This film has made me reminisce. I was born in Heeley and many times me and my pals used to take the train out into Derbyshire, just to go through Totley Tunnel. We used to get off in Grindleford, and go walking all day, when it was safe for young lads to do so. It was all steam hauled in those days, one day a pal of mine put his head out of the window, and came back looking as if he had been down the pit all day. When you were up on the Moors above Sheffield, you could check the track of the engine by the smoke coming out of the massive air vents, all along the moor.
That was a privilege looking from the drivers perspective of the route, such marvellous scenery. Often I find ignorant southerners ridiculing the north of England but if they watched this then they'd realise just how much natural beauty we've got up in these parts. The engineers and navis who built this amazing line deserve so much credibility. It must've been unbelievably difficult to survey and build. It's certainly stood the test of time. Thanks very much for the video 👍
There are some nice views. Watch out for the Buxton to Manchester video which premiers at 20:30 on Friday night. I never cease to marvel at how they must have toiled building these railways. I’m glad you appreciate it.
I'm building a model railway, and these videos are priceless for research material. I suspect all of these videos will become quiet a historical record in their own right! Thank you for sharing.
What absolutely BEAUTIFUL scenery - cuttings, viaducts, bridges, semaphores, and tunnels! I could sit for days in the quiet of that countryside just watching the trains go by.
Thank you Don. I have recently discovered your videos and it has been a real nostalgia fest for me. My Dad was an LNER Good guard and worked the lines around Sheffield to Manchester until the 1960 's.. I was born and lived in Sheffield and later lived in Chapel en le frith, working in Buxton, now in Carlisle.. it’s so great to see areas I know so well from a different perspective and it is surprisingly soporific to watch.. Your captions add to the interest. Thank you again, it has been a few hours of total pleasure and nostalgia.
Another excellent production. The first section brought back happy memories of my first job after training as Area Supervisor Romiley - manual signalling and out of hours box visits - happy days!
Thank you for uploading this amazing videos. Very instructives ones to those of us that live in other countries. Is a good way to know and see other railways systems around the world. Greetings from Argentina.
Possibly one of the country’s most picturesque locations and very busy in the summer. I live at Chapel-en-le-Frith which is surrounded by nice scenery but we tend to take it for granted.
This was my second journey with you today, Don, and this time I followed the entire route on an Ordnance Survey 1:25000 map on my iPad, which added even more life and detail to your excellent work.
Those buffer stops at the end of the journey! I am positive they are the same ones that were there back in the late 1960s when I used to trainspot on the station (then called Sheffield Midland) If I remember correctly, the stone building with the blue door facing you at the stops was the shunters’ mess room. It was a popular place for the young trainspotters to gather as when shunters entered or left the building you could get a glimpse of the “saucy” pictures on the walls inside. During the summer (oh joy!) the door was sometimes propped open. Only blokes of a certain age will probably understand what I am on about, but fond memories of more innocent and restrained times.
Excellent video. I appreciated the information added along the way and the elimination of wait time at the stations.. I have added this video to my 'long cab rides' playlist.
Thank you for this video, Don. I'm about to take my first train journey by myself to Sheffield, so I really appreciate being able to see the journey beforehand and know what to expect. Certainly eased my anxiety!
Hi Don. Love your videos, I find them so relaxing. I want to thank you for all the hard work, research, and time you put into them. Great stuff. Thanks again Don. Keep em coming:)
Great stuff . Thank you for the video and the informative captioning. It also took me back 40 years when I occasionally visited the Devonshire Royal Hosp in Buxton. The dome is as breathtaking as some of the views from your cab.
You have to stand on the spot in the middle of the dome and whisper to hear the extrordinary echo! I will be filming the Buxton line one of these fine days so make sure you subscribe for notifications.
Thankyou for another of your educational and relaxing videos! Due to Ill health I don’t get out as much as I used to, and your films bring travel to me in the comfort of my own favourite chair. PS, I last worked as TTI and Second Man Diesel on the North Norfolk Railway.
Steven, I’m really pleased they make things a little better for you. They take quite a lot of effort but it makes it very worthwhile when I hear a comment like that. If you were the only viewer I would have been happy to do it. All the best to you.
Yes, there was a time when it might have become a major centre like Crewe or Derby but the planners of the day were concerned about a nearby fault called Chinley Churn. It was nevertheless a quite complex location.
Another great video Don. I never realised the route was so scenic. Loved the sound of the train brakes it reminded me of the sound Mk1 and Mk2 carriages made in my misspent youth.
I did the Midland route last year from Norwich to Manchester. There is a similar trestle truss bridge in Glasgow over the M80. On the route from Springburn to Cumbernauld. Well Done.
Very interesting - I normally only see this route looking sideways out of the window. I liked the subtitles - always wondered why there were 2 double buzzes when the train was about to set off.
Another marvellous video, for which many thanks. The skies in the Hope Valley were looking especiall moody! Did you know that at Buxworth the line as built ran on the other side of the station house but there was a major landslip right at the opening and a whole section had to be rebuilt on the side it runs on now? And Chinley needed its space - some of the Midland London trains split three ways there, with the main portion for Manchester Central, a portion for Liverpool turning left at Cheadle Heath, and a portion for East Lancashire turning right at New Mills South and then right again at Ashburys.
Bril. good to see the new workers in their hi viz clothes getting ready at Sheffield. Again such a wonderful video and appreciated so much. Keep up the good work!
As a for er private pilot, I was always aware of how much I depended on the assistance of Air Traffic Control to help keep me safely away from other aircraft. .. But I expect it was quite different from a driver depending on the “system” to keep the switches properly aligned to prevent high speed derailments at switches, or being turned into an oncoming passenger or freight train. . .
Interesting video - was a student in Sheffield so used that route often to get back to Manchester, years later I was working in Openshaw so would get the same train to Ashburys.
I first used this line around 1970 after the Woodhead route had shut: the tracks between Dore and the Midland station were being rationalized and the semaphores taken down, leaving (I think) just two tracks and one possibly two-way relief line. There had been a dive-under crossover (filled-in long ago) just before the Midland station. I vaguely remember passing through the platforms of a couple of disused stations between Dore and the main station: no trace now.
Don!! I intend to visit England soon. Your inclusion of clips and information is beautiful!! This is a nice (imaginary) ride and tour for me. Thanks! I have subscribed.
34:59 The diverging route to the right has been seen before in one of your videos. It goes to Buxton signal box and ends in the sidings that are north of there. The lime stone trains that use the token block line from Downlow to Buxton signal box run around the box into the sidings, the loco runs around the train then hauls the stone down the line that then runs around the other side of the signal box through Great Rocks and Peak Dale under the Buxton branch line at Dove Holes and then again at Chapel en le frith and comes out here. It used to be one hell of a sight watching 3 class 37 locos hauling all that stone up those hills. They sounded like all hell had been let lose.
Excellent video, great inrormation as well. This is the only way now one can get a drivers eye view not like the 60s & 70s when U could grab a seat in behind the drivers cab on the ealy dmus, as long as they didnt put the blinds down. Please keep them coming!
I’m afraid Sheffield drivers don’t sign the Hope Valley Ryan, it is exclusively Manchester drivers at the moment. Best of luck with the application, I hope you get it. Let us know.
I fully agree: clear pictures, rock-steady camera, informative captions. Other video makers should take lessons from Don. There is a certain producer of cab-view UA-cam videos of the ex-Southern Railway region who has just introduced the gimmick of a camera mounted on his head, so the picture waves all over the place as he turns his head - spectacularly bad :-(
Somebody asked me to wear a camera on my head to shoot these videos. Maybe if they pay me Liam Neeson rates but other than that - not happening! Thanks for the kind words - appreciated.
Thanks for some good memories. Belle Vue Elizabethan ballroom where I first met my wife, Aug Bank hol 1963. Bradbury my old home town, trainspotting on the two lines. The one from Manchester Central via Stockpot Tiviot Dale was known as the " bottom line " as it was in a cutting and the " top " line from Manchester London Road as was.
I’m not delighted to tell you that remember that ballroom too Butch but only because it indicates my age! They are building all over the trackbed of the lower line now.
You’re working your way through a few of these videos John and I’m pleased to see it. Until recently, my neighbours had a farm up Kinder so spent a fair amount of time up there myself.
Some lovely sunlight breaking through the mist once you get out over the Pennines. Romiley signalbox looks rather sad, I suppose that's not in use now. Isn't New Mills Central in a picturesque spot.
The first time I did this route was 21st Feb 1984, the day I joined the RAF. Itinerary said change at Sheffield for the train to Doncaster and then change to an Intercity 125 to Newark North Gate. When I asked the bloke at Sheffield where I could get the train to Doncaster, he pointed at the train I'd just got off! I said I thought it terminated here he said yes, the service from Manchester does but now it forms the train to Doncaster! As an aside, the home I left was passed as the train approached Brimington Station. Our house was marked by the large Leylandii on the left, roughly half way between the first bridge you pass after Reddish Vale viaduct and the bridge just before the station.
Homophones 1 - Don Coffey 0. 5'57 Hoard = cache or stockpile, Horde = Crowd, throng or multitude. Cowburn Tunnel, so straight you could boil a kettle waiting for that pinprick of light to become the tunnel mouth. Superb, with excellent commentaries 'en route'.
Blimey, I had to look up homophone! I probably spent too many hours sat watching trains at New Mills Central in the 60s when I should have been at school! ;-)
Marple station where I spend a mainly happy 17 years in the booking office. In those day I would see the slam door 101 Met-Camms out during rush hour. Had some lovely passengers, and also had a number of TV stars coming through, most of which I would chat to on late turn. Happy days. 😊
Nice one Stuart. A very good friend of mine is in the booking office there. He was a driver with me at Buxton but lost an eye in a terrible motorcycle accident. I can remember catching the train from New Mills where I grew up to Marple to go to the pictures on a Saturday afternoon - about the early 70s so maybe you were there.
Hi Don. Still enjoying the videos, makes all the difference when the information comes from the horses mouth as it were. Isn’t it a shame the amount of rubbish that finds itself on the line side. Also nice to see so many old station buildings remain and have not been replaced by plastic bus stops. All the best. Mick
This must be one of the most intresting beautiful journeys linking city to city with the spectacular peak district and the Hope valley such an enjoyable experiences. Thank you so much. My father died 4 years ago and he would have loved your videos.You give much pleasure to many. Hope you have changed Mossley to Moston on the Wakefield to Wavertree video. Thanks again
Thanks Robert. I added an addendum to the video description as I can’t edit the video once it’s uploaded. I live in Chapel-en-le-Frith near to the Hope Valley line and yes, it is rather nice. I’ve got the footage for the return journey but haven’t got round to editing it yet. I was waiting to do the Cleethorpes to Piccadilly run but my colleague took ill so that is postponed for the time being.
Nice video. Long tunnels at Cowburn and Totley. Seems extraordinary to think from platforms 1 to 4 at Manchester Piccadilly you could once get an electrically hauled express to Sheffield just under 50 years ago
@@doncoffey5820 LOL indeed, I like the captions. Somewhere near Reddish North the CLC Fallowfield loop used to go under or over? Any chance of getting Huddersfield to Sheffield please, or is this off your patch?
Not sure about the Fallowfield line - somebody might comment. That route would be a Northern route but I was a driver manager at Piccadilly so it is off my patch. The nearest I can get you is Huddersfield to Wakefield which you will find in the list of videos.
Don Coffey Thanks Don. Did you come across any staff that once signed Woodhead at all? Do Piccadilly Northern drivers do Sheffield completely or is it split with Sheffield crews? Also I pity the Pway staff that had to set up the EROS in the depths of Cowburn Tunnel 😁
Yea only the railway would think of closing the most direct route and at the time the modest modern electrified line in the country. Woodhead tunnel was brand new compared to the high maintenance tunnels at Disley, Cowburn and Totley. My guess is the utility companies who wanted to lay cables and pipelines through Woodhead tunnel were bribing a few influential people who would have the final say on which Transpennine route got axed.
Thank you Don for another excellent video! This is a route which, before watching this video, I knew very little about. This was a very nice watch but also informative, as I had my GB Rail Atlas book beside me, so it was a case of 'putting names to faces'
This film has made me reminisce. I was born in Heeley and many times me and my pals used to take the train out into Derbyshire, just to go through Totley Tunnel. We used to get off in Grindleford, and go walking all day, when it was safe for young lads to do so.
It was all steam hauled in those days, one day a pal of mine put his head out of the window, and came back looking as if he had been down the pit all day.
When you were up on the Moors above Sheffield, you could check the track of the engine by the smoke coming out of the massive air vents, all along the moor.
I’m afraid I remember such days too Geoff. Where did they go?
That was a privilege looking from the drivers perspective of the route, such marvellous scenery. Often I find ignorant southerners ridiculing the north of England but if they watched this then they'd realise just how much natural beauty we've got up in these parts.
The engineers and navis who built this amazing line deserve so much credibility. It must've been unbelievably difficult to survey and build. It's certainly stood the test of time. Thanks very much for the video 👍
There are some nice views. Watch out for the Buxton to Manchester video which premiers at 20:30 on Friday night. I never cease to marvel at how they must have toiled building these railways. I’m glad you appreciate it.
I'm building a model railway, and these videos are priceless for research material. I suspect all of these videos will become quiet a historical record in their own right! Thank you for sharing.
Glad they are of help!
Loving those little extra clips you add, gotta appreciate the time and effort you put into these videos! 👍 :)
Thanks for that. It is quite time consuming but they seem quite well received.
What absolutely BEAUTIFUL scenery - cuttings, viaducts, bridges, semaphores, and tunnels! I could sit for days in the quiet of that countryside just watching the trains go by.
Don’t tell my workmates but so could I 😉
Thank you Don. I have recently discovered your videos and it has been a real nostalgia fest for me. My Dad was an LNER Good guard and worked the lines around Sheffield to Manchester until the 1960 's.. I was born and lived in Sheffield and later lived in Chapel en le frith, working in Buxton, now in Carlisle.. it’s so great to see areas I know so well from a different perspective and it is surprisingly soporific to watch..
Your captions add to the interest.
Thank you again, it has been a few hours of total pleasure and nostalgia.
Glad you enjoyed it Keith. I live in Chapel-en-le-Frith.
I love the format with the description etc scrolling along the bottom. Excellent video. Thank you.
Another excellent production. The first section brought back happy memories of my first job after training as Area Supervisor Romiley - manual signalling and out of hours box visits - happy days!
Yet another interesting and, for me, nostalgic video. Thanks for recording and posting these fascinating rail trip videos.
You’re most welcome. Glad you’ve discovered them.
Thank you. Many happy memories from traveling between Manchester and Sheffield 40 years ago.
Never having travelled in this area, would I be right in thinking that the journey 40 years ago was identical to 2019?
Possibly a few things William but certainly nothing much.
Thank you for uploading this amazing videos. Very instructives ones to those of us that live in other countries. Is a good way to know and see other railways systems around the world. Greetings from Argentina.
Hello Argentina. Glad you are enjoying the videos, there will be another soon.
It's great that you give us so much extra information in these videos.
Lovely scenery on this trip - must be glorious in the summer or with some snow.
Possibly one of the country’s most picturesque locations and very busy in the summer. I live at Chapel-en-le-Frith which is surrounded by nice scenery but we tend to take it for granted.
Best cab ride I have seen yet! Superb quality and love the geographical and and historic notes underneath. 11/10!
Thanks James. Much appreciated.
This is wonderful thanks.
Glad you liked it Monica.
Particularly magnificent journey. Thanks. Amazing how Sheffield station just "appears" after going through the peak district.
Great viewing once again on the big screen. Looks like a great line to drive. Cheers for sharing 👍
Great Video , traveled from Edale to Piccadilly and back when on holiday in the peak district. i am a driver on Irish Rail.
If you come over again, send me a message via Messenger or on my community page and I’ll try and meet up. I can maybe show you round a 185.
The bits of history and telling us where those branch lines go add much to the video.
Yayyyyyy my favourite dmu! Thank you for this, you put so much effort into your videos with your history and everything, thank you so much
A thoroughly interesting and informative video, just what You Tube was made for.
This was my second journey with you today, Don, and this time I followed the entire route on an Ordnance Survey 1:25000 map on my iPad, which added even more life and detail to your excellent work.
Glad to have you aboard and glad you enjoyed the trips.
Thank you for another sight seeing trip, with goodies thrown in. Patrick
Cheers Patrick, much appreciated 👍
Brilliant video, and all the extra information, like route learning all over again..Thanks
Great watch thank you, especially as i have been on the Hope Valley line today.
Oh, good for you - thats a nice ride out.
Those buffer stops at the end of the journey! I am positive they are the same ones that were there back in the late 1960s when I used to trainspot on the station (then called Sheffield Midland) If I remember correctly, the stone building with the blue door facing you at the stops was the shunters’ mess room. It was a popular place for the young trainspotters to gather as when shunters entered or left the building you could get a glimpse of the “saucy” pictures on the walls inside. During the summer (oh joy!) the door was sometimes propped open. Only blokes of a certain age will probably understand what I am on about, but fond memories of more innocent and restrained times.
I remember! I must be of that age you mention.
I love going to Piccadilly,it’s one of my favourite places to go
Love this route, very scenic. Travelled along it on the Alphaline service in the 90s from Stamford Lincs to Manchester.
Yours are the best of the rail videos I've seen, made even more interesting by the station notifications and the points of interest captions.
Thank you Ben, thats much appreciated. I try to vary the info so the more you watch, the more you learn. Keep safe.
Excellent video. I appreciated the information added along the way and the elimination of wait time at the stations.. I have added this video to my 'long cab rides' playlist.
Glad you appreciate them.
Thank you for this video, Don.
I'm about to take my first train journey by myself to Sheffield, so I really appreciate being able to see the journey beforehand and know what to expect. Certainly eased my anxiety!
I’m glad you found us and hope your journey went well.
Splendid video as always. Thank you so much.
Super stuff with all the information. Cheers.
Glad you enjoyed it
These trains were ubiquitous where I grew up, I'm going to miss those knackered old buckets when they come off the rails for good, I must admit 😏
They plod on for the foreseeable future Andrew!
Thanks again, Don, for a great journey. Wow, semaphore signals. That did surprise me. B.
Nostalgic eh? Watch the Chester and the Buxton videos too.
Hi Don. Love your videos, I find them so relaxing.
I want to thank you for all the hard work, research, and time you put into them. Great stuff.
Thanks again Don. Keep em coming:)
Glad you enjoyed it. More coming soon.
Great stuff . Thank you for the video and the informative captioning. It also took me back 40 years when I occasionally visited the Devonshire Royal Hosp in Buxton. The dome is as breathtaking as some of the views from your cab.
You have to stand on the spot in the middle of the dome and whisper to hear the extrordinary echo! I will be filming the Buxton line one of these fine days so make sure you subscribe for notifications.
Nice ride Don and beautiful countryside enroute, thanks Dave.
Thanks as always Dave.
What a fantastic and very informative video and to top it off some train horn awesome. Thank you for posting it
Thankyou for another of your educational and relaxing videos! Due to Ill health I don’t get out as much as I used to, and your films bring travel to me in the comfort of my own favourite chair. PS, I last worked as TTI and Second Man Diesel on the North Norfolk Railway.
Steven, I’m really pleased they make things a little better for you. They take quite a lot of effort but it makes it very worthwhile when I hear a comment like that. If you were the only viewer I would have been happy to do it. All the best to you.
Thanks for another enjoyable and informative ride Don.
Sad to see Chinley station these days, I remember it in the 1960's, it was far bigger and more interesting. Great video btw, Thank you.
Yes, there was a time when it might have become a major centre like Crewe or Derby but the planners of the day were concerned about a nearby fault called Chinley Churn. It was nevertheless a quite complex location.
Nice Video, The scrolling Information makes it. And nice to have a cab view where the camera is not constantly shaking...
Thats a very substantial Go Pro mount that achieves that Martyn.
Another great video Don. I never realised the route was so scenic. Loved the sound of the train brakes it reminded me of the sound Mk1 and Mk2 carriages made in my misspent youth.
Glad you enjoyed it
The Hope Valley is beautiful
I do a bit of cycling and the ride from Hope to Edale is my favourite... no actually, the ride from Edale to Hope is my favourite as it's downhill :-)
Excellent viewing. Thank you.
Thanks Ian.
I did the Midland route last year from Norwich to Manchester. There is a similar trestle truss bridge in Glasgow over the M80. On the route from Springburn to Cumbernauld.
Well Done.
Very interesting - I normally only see this route looking sideways out of the window. I liked the subtitles - always wondered why there were 2 double buzzes when the train was about to set off.
Another fascinating video. Makes you want to become a train driver! Love the info scrolling along the bottom
Glad you liked it Mark.
Hi Don another great video with excellent information. Really enjoyed.
Superb videos 👍
Another great video. Your video's really are outstanding, in quality and information.
Thanks Walt, appreciated.
Brilliant video Don, thanks very much. Very useful info too, one of my favourite routes.
Another marvellous video, for which many thanks. The skies in the Hope Valley were looking especiall moody! Did you know that at Buxworth the line as built ran on the other side of the station house but there was a major landslip right at the opening and a whole section had to be rebuilt on the side it runs on now? And Chinley needed its space - some of the Midland London trains split three ways there, with the main portion for Manchester Central, a portion for Liverpool turning left at Cheadle Heath, and a portion for East Lancashire turning right at New Mills South and then right again at Ashburys.
No I didn’t know about Buxworth but I knew the layout at Chinley was extensive.
Also there was once a 261 yd tunnel to the west of Buxworth station, but this was opened out into a deep cutting when the line was quadrupled in 1902.
Bril. good to see the new workers in their hi viz clothes getting ready at Sheffield. Again such a wonderful video and appreciated so much. Keep up the good work!
As a for er private pilot, I was always aware of how much I depended on the assistance of Air Traffic Control to help keep me safely away from other aircraft. .. But I expect it was quite different from a driver depending on the “system” to keep the switches properly aligned to prevent high speed derailments at switches, or being turned into an oncoming passenger or freight train. . .
Its the job of the signaller to keep trains apart and the switches are all interlocked with the signals. It should ensure a high level of safety.
Interesting video - was a student in Sheffield so used that route often to get back to Manchester, years later I was working in Openshaw so would get the same train to Ashburys.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Breathtaking!
I’ve got the return of that trip to edit. There is snow on the hills so it looks quite spectacular. Keep watching Barry.
another great ride!..thanks
I first used this line around 1970 after the Woodhead route had shut: the tracks between Dore and the Midland station were being rationalized and the semaphores taken down, leaving (I think) just two tracks and one possibly two-way relief line. There had been a dive-under crossover (filled-in long ago) just before the Midland station. I vaguely remember passing through the platforms of a couple of disused stations between Dore and the main station: no trace now.
I remember the dive under and the line through Door is a single one which is planned to be doubled agin!!!
A picturesque journey, smooth and comfortable. Thanks Don! 🏴👍🙂🇺🇸
Much appreciated Martin 👍
Don!! I intend to visit England soon. Your inclusion of clips and information is beautiful!! This is a nice (imaginary) ride and tour for me. Thanks! I have subscribed.
You’ll love the next one Marlo, the scenery is superb. Thanks for the kind words.
Thank you, i have really enjoyed watching this
Glad you enjoyed it Paul.
brilliant. Very informaive... thankyou
Thanks John, right up in my neck of the woods that one 👍
Thanks Don, another great cab ride with informative captions. Pity the weather was so dull over the beautiful scenic route.
At least it didn’t rain! Thanks for the kind words.
A most enjoyable journey and very informative. Thank you
34:59 The diverging route to the right has been seen before in one of your videos. It goes to Buxton signal box and ends in the sidings that are north of there.
The lime stone trains that use the token block line from Downlow to Buxton signal box run around the box into the sidings, the loco runs around the train then hauls the stone down the line that then runs around the other side of the signal box through Great Rocks and Peak Dale under the Buxton branch line at Dove Holes and then again at Chapel en le frith and comes out here.
It used to be one hell of a sight watching 3 class 37 locos hauling all that stone up those hills.
They sounded like all hell had been let lose.
I often visit Buxton Signal Box for a catch up with the guys there.
Another excellent video, many thanks for uploading.
Excellent video, great inrormation as well. This is the only way now one can get a drivers eye view not like the 60s & 70s when U could grab a seat in behind the drivers cab on the ealy dmus, as long as they didnt put the blinds down. Please keep them coming!
Will do Greg.
Awesome video and useful information on what a stunning view from the cab
Gotta love The Peak District National Park and living in Sheffield, it's right on the doorstep
I will get round to editing the return journey one day. Bear with me!
Nice video, I've applied for a trainee driver role with Northern rail based at Sheffield, if I get the job I hope to get this route.
I’m afraid Sheffield drivers don’t sign the Hope Valley Ryan, it is exclusively Manchester drivers at the moment. Best of luck with the application, I hope you get it. Let us know.
Enjoying all your videos Don, Thank you!
First time I have seen your channel most enjoyable and very informative. I will be subscribing
Thanks Denis.
Another superb video Don. Excellent, informative information given. The standard all cab ride videos should be.
I fully agree: clear pictures, rock-steady camera, informative captions. Other video makers should take lessons from Don.
There is a certain producer of cab-view UA-cam videos of the ex-Southern Railway region who has just introduced the gimmick of a camera mounted on his head, so the picture waves all over the place as he turns his head - spectacularly bad :-(
Somebody asked me to wear a camera on my head to shoot these videos. Maybe if they pay me Liam Neeson rates but other than that - not happening! Thanks for the kind words - appreciated.
What a incredible run ! That was amazing!!! Thanks for sharing !!! :):):)
Largely down to some help from a very good friend at Northern.
Love your videos, such a pleasure to watch, thank you
Glad you like them!
Thanks for this. It was all very interesting and took me away from other important stuff I was supposed to be doing!
Sorry for the very late reply! Hope the videos still help you to escape Ian.
Thanks for the great ride Don.
Fascinating video, thanks.
A very enjoyable watch, Don. Keep up the good work.
Chester video tonight Ben ;-)
Another good 'un, Don, with interesting comments, as well as the captions. Keep up the good work.
Will do thanks.
Great video. Loved the info on the bottom.
Thanks for some good memories. Belle Vue Elizabethan ballroom where I first met my wife, Aug Bank hol 1963.
Bradbury my old home town, trainspotting on the two lines. The one from Manchester Central via Stockpot Tiviot Dale was known as the " bottom line " as it was in a cutting and the " top " line from Manchester London Road as was.
I’m not delighted to tell you that remember that ballroom too Butch but only because it indicates my age! They are building all over the trackbed of the lower line now.
@@doncoffey5820 Sorry for the typo, Bradbury. What are they building on the bottom line?
At 41:34 Stopping at Eadale, which I well remember from being a boy there both has a "Boy Scout" and has a Army cadet later on at "Kinder Scout".
You’re working your way through a few of these videos John and I’m pleased to see it. Until recently, my neighbours had a farm up Kinder so spent a fair amount of time up there myself.
Well done! Huge thanks for your time consuming work!
Some lovely sunlight breaking through the mist once you get out over the Pennines. Romiley signalbox looks rather sad, I suppose that's not in use now. Isn't New Mills Central in a picturesque spot.
Yes, Romiley signal box is out of use. They’ll probably take it down at some stage. I was born in New Mills which had a very busy railway at the time.
Thank you Don, Very good I enjoyed it.
Thanks Paul.
Another brilliant and informative video Don, cheers
The first time I did this route was 21st Feb 1984, the day I joined the RAF. Itinerary said change at Sheffield for the train to Doncaster and then change to an Intercity 125 to Newark North Gate.
When I asked the bloke at Sheffield where I could get the train to Doncaster, he pointed at the train I'd just got off! I said I thought it terminated here he said yes, the service from Manchester does but now it forms the train to Doncaster!
As an aside, the home I left was passed as the train approached Brimington Station. Our house was marked by the large Leylandii on the left, roughly half way between the first bridge you pass after Reddish Vale viaduct and the bridge just before the station.
Oh well, at least you got a breath of fresh air in Sheffield! I’ve probably seen your house many times on my travels!
Homophones 1 - Don Coffey 0. 5'57 Hoard = cache or stockpile, Horde = Crowd, throng or multitude. Cowburn Tunnel, so straight you could boil a kettle waiting for that pinprick of light to become the tunnel mouth. Superb, with excellent commentaries 'en route'.
Blimey, I had to look up homophone! I probably spent too many hours sat watching trains at New Mills Central in the 60s when I should have been at school! ;-)
@@doncoffey5820 to two too.
I also meant to comment on the length of the former Midland station platforms. The company must have run really long trains in their day.
Marple station where I spend a mainly happy 17 years in the booking office. In those day I would see the slam door 101 Met-Camms out during rush hour. Had some lovely passengers, and also had a number of TV stars coming through, most of which I would chat to on late turn. Happy days. 😊
Nice one Stuart. A very good friend of mine is in the booking office there. He was a driver with me at Buxton but lost an eye in a terrible motorcycle accident. I can remember catching the train from New Mills where I grew up to Marple to go to the pictures on a Saturday afternoon - about the early 70s so maybe you were there.
Hi Don. Still enjoying the videos, makes all the difference when the information comes from the horses mouth as it were. Isn’t it a shame the amount of rubbish that finds itself on the line side. Also nice to see so many old station buildings remain and have not been replaced by plastic bus stops. All the best. Mick
Thanks Mick. It is a shame that people treat the railway as a garbage site. Its the architecture that really interests me - such craftsmanship.
This must be one of the most intresting beautiful journeys linking city to city with the spectacular peak district and the Hope valley such an enjoyable experiences. Thank you so much. My father died 4 years ago and he would have loved your videos.You give much pleasure to many. Hope you have changed Mossley to Moston on the Wakefield to Wavertree video. Thanks again
Thanks Robert. I added an addendum to the video description as I can’t edit the video once it’s uploaded. I live in Chapel-en-le-Frith near to the Hope Valley line and yes, it is rather nice. I’ve got the footage for the return journey but haven’t got round to editing it yet. I was waiting to do the Cleethorpes to Piccadilly run but my colleague took ill so that is postponed for the time being.
All those times I've been through Sheffield station and I never knew that there was a platform there.
The bay? Yes it’s the most frequently used for those Manchester turnbacks 👍
amazing as always
Nice video. Long tunnels at Cowburn and Totley. Seems extraordinary to think from platforms 1 to 4 at Manchester Piccadilly you could once get an electrically hauled express to Sheffield just under 50 years ago
Progress the Ogress!
@@doncoffey5820 LOL indeed, I like the captions. Somewhere near Reddish North the CLC Fallowfield loop used to go under or over? Any chance of getting Huddersfield to Sheffield please, or is this off your patch?
Not sure about the Fallowfield line - somebody might comment. That route would be a Northern route but I was a driver manager at Piccadilly so it is off my patch. The nearest I can get you is Huddersfield to Wakefield which you will find in the list of videos.
Don Coffey Thanks Don. Did you come across any staff that once signed Woodhead at all? Do Piccadilly Northern drivers do Sheffield completely or is it split with Sheffield crews? Also I pity the Pway staff that had to set up the EROS in the depths of Cowburn Tunnel 😁
Yea only the railway would think of closing the most direct route and at the time the modest modern electrified line in the country. Woodhead tunnel was brand new compared to the high maintenance tunnels at Disley, Cowburn and Totley. My guess is the utility companies who wanted to lay cables and pipelines through Woodhead tunnel were bribing a few influential people who would have the final say on which Transpennine route got axed.
Enjoyable escape. The experience is captured so well in the driver eye view and by the info provided. Just excellent!!
I love these videos!
I’m pleased Andy.
Thank you Don for another excellent video! This is a route which, before watching this video, I knew very little about. This was a very nice watch but also informative, as I had my GB Rail Atlas book beside me, so it was a case of 'putting names to faces'
Excellent. A Track Atlas costs about £27 off Amazon and is a brilliant aid to watching these because it is all to scale.