Holmfirth Branch Line
Encyclopedia
The Holmfirth Branch Line is a disused railway line that ran for 2 miles (3.2 km) from Brockholes
to Holmfirth
, in West Yorkshire
, England
. The line was built as double track
as there were plans to extend the line up the Holme Valley
.
company. It was due to open on 24 June 1850 but problems meant this was delayed until 1 July 1850, when the first train left Holmfirth at 11:25 a.m. In the first week of operation 1,869 tickets were sold at Holmfirth, along with another 674 at the intermediate station of Thongsbridge.
Extension to the line were proposed on a number of occasions, none of which saw any progress. Parliamentary authority was granted for a scheme in 1847, before the line was opened, which was costed at £56,000, however the powers lapsed in 1852 without any progress. One proposal was to extend the line up the Holme Valley, tunnel under Holme Moss
, and connect with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
.
near Brockholes railway station
and headed south across Mytholmbridge Viaduct before reaching Thongsbridge station, then continued to Holmfirth station
.
had been replaced by timber trestle which was damaged by winds during construction. In an attempt to reassure the public of the safety of this and the Denby Dale
viaduct, L&YR appointed Robert Stephenson
to produce a report on the structure, published 16 September 1851, in which he concluded that "both structures are perfectly safe".
Despite petitions calling for its replacement, it remained in place until 1865 when the L&YR finally commissioned a stone
replacement. This too collapsed during construction on 3 December 1865, taking the trestle with it. This closed the line until 11 March 1867 when the 13 arch stone viaduct was completed.
bound platform. This layout was criticised by the Board of Trade
after a number of accidents involving passengers.
In 1893 the L&YR commissioned Robert Leak & Co to build a new platform opposite the station buildings and increase the gap between the running lines from 5ft 9in to the standard 6ft gauge.
1901 saw the Huddersfield bound platform heightened, a new two storey booking office constructed, and an iron-lattice footbridge built across the line. The goods yard was also extended. Initially this was just a single loop of the Huddersfield bound line but this was improved by providing sidings on the site of the old Holmfirth bound platform. This meant that the yard covered both sides of the line and a cart way was built between the two to provide access.
In August 1852 the station was the location of a narrowly avoided rail accident, involving a Hull
to Holmfirth train. Due to the slight gradient between Thongsbridge and Holmfirth, half of the carriages became detached from the rest of the train which then continued to Holmfirth. Whilst the detached carriages remained in the station, the station guard spotted another train approaching at speed. He signalled to the driver of the train to stop which it did just 12 inches from the carriages.
L&YR installed a 45ft turntable at the station in March 1883. It was removed in 1938 as Fowler 2-6-4T
s were causing it to deteriorate. Following the removal, most trains operated tender
forward to Holmfirth and smokebox
forward back.
2-4-2Ts were introduced.
Freight trains during the early part of the 20th century were hauled by L&YR 'A' class 0-6-0Ts and 0-8-0s. The principal traffic was coal coming into the area and woollen goods taken out.
Following the Holmfirth Flood
in 1852, sightseeing trains brought passengers to the town to see the devastation for themselves.
, was one of the first antecedents of a decrease in traffic on the line. Increased competition from buses reduced revenues further and closure of the line was announced for 31 October 1959. The last passenger trains were 2-6-4Ts numbers 42116 and 42413.
The line was dismantled in 1966 and the Holmfirth booking office was soon to be demolished. The booking office site later became Kingdom Hall, a Jehovah's Witnesses
church, which was built during one weekend in August 1985 by 2,500 volunteers.
Mytholmbridge Viaduct was demolished in 1976.
Brockholes
Brockholes is a small village in West Yorkshire, England in the administrative area of Kirklees Metropolitan Council and Holme Valley Parish Council. It is within the Postal district of Holmfirth....
to Holmfirth
Holmfirth
Holmfirth is a small town located on the A6024 Woodhead Road in the Holme Valley, within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Centred upon the confluence of the Holme and Ribble rivers, Holmfirth is south of Huddersfield and from Glossop. It mostly consists of...
, in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The line was built as double track
Double track
A double track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single track railway where trains in both directions share the same track.- Overview :...
as there were plans to extend the line up the Holme Valley
Holme Valley
Holme Valley is a large civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 25,049 . Its administrative centre is in Holmfirth. Other sizeable settlements in the parish include, Brockholes, Honley and New Mill...
.
Construction
The Holmfirth branch was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire RailwayLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
company. It was due to open on 24 June 1850 but problems meant this was delayed until 1 July 1850, when the first train left Holmfirth at 11:25 a.m. In the first week of operation 1,869 tickets were sold at Holmfirth, along with another 674 at the intermediate station of Thongsbridge.
Extension to the line were proposed on a number of occasions, none of which saw any progress. Parliamentary authority was granted for a scheme in 1847, before the line was opened, which was costed at £56,000, however the powers lapsed in 1852 without any progress. One proposal was to extend the line up the Holme Valley, tunnel under Holme Moss
Holme Moss
Holme Moss is a moor in the south Pennines of England, on the border between the High Peak District of Derbyshire and the West Yorkshire district of Kirklees. It is just inside the boundary of the Peak District National Park....
, and connect with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1847. The MS&LR changed its name to the Great Central Railway in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension.-Origin:...
.
The route
The line ran from a junction with the Penistone LinePenistone Line
The Penistone Line is operated by Northern Rail in the West Yorkshire Metro/ Travel South Yorkshire area of northern England. It connects Huddersfield and Sheffield via Penistone and Barnsley, serving many rural communities...
near Brockholes railway station
Brockholes railway station
Brockholes railway station serves the village of Brockholes, near Huddersfield in West Yorkshire. It lies away from on the Penistone Line operated by Northern Rail.Trains passing between Brockholes and pass through a tunnel under Thurstonland....
and headed south across Mytholmbridge Viaduct before reaching Thongsbridge station, then continued to Holmfirth station
Holmfirth railway station
Holmfirth railway station is a former railway station that served the town of Holmfirth in West Yorkshire, England.-History:The branch line to Holmfirth was built at the same time as the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway line from Huddersfield to Penistone, incorporated by act of...
.
Mytholmbridge Viaduct
Mytholmbridge Viaduct was the source of some concern for members of the traveling public. The planned embankmentEmbankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
had been replaced by timber trestle which was damaged by winds during construction. In an attempt to reassure the public of the safety of this and the Denby Dale
Denby Dale
Denby Dale is a village and civil parish in the metropolitan borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England, to the South East of Huddersfield. As a civil parish it covers the villages of Denby Dale, Lower Denby, Upper Denby, Upper Cumberworth, Lower Cumberworth, Skelmanthorpe, Emley, Emley...
viaduct, L&YR appointed Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson FRS was an English civil engineer. He was the only son of George Stephenson, the famed locomotive builder and railway engineer; many of the achievements popularly credited to his father were actually the joint efforts of father and son.-Early life :He was born on the 16th of...
to produce a report on the structure, published 16 September 1851, in which he concluded that "both structures are perfectly safe".
Despite petitions calling for its replacement, it remained in place until 1865 when the L&YR finally commissioned a stone
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
replacement. This too collapsed during construction on 3 December 1865, taking the trestle with it. This closed the line until 11 March 1867 when the 13 arch stone viaduct was completed.
Thongsbridge station
Thongsbridge station was situated in a deep cutting spanned by two bridges, one at each end. In the original layout, the platforms were staggered either side of Heys Road bridge with the main buildings on the HuddersfieldHuddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
bound platform. This layout was criticised by the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
after a number of accidents involving passengers.
In 1893 the L&YR commissioned Robert Leak & Co to build a new platform opposite the station buildings and increase the gap between the running lines from 5ft 9in to the standard 6ft gauge.
1901 saw the Huddersfield bound platform heightened, a new two storey booking office constructed, and an iron-lattice footbridge built across the line. The goods yard was also extended. Initially this was just a single loop of the Huddersfield bound line but this was improved by providing sidings on the site of the old Holmfirth bound platform. This meant that the yard covered both sides of the line and a cart way was built between the two to provide access.
In August 1852 the station was the location of a narrowly avoided rail accident, involving a Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
to Holmfirth train. Due to the slight gradient between Thongsbridge and Holmfirth, half of the carriages became detached from the rest of the train which then continued to Holmfirth. Whilst the detached carriages remained in the station, the station guard spotted another train approaching at speed. He signalled to the driver of the train to stop which it did just 12 inches from the carriages.
Holmfirth station
Holmfirth station, at the terminus of the line, was located just north of the town centre on Station Road.L&YR installed a 45ft turntable at the station in March 1883. It was removed in 1938 as Fowler 2-6-4T
LMS Fowler 2-6-4T
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway Fowler 2-6-4T is a class of steam locomotive designed by Henry Fowler. 125 were built.The LMS numbered them 2300–424, BR adding 40000 to their numbers to make them 42300–424. The LMS classified them 4P, BR 4MT...
s were causing it to deteriorate. Following the removal, most trains operated tender
Tender locomotive
A tender or coal-car is a special rail vehicle hauled by a steam locomotive containing the locomotive's fuel and water. Steam locomotives consume large quantities of water compared to the quantity of fuel, so tenders are necessary to keep the locomotive running over long distances. A locomotive...
forward to Holmfirth and smokebox
Smokebox
A smokebox is one of the major basic parts of a Steam locomotive exhaust system. Smoke and hot gases pass from the firebox through tubes where they pass heat to the surrounding water in the boiler. The smoke then enters the smokebox, and is exhausted to the atmosphere through the chimney .To assist...
forward back.
Services
In the early days, the line was well used with passenger trains regularly consisting of three or more carriages. Most passenger trains were hauled by L&YR 0-4-0T and 0-6-2T locomotives until about 1900 when AspinallJohn Aspinall (engineer)
Sir John Audley Frederick Aspinall was a British mechanical engineer who served as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Southern and Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He introduced vacuum brakes to his locomotives in Ireland, a trend which was followed in Britain, and designed...
2-4-2Ts were introduced.
Freight trains during the early part of the 20th century were hauled by L&YR 'A' class 0-6-0Ts and 0-8-0s. The principal traffic was coal coming into the area and woollen goods taken out.
Following the Holmfirth Flood
Holmfirth Flood
The Holmfirth Flood refers to a number of instances when severe flooding has occurred in the Holme Valley, West Yorkshire, England affecting Holmfirth and other settlements in the valley. The earliest recorded one being in 1738 and the latest in 1944...
in 1852, sightseeing trains brought passengers to the town to see the devastation for themselves.
Closure
The closure of the woollen piece warehouse, which saw little use after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, was one of the first antecedents of a decrease in traffic on the line. Increased competition from buses reduced revenues further and closure of the line was announced for 31 October 1959. The last passenger trains were 2-6-4Ts numbers 42116 and 42413.
The line was dismantled in 1966 and the Holmfirth booking office was soon to be demolished. The booking office site later became Kingdom Hall, a Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
church, which was built during one weekend in August 1985 by 2,500 volunteers.
Mytholmbridge Viaduct was demolished in 1976.