I was born in Oughtibridge and went to Penistone GS by train from 52-59. There used to be a train every 20 minutes each way; coal and passengers from Sheff Victoria to Mcr London Rd (now Picadilly). Wadsley bridge served Hillsborough station, home of Sheffield Wednesday. Deepcar served the Samuel Fox steel works in Stocksbridge, and at Penistone, lines came in from Wath, Huddersfield, and on to the Woodhead tunnel and Manchester. Then Beeching cut us off and in 59, we had to take the bus from OB to Deepcar, then a red Barnsley bus through Stocksbridge to the Flouch and finally down into Penistone. That was the coldest damn place in the world in winter.

Yes it was very informative to hear what was said . I myself used to work on this line back in 1972 at deepcar STN and again in 1980s working the boxes between Sheffield Victoria and Deepcar

Me and some work colleagues re-railed that line about 2 and half years ago and those clips were absolutely solid to get out. I'm led to believe that this line is the only one in the country to pass through a cemetery near to the concrete structure with the graffiti on.

Wadsley Bridge Station was still in use until the mid 1990's. It was popular for Football Clubs to charter trains for their own fans on match days, albeit usually for long-distance away journeys. The reason the station is so long is that Sheffield Wednesday ran a train for their fans to travel to Away Games. This was a HST that was nicknamed "Inter-City Owl". Nowadays, the club runs this as a series of coaches instead.

The steel uprights at around 17:00 just before Herries Road bridge were put there in the 90s and had heavy steel cables tightly strung through them. They were strategically placed along that section to arrest/stop cars going on to the track that were stolen and pushed off of the top of that cliff, it's a massive drop.The cables were cut off and stolen in the 00s and as cars are not stolen and dumped like they used to be in the 90s, the cables were not replaced. I actually witnessed a Vauxhall Astra come crashing down that cliff one summer evening about 95 96! I was playing on my bike, I think I was either in the cemetery or on the path at the back of Bassets near the river.

Oh dear, what a mess. You can't imagine what this railway was like when it was operational. There aren't many of us railwaymen who worked the Woodhead route left now. It had started as the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway but soon became the Great Central Railway, the best and richest Railway in the country. Rotherwood was the best depot in the land and home to the happiest crews. We'll never see the likes of it again. Victoria Station was re-opened in 1973 because the Midland stands over the river and it flooded in that year. Victoria was a beautiful Station unlike the Midland which has always been ugly, nasty and prone to flooding and rats.

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

I admire your sentiment and your loyalty but the GCR was never very rich! The shareholders said that MS&L meant "money spent and lost" and GC meant "gone completely" because the huge cost of the London extension almost bankrupted the company and it could hardly afford to pay for Marylebone station. Have a read of George Dow's three volume work, _Great Central_ - you'll love it.

Another very interesting video! I travelled on the line to Deepcar on a Class 47 hauled railtour in 2007.

Back in 2008 when I moved to Sheffield, by accident, stumbled on this line, believing it to be abandoned, and found a load of brick buildings in shrubs, on of those the one at 14.40. It was only later I realised it was an active freight line but recently heard that the freight has now stopped as well. Shame if that's the case.

I love your tours of disused lines. ... Your commentary is relaxing and mellow. The snaps shots from the past are a great comparison ...Thank you for taking the time and effort to film it, do the research and share with us.

One day I was in the cabin at Rotherwood when our inspector, Don Meggit, came to the signing window to tell us that bobo number 20 had gone to York for preservation in the Railways Museum. We were all very pleased that one of these fantastic locos would exist long after we had closed. 2021 is the fortieth anniversary of the closure of the Woodhead Route and I was officially made redundant on that very day Saturday 18 July 1981 which so happened to also be my wedding day. Two disasters in one day, could this be a record?

@loll.263

Жыл бұрын

I was stationed as a guard at Rotherwood 1970-1972 i loved the job and the scenic route to Mottram sadly missed.

@johngrant5448

Жыл бұрын

@@loll.263 It was by far the best depot in Britain and the railway was fantastic. A lot of effort was put into trying to keep it open. Unfortunately those with a vendetta won the day and we were transferred to Sheffield, what a horrible job that was.

Great footage Allan, shame about the veg, but this hobby seems to attract them, looking forward to part 2, its good that people record these scenes before they are gone forever..

Great videos, given me lots of walks I would to now go on, keep the videos coming 😁

Very interesting and entertaining thanks, closing these places is an insult to those who built and engineered them especially the the tunnels , earthworks and viaducts. Take care😃

Latterly, the Woodhead Tunnel line used to follow the existing line from Sheffield > Barnsley > Dodworth to Penistone. where it diverged from the still running Penistone line (to Huddersfield) and Followed the River Don via Thurlstone (I don't think it had a station) to Bullhouse and Townhead, where the Eastern entrance to the tunnel lies. Townhead was built for the workers who drove the tunnel. I used to walk from Penistone to Townhead regularly, initially on ballast and sleepers, but it was later made into a footpath and is very well used.

Gee, so fascinating, I had to subscribe. Great job done. 🐨🇦🇺

Well done for getting out and finding all this. It will help keep armchair travellers and lockdowners pleasantly entertained for a long time to come! I mean that sincerely, that's not sarcasm :)

I do really like your enthusiasm.

35:15 I love the bookshelf graffiti tbh. Thats at least some creativity shown.

I was at Uni in Derby in the late 1990's and at one point it was still possible to access the platforms from street level albeit it was in a state but the platforms were in a reasonable condition and the lighting in place.

Been to many amazing crazy parties at the big sub house(around 33 minutes mark) great times

Fantastic video mate... subbed! 🙂

The concrete troughs on the ground are cable joint boxes and I think the robustly built concrete building just before Oughtibridge was a transformer house, the transformers would be oil cooled hence the pipes which would have gone to radiators.

Nice one Allan, i'll share this with my Friends of the Woodhead Route group on Facebook and I look forward to the next part

I've been to stocksbridge, I passed through there one night in the late 70's, but not on a train.

I am really surprised by how (relatively) intact much of the line is and now understand a little more why it keeps getting mentioned as part of possible expansions to the the tram network. Back in the day, I remember going to watch the stock car racing at Owlerton Stadium and remember seeing the line, with its overhead wires, on the hillside in the distance. The unusual artwork adorning the unknown structure at 14:38 is by Phlegm, a famous locally-based artist.

@rechnin6680

3 жыл бұрын

Watch this video and see what you think of the structure at 07:12, there are some similarities. kzread.info/dash/bejne/gYZqrrhug9zglM4.html

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

@@rechnin6680 That is a fascinating film. Compare it with this kzread.info/dash/bejne/oGSjpdWph5i7naw.html It's a simulation but it's pretty realistic.

Wadsley Bridge used to be used for football charter trains I used to use them from London to go Hillsborough

good video

Cox and Danks scrap yard was at Wadsley Bridge, and I remember seeing steam locos, A1 pacifics and K3 2.6.0s even ex L.M.S.4F 0.6.0sand a crab 2.6.0.waiting to be cut up.

I needed to know why they don’t dig a tunnel and do an extension for the main line Train so that they can extend the unused abandoned underground train stations. Why couldn’t they use the part D78 Stock train doors on the sides and also restructure the front face of the A60 and A62 stock that includes the class 313, class 314 and class 315 remix and make them all together and also redesign them an overhead line and also make them into Five cars per units and also having three Disabled Toilets on those Five cars per units A60 and A62 stock trains and also convert the A60 and A62 stock trains into a Scania N112, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Engines and also put the Loud 7-Speed Voith Gearboxes even Loud 8-Speed Leyland Hydra cyclic Gearboxes in the A60 and A62 stock, class 313, class 314, and class 315 and also modernise the A60 and A62 stock and make it into an 11 car per unit so it could have fewer doors, more tables, computers and mobile phone chargers. A Stock Train and 8 Disabled Toilets on those A stock trains. why couldn’t we refurbish and modernise the Waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel and make it larger and extend it to the bank station, making it into a Triple-Track Railway Line so those Five countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden to convert the waterloo and city line Triple-Track Railway tunnel into a High-Speed Railway lines? The Third Euro tunnel Triple-Track Railway line to make it 11 times better for passengers so they could go from A to B. Then put the modernised 11 car per unit A Stock and put them on a bigger modernised Waterloo and city line Triple-Track train tunnel so it could go to bank station to those Five countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. The modernised refurbished 11 cars per unit A stock could be a High Speed The Third Triple-Track Euro Tunnel Train So it is promising and 47 times a lot more possible to do this kind of project if that will be OK for London Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden. oh by the way, could they also tunnel the Triple-Track Railway Line so it will stop from Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex so that the Passengers will go to Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden and also extend the Triple-Track Railway Line from the Bank to Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex Stations so that more people from there could go to Australia, Germany, Italy, Poland And Sweden more Easily. Why couldn't they extend the Piccadilly Line and also build brand-new underground train stations so it could go even further right up to Clapton, Wood Street can they also make another brand new underground train station in Chingford and could they extend the Piccadilly Line and the DLR right up to Chingford? All of the classes 150, 155, 154, 117, 114, 105, and 106, will be replaced by all of the Scania N112, Volvo B10M, Gardner 6LXB, Gardner 6LXC and Gardner 8LXB Diesel Five carriages three disabled toilets are air conditioning trains including Highams Park for extended roots which is the Piccadilly line and the DLR trains. Could you also convert all of the 1973 stock trains into an air-conditioned maximum speed 78 km/hours (48 MPH) re-refurbished and make it into a 8 cars per unit if that will be alright, and also extend all of the Piccadilly train stations to make more space for all of the extended 8 car per unit 1973 stock air condition trains and can you also build another Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive Companies and can they order Every 67 Octagon and Every 37 Hexagon shape LNER diagram unique small no.13 and unique small no.11 Boilers from those Countries such as Greece, Italy, Poland, and Sweden, can they make Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive speeds by up to 147MPH so you can try and test it on the Original Mainline so it will be much more safer for the Passengers to enjoy the 147MPH speed Limit only for HS2 and Channel Tunnel mainline services, if they needed 16 Carriages Per units, can they use those class 55’s, class 44’s, class 40’s and class 43HST Diesel Locomotive’s right at the Back of those 18 Carriages Per Units so they can take over at the Back to let those Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s have a rest for those interesting Journeys Please!!!!!!, oh can you make all of those Coal Boxes’s 18 Tonnes for all of those 147MPH Mayflower and Tornado Steam Locomotive’s so the Companies will Understand us PASSENGER’S!! so please make sure that the Builders can do as they are told!!!!! And Please do something about these very very important Professional ideas Please? Prime Minister of England, Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister of Sweden, Prime Minister of Germany, Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister of Poland and that Includes the Mayor of London.

At about 20:00; I believe football specials, for Hillsborough, still called at Wadsley Bridge in the 80's and early 90's.

Thanks ,balast sounds good.

That line you're walking looks as if it's still usable!

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

It is still used by freight trains.

@philipatkinson7039

Ай бұрын

It is still used and we re-railed it nearly 3 years ago.

I believe that the line at Deepcar was retained in order to serve Samuel Fox's steelworks at Stocksbridge.

@hellothere6023

3 жыл бұрын

Yes the line was retained to serve the steelworks. Trains only run at night and the there are no signals on the route so only one train is allowed (Used to live there)

My understanding is it is still in use. 1 train working signalling system. Freight goes to the steel works .

the concreate structure at 15.oo were part of the ariel cableway which carrried tubs of ash from the boilers to be tipped in the valley across the line.later this tip caught fire and burned for many years .

@onemanc

Жыл бұрын

Thx Bernard

deepcar bed is still in use by the remaining specialist steel works

@jasinere35

3 жыл бұрын

the trough was the high voltage cable jointing boxes

Great vid, just wondering which channels you went through to get this authorised? As I make a series called TRAINRIDE’s Disused Stations and I’m working on Sheffield, many thanks

Did you have special access to this line or did you just go on, I'd love to do this one with my sons.

@onemanc

3 жыл бұрын

Sorry mate you will need written access from NR.

@alexthejock

3 жыл бұрын

@@onemanc thanks for the reply, shame this would have been a great day.

I see Phlegm has been at that structure you discovered. Recognize his work with those two figures either side.

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

The headless figures with faces on sticks? Disturbing but compelling, too.

You should have had a short walk from the bottom of Victoria Station Approach (or is it Road?) along Blonk Street and down the Wicker to the Wicker Arches. The entrance to the 'vertical railway' you mention (at 2:39) is still there, on your right as you look at the arch (the blue painted hoarding, with Dracula(?), to the right of the attached. I believe it was a lift and there were stairs to the side. If you navigate under the arch and look up at the arch to the left hand side you can see repairs where a bomb went through the arch. www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.3880356,-1.4612309,3a,75y,53.77h,79.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-Ffo5yh_-xTXlwCWKSBcjg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Can anyone explain to me as a non railway buff why this major heavy duty cross country route was closed having spent significant sums of Taxpayer money on setting up the line and heavy duty electric locomotives... ??? I'm am Londoner so no major closures here except Lines to from Docks many of the lines and bridges being reused for Docklands Light Railway in Docklandvand or reused for Overground.. We lost Stratford Engine Manufacture Shed now the Eurorail Depot..

@kevinfowkes2327

Жыл бұрын

The video description mostly answers your question. The electric equipment and locos were life expired and shackled to a non- standard voltage. Passenger services would not be viable without somehow linking the line into Sheffield Midland, which would be eye wateringly expensive if not impossible. Freight flows between Sheffield and Manchester dried up as the coal and steel industries, and manufacturing, closed down. Today there is hardly any freight flow left between the two cities.

why is that track still there?

@richardhutchinson5546

Жыл бұрын

Because it still used (or was until recently) by freight trains to the Stockbridge steel works

I love the Hope Valley line, but the Woodhead line should’ve stayed open too. All this not wanting duplicate routes is utter nonsense. What about the different towns and villages the serve along their different routes? Closing Woodhead was simply ridiculous! BTW aren’t you trespassing filming this video?

@edwardbyard6540

3 жыл бұрын

Technically he is but two trains a week run on here, and they’re at night, so you’d have to be very unlucky to get caught!

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

He said he had permission.

@johnm2012

2 жыл бұрын

If they'd kept the whole of the Great Central route open and electrified it there would be much less of a need for HS2.

does goods trains run on that line still

@emt43043

4 жыл бұрын

Lee Sanderson yes it dose

@davemitchell9636

4 жыл бұрын

Freight to the steel works usually twice a week as well as network rail test trains and very occasional railtours

@leesandro82

4 жыл бұрын

@@emt43043 i find it interested this kind of stuff especially the old woodhead route its big shame it got closed