packet.

Shame on BR! Shame on the politicians!

[MK55A]

@cleckheatoncentral I can tell you why it was shut down ! because the Tory party closed it, then they went to close the mines, In which they did and in 1984 they were going to come back to us,(BR) in fact they shut part of the Midland Main (Cudworth) and now they are in again, they will finish the lot off

[Isochest]

@cleckheatoncentral It makes no sense. To what kind of mind does the closure of woodhead and its continued closure make sense to? Those that govern have minds that make them unfit to govern, yet they seek this power.

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@cleckheatoncentral I think you mean 'was', not 'is'!

Anyway, I agree with you - I mean, even Beeching wanted to keep it open! (Mind you, it'll never happen in the current economic climate!)

[ewsiscrap]

The only level stretch on this railway is the 1 mile stretch for Stocksmoor to Borckholes tunnel.

One of the last engineering trains I worked was to slew the railway through that tunnel into the middle.

In Dec 1987 to May 1988 I worked 17 engineers trains up the branch.

Quite alot were in Brockholes Tunnel pointing the tunnel roof.

We has a Class 31 which was so smoky we had to take the engine off the train and park it in BH station

This job was 9T34 1730 to 0230. 7/12/1987, all week.

[Ropponmatsu2]

I live in near Brockholes, it's a miracle the line has survived. 45 Minutes to get up to Penistone! God almighty.

I can see how the reversal at Nunnery Jct. kills the service dead, but I had visions that it took maybe 30 at most, based on the fact that it took about 20 in the days of the Victoria services.

Having looked at books on this route, the gradients are actually pretty serious by railway standards and so a regular DMU is out of puff at 40mph, but still, that's surprising, thanks.

[ewsiscrap]

The drivers called 4 car/engine units " Dredgers. "

Now nearly all the trains are packed both ways and it is popular with passenger cos the trains run to time(Almost)

We singled the line from Stocksmoor to Huddersfield in the early 1990's. The track is doubled from Stocksmoor to CW Jct. This allows the trains to pass each other at Shepley Station. The road to PS is single line, with electronic token less block signaling.

I have worked Green Party Charter trains over this route