Dinting, Mottram, Godley Jct. Dewsnaps, Guide Bridge. Woodhead Rly part 3. Manchesters lost railways
We travel the Woodhead route between Hadfield and Guide Bridge. Our first stop is Dinting with most of its buildings still in situ, we carry out a detailed explore of the surrounding area, including a look around the long lost railway centre.
Our next explore is looking around Dinting goods sidings and branch line to waterside mill. Close to here was the mighty Mottram marshalling yard, which revealed several clues to its railway heritage. We move up the line to Broadbottom, where the goods depot and station building still exist, after Hattersley we reached Godley Junction.
This was a major jct where the line split with traffic working through Stockport onto western destinations such as Warrington and Liverpool Docks. The station is disused but still stands, a detailed explore revealed loads of clues including a turntable, platform lighting, OHEs and lots of discarded railway mania.
Our next stop was Newton for Hyde, the platforms were not in the best of conditions but outside the station building was a gem! An original MSLR structure perfectly preserved. Our next explore was the site of Dewsnap sidings, a sad sight but still traceable, next we look at Dukinfield wagon and carriage works, globe works. The buildings still stand and there are a few clues to its former use.
We finally arrive at Guide Bridge exploring the location of the lost marshalling yard before concluding the trip on the station platform. Great explore glad to see trains on the track, shame the tommies have gone.....enjoy.
Directed by Allan Roach
A brief history....
The line opened in 1845. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway with Joseph Locke as its engineer. In 1847, the railway merged with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway and the Grimsby Docks Company to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway; it changed its name to the Great Central Railway (GCR) in 1897. Ownership passed to the LNER in 1923 and, finally, to British Railways Eastern Region in 1948.
The original eastern terminus of the line was at Sheffield Bridgehouses railway station. By the time of the creation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847 a 0.6-mile (1 km) extension including the Wicker Arches viaduct, engineered by John Fowler, was constructed to the new Sheffield Victoria station, which opened in 1851.
Both goods and passenger traffic were very heavy; therefore, some sections of the line were quadrupled.
Electrification
Electrification was first mooted by the Great Central Railway, owing to the difficulties of operating heavy steam-hauled coal trains on the Penistone-Wath section (the Worsborough branch); a line with steep gradients and several tunnels. Definitive plans were drawn up by the LNER in 1936; many of the gantries for the catenary were erected before the Second World War.
The Second World War prevented progress on electrification, but the plans were restarted immediately after the war; however, this time with plans for a new double-track Woodhead Tunnel. TA second Thurgoland Tunnel was also required, as the existing tunnel had inadequate clearance for twin electrified lines.
The Manchester-Sheffield-Wath electrification project was finally completed in 1955, using overhead wires energised at 1,500 volts DC. Whilst this was tried and tested technology (and is still standard in the Netherlands), the comparatively low voltage meant that a large number of electricity substations and heavy cabling would be required
New electric locomotives for the line were constructed at Gorton locomotive works, Manchester. These were the EM1/Class 76, for freight trains and some passenger duties, and EM2/Class 77 locomotives for express passenger trains. A new depot at Reddish, situated on the Fallowfield Loop line, was built in 1954 to maintain the new locomotives and EMUs.
Closure
Having seen major investment in the 1950s, the line was controversially closed to passenger traffic on 5 January 1970. By the late 1970s, a large part of the remaining freight traffic consisted of coal trains from Yorkshire to Fiddlers Ferry power station near Widnes, which required a change to diesel haulage for the final part of the journey.
By the early 1980s, the combination of alternative available routes, an absence of passenger traffic since 1970 and a downturn in coal traffic across the Pennines, along with a need to eventually expensively upgrade or replace the non-standard electrical supply systems and Class 76 locomotives, resulted in the line's closure east of Hadfield. The last train operated on 18 July 1981 and the line was mothballed.
The tracks were lifted in the mid-1980s, ending any short-term hopes of reopening. Almost the entire line east of Hadfield has now been lifted, apart from a few short sections shared with other lines, notably at Penistone.
Пікірлер: 34
Brilliant!
Another great vid. Saves me driving back over to where I grew up and worked. My dad used to take me to Dinting heritage centre as a boy. We used to play on the old Cheshire line when it was still (barely) in use, played in the turntable and pits, such a wonderful time. I remember hiding in the bushes next to either a class 37 or 40 while the crew were doing something. I remember playing around a disused large scale model railway somewhere off mottram road in Hyde, I wasn't Dinting as that would have been too far to run or cycle. I was always copping for late turn at Newton, Broadbottom and Hattersley, jeez what mind numbing experience that was, not a soul in site, except for kids vandalising stuff and hurling abuse at you. I remember the lady who worked at Dinting booking office also rented the house that's on the platform at Dinting, it was a railways house and she rented it. Dinting was a little bizz to work at because the only radio station you could receive was Atlantic 252 on SW lol. I can't remember the guy's name who worked at Hadfield, but he was a good laugh and had giant hands. You never got and trouble there on late turn because all the local kids were scared of him. I miss living in that area to some degree, and I miss some parts of working on the railways.
Good grief! I've just been looking at an O/S map of the area from 1968. I never realised just how busy the Guide Bridge junctions were. I only glimpsed the Gamesley yard once, and never knew Mottram yard existed at all, being too young and small to see over the top of the road bridge over it! I was lucky enough to see the Dinting Centre in action, but missed Dewsnaps altogether, possibly because I would look out of the train onto the stabling point instead! Fascinating video, thank you!
Very interesting video! Shame Dinting Railway Centre is no longer there.
Keep up the good work Allan. I have enjoyed all of your videos, the only thing that saddens me is the destruction of our rail network in favor of road transport - which ironically looks like it will last even less time!
Brilliant. Very interesting and saves me getting nettled while you look for clues 😉
Another excellent video. Really enjoying this series Allan.
Superb, as are all of your videos. Highly informative and entertaining, too, with your “Ee by gum”s!
Wow i was binge watching your old videos of this line last night to catch up and then this pops up! I used to enjoy the ride upto hadfield on the old slam door elec trains in the mid 90s before they changed them to the current stock.
Another superb video (I've just finished watching!) Thanks for all the hard work which obviously goes into making them.
My Dad took me here a few times in the 70s, great times
hiya , really enjoyed that , come to wigan sometime and see our spider web of lost railways . all the very best , nick and tracy
The line to Glossop is still in use - the timetable was reduced during the Covid epidemic and trains ran from Manchester to Hadfield, then back to Glossop, then back to Hadfield then to Manchester. When restrictions were finally lifted, the link to Glossop was brought back into use, but as of writing (Dec 2022) the original half hourly timetable has not been restored. That is due to resume in early 2023 apparently.
When we lived in Droylsden we visited the Dinting Railway Centre a few times superb day out
@majorpygge-phartt2643
3 жыл бұрын
I went there once too, and took some pictures. All gone now.
@johnm2012
2 жыл бұрын
Why were the people who built it up booted out? It's not as though the land was needed for some other purpose.
Big trains those considering there's never anyone on them🙈
0.48 I lived in the corner house at dinting station for two years, took me 10 years to get the train noise out of my head. weeer weeeeer weeeer.
I remember the brake van rides
Just a Quick Question Sir! When you say "Oerhead Canopy" do you mean "Overhead Catenary?" Because a Canopy is something for Stations to provide cover for Customers wishing to Board or Alight Trains whereas Catenary is used to Dangle the AC or in the case of The Woodhead (also some parts of the Great Eastern) Route DC Overhead Pick Up Cables from? (I'm not complaining sir Please Do not see this as Criticism because it's not meant that way Sir! Personally I Love Your Work! Breathing life into a Long Dead Railway is Hard work!
@johnm2012
2 жыл бұрын
The word I would have used is "gantry".
Bahamas did not come from Barry, we never had any locos from there. Dinting station ruin was done up and used as sleeping accommodation for members. The loading bay as you call it was the coaling stage. Sad it ever went, Dinting was a busy museum. 😕
@onemanc
2 жыл бұрын
Thx for the info Stuart, never too old to learn…
@IN_THIS_DAY_AND_AGE
Жыл бұрын
BLS were "kicked out" because the site owner wanted to build houses there, but he was never granted planning permission. Bahamas came from Stockport Edgeley mpd, not Barry
Absolutely smashing (I know I’m a bit late) but will there be a final part that shows onwards to Piccadilly? If so that’s be brill Many thanks! (Edit) Im also not sure what that guard was on about saying the line from dinting direct to glossop isn’t used anymore as whenever we go to glossop, that’s the way we go, through that platform. But yh I don’t know
@onemanc
3 жыл бұрын
Watch this space….
At 24.22 and following, the existing viaduct carries the running lines still, but the abandoned bridge supports carried two lines of sidings, according to the 1898 25" OS map, from just to the west of Mill Brow to just to the east of Lower Market Street..
@onemanc
3 жыл бұрын
Thx for that mate 👍
@johnm2012
2 жыл бұрын
That's a gorgeous skew arch at 24:36.
Just to Clarify the Glossop side is in use, the Station IS manned and when Covid has calmed down it will be back in normal use
This line badly needs to be reopened to sheffield or at least go ahead with the road tunnel project thats been in the works for years. They could use battery powered trains as this could be a good eco solution,.
I wonder why for a time they changed the terminus to being glossop from always being hadfield and then back to hadfield in the mid 2000s?
@alanthomas7868
3 жыл бұрын
simple, safety (and a few thefts) due to Covid we had to keep working the doors from the middle due to the Curve at Dinting towards Glossop when if we worked from the back at Dinting instead (Up and Down Hadfield is a lot Straighter). I am sure when restrictions are lifted it will go back to how it used to be.
@seany84uk
3 жыл бұрын
@@alanthomas7868 ahhh! Thanks!