Brilliant! You get the impression of the steep gradient towards the end. Lots of junctions, semaphore signals and level crossings: A real enthusiast's treat!
Hi think my grandfather Walter Sanderson worked on this line in the 1960s/70s he was a signalman do you have any memories of him thanks also his father lived in the railway cottages at worsboro Bridge as he was ex train driver thanks
I hope the route opens fully so it can be a real reversal of past road transport folly! Oil price & Government commitment to electrification are the key!
@BaseTurnComplete South African 3kv dc look similar, too. I remember riding out on an EMU from Cape Town to Paarl back in 1994 and it was like going to Hadfield but more interesting. Plus the people wanted to talk to me. The Spoornet staff were really polite and friendly as well as the local passengers.
This was a really wholesome freight railway hat could have survived with the decline of coal as a route from Hull and Immingham. I would love the route from Mexborough to Hadfield to reopen as part of an electrified railway across the pennines
Actually ,the line branching to the left at Wombwell Main Junction is the ex Manchester Sheffield and Linconshire Blackburn Valley line to Sheffield The Birdwell & Pilley line mentioned in the commentry was a branch off the ex-Midland Sheffield to Barnsley line (Chapeltown Loop)
the junction to the right would have been Wombwell Central Station, the lines in use in this video are the freight lines, and lines would have diverged to the right for Wombwell Central Station, known locally as 'Wombwell Bottom Station'
Wombwell Central Station closed in 1960, but the freight lines were used up until 1986. all thats left of Wombwell Central Station is what is now the Railway Inn pub on the left of the picture after the bridge (next to the one thats been back filled)
Furthermore, if you watch the video The Woodhead route 1972 At about 3:24 in you will see the loading guage bells stretched across the road at Glasshouse crossing In this video they have been removed . So this suggests that the video could have been made during the last day(s) of the lines operation?
it cranks me up that they are up in arms about this HS2 shit,and yet they closed down a line that could have gone from Man Pic via Woodhead and Sheff Vic to Marylebone and been electrified as well,all be it 1500v dc to start with,then up to 25Kv like they have now to Hadfield/glossop,closing the GCR was a mistake which ig the Gov has its way is gonna wreck the countryside and financially bust us,thanks for posting this vid,great to see
The Woodhead line linked up well with teh old GCR line between Sheffield Victoria and London Marylebone. We could really do with both lines being around now....such a shame, such shortsightedness. The GCR would have been ideal for HS2. The terminus could have been changed from Marylebone to Euston, but apart from that it would be ideal. Class 88 electric locos could run on the Woodhead line today, in place of the class 76's.
@@robtyman4281 Yes, it's so easy to hammer away in UA-cam comments criticizing people for failing to predict what would happen 35 years later. While we're at it, those guys who failed to predict World War II in 1904 were total morons who really were trying to destroy the country.
@@beeble2003 It was wrong to scrap this route - it was a valuable main line route between two northern cities, it wasn't some 'obscure' branch line'. Not sure how you can defend those who axed the line. And yes, as a nation, the UK STILL suffers from a chronic lack of foresight. Something that's blighted us for decades. The combined issues of Covid, and Brexit are not helping matters, and will in time probably exacerbate things even more. I bet in ten years from now, because of a lack of money we'll be axing railway lines just as we did in the 60's. We'll be repeating mistakes we made back then. No - I'm no fan of this government, and NO, I did not vote for Brexit. In the end we'll be the ones who will pay for the folly of it - not other European countries or the EU. How can a country make a success of Brexit when it has virtually no large scale manufacturing base??
You can see why the line was ultimately stiffed. A reliance on a declining traffic, riddled with manual boxes and speed restirctions and non standard electrification. They were never going to, or never had the money to, upgrade it.
But Government never had the heart to commit to a viable standard. The Electrification was standardised on an awful French system but even so the CTC could have been concentrated. Woodhead could work now.
Ironic it was closed down in the late 70's and now it seems electrification and rail is the way forwards in the UK .. I remember the route functioning and was caught multiple times in having to stop for crossing rail traffic. There is talk again of a multi-million cross Pennine rail link (although it will not happen) It is all cycle route now, part of the trans Pennine Trail. I have ridden it many times on my mountain bike as I live very close I rode pretty much this exact route, It was a hard slog cycling up to and through (cant get through now though) the Silkstone tunnels, but coming back down was all free wheel :-)
It seems crazy to me that in the mid 50s they electrified this line, built new locos an bored new tunnels, only for it to be closed barely 25 years later!! How wrong can a government get it? The way things are going now it may yet re-open sooner rather than later. (I hope)
Also note that Worsbrough Dale crossing appears to have been taken out of use (distant signal missing from below Lewden Crossing,s up home post, and trailing crossover has been partially lifted).
I still think it's unusual this approach track is not wired. Still this is wholesome stuff and the cost of electric power compared to fossil diesel is bugger all.
@baconsandwich2007 The 'bridge' is Stathies or Staithes (can't remember which way you spell it) viaduct, it carries the Midalnd railway Barnsley to Meadowhall over the GC.
Some people think wind turbines look ugly. I suppose they need to live without on tap electricity for a while. Most people haven't got a clue how and where their creature comforts come from. Never mind.
Actually AC locos DID exist (in europe, and america), but BR did not decide to make the 25kv AC system the national standard until 1955, which was shortly after this line was electrified, so unfortunately it just missed out. :-(
This videos gold dust really enjoyed watching that love the track sound why are the freaky looking gantry's so different to one's on other electrified lines?
Because they're older and because you need much less isolation for 1500V than 25kV. The gantries on the London-Southend line looked quite a lot like this until recently, but I believe they've been replaced in the last year or so.
I've had this complete video many years now and living in Barnsley it makes sad viewing whenever I drive through Worsbrough. The trees have been allowed to take over and it's become a haven for the off-road bike idiots brigade. Have been puzzled when this vid was made - August (77?) as Mitchells Main Colliery was still open. Any ideas anyone?
MrDavros1234 mitchells main colliery closed in the 1930's do you mean darfield main , i lived very close to the wombwell main juct and mitchells main parts , i would date this video between 1980 and closure as there is sewer construction to the left of The track between darfield main crossing and aldam juction , i remember this being done at great cost only for the scrap thieves to nick the big cast aluminium man hole covers , you can see the large piles of agrogate in the video , used to watch endless 76's with 37,47, 45, 31, 56 ,20 storming Up the bank to barrow colliery too from my bedroom window which overlooked wombwell main junction to swaith viaduct section , Happy times , i can see the sheffield manchester section being reopened at some point even the barnsley doncaster part but the worsbough section is gone for good , coal made it and coal broke it.
Can't take the power: A class 92 on a freight or eurostar doing 65 mph stretches the third rail substations to their limit. So does an emu doing 110mph and collector shoe dynamics come in at this speed. Overhead catenary is beautiful:-))))
@theredraven That is true. Beeching saw this one as a Primary Route. A Class 1 Railroad in US terms. Perhaps it's closure owed much to the influence of the Derby (Midland Rail) Mafia that wanted to bury the GC in its entirety:-(((
That's not what "Class 1 Railroad" means. Class 1/2/3 is a classification of companies, not routes, and it's based entirely on revenue. (Currently, Class 1 railroads have income over $250M per year, Class 2 have $20-250M and anything under $20M is Class 3. For some reason, those numbers are in 1991 dollars, so Class 1 is somewhere over $430M per year, now.)
Not true, some of the 350 desiros (350/1s) have third rail collector shoes to allow them to work on southern lines aswell as the WCML, but the new batch of 350/2s currently being introduced are bein built without them. Similarly some of the southern EMUs have a pantograph fitted, and most have a cutout in the roof to allow one to be retro fitted should the need arise.
I take it you've never been down the great eastern line then? The stretch between liverpool street and chelmsford uses exactly the same designs as here and was completed in 1949, also at 1500v dc, as here. In 1960 the line was re-equipped to 25kv ac. B.R. COULD have done that here but this was a much less profitable line so they (regrattably) closed it down instead.
I will reiterate a Mexborough to Hadfield or even a Hull to Hadfield reopening is needed. This will be an all electric railway: Diesels will soon go the way of steam.
We made a walking and droning video of part of this route from the Glasshouse Crossing at Worsbrough down to the Aldham Junction before heading to the Stairfoot area, the Ardsley Tunnel and Viaduct which of course is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail and incorporated some of the footage into our video which can be seen here ua-cam.com/video/TXHm928rmHM/v-deo.html
@LukaSteinberg Why should the government be running truck companies? Public transport is one thing, freight haulage is entirely another. In fact, since privatisation, freight is the one thing that has improved on the railways. Why take a step back?
Psychopaths would rather take that step backward. Anti Social Personalities rule because the majority of people lick their arses. Humanity is shit. I am a proud Misanthrope due to this.
happy days,woodhead will probably never re-open,to much infrastructure to re-instate,been better off closing the hope valley line instead if one line had to close,can only dream what might have been
The background sounds give the game away this was a (probably Derby built) DMU. Pity the crossrail trains were given to Siemens probably by George Osborne/Rory Stewart at bilderberg 2011 in St. Moritz to Peter Loeshcer CEO of Siemens:-(((
Because these overhead lines and gantries were actually designed in the 1930's and don't need insulating like AC systems. The line used a different voltage: 1500v DC, instead of 25Kv AC. DC was proven to work and AC powered trains didn't exist due to the technology. With hindsight, the whole DC concept was a bit rubbish though, as it meant the route was hugely expensive to convert: BR shut it instead. Finally, they look weird because you could ADJUST them: to counteract mining subsidence.
Personally I would much rather live next to an electrified railway than be breathing in all the fumes and increased noise of a diesel only line. Say what you want about how they look, but its the way to go, for train performance and the environment.
@tolgug Seems to be a common British thing : Infrastructure trashed for no good reason. Like Gordon Brown selling half our Gold Reserve at Rock bottom price. That's known as Brown's bottom in the Stock World. Stinks of subversion against us all:-(((
Brilliant! You get the impression of the steep gradient towards the end. Lots of junctions, semaphore signals and level crossings: A real enthusiast's treat!
I can remember this railway line as I live close to where it was but now known as the pennine trail which is very busy with walkers and bikers
Brilliant film. I used to work in Elsecar Jct. Box in the mid 1960's as a train register lad.
Hi think my grandfather Walter Sanderson worked on this line in the 1960s/70s he was a signalman do you have any memories of him thanks also his father lived in the railway cottages at worsboro Bridge as he was ex train driver thanks
Intresting footage, nicely narrated.
I hope woodhead opens in the next few years, complete with 25kv electric traction:-))
According to social media this trip on this DMU was filmed in the last week of operation in the middle of July 1981
I hope the route opens fully so it can be a real reversal of past road transport folly! Oil price & Government commitment to electrification are the key!
You can it's taken from a DMU, because of the sounds of the 'Vaccum Brake' being applied,
The Brake sound also gives it away that it is a DMU
Plus , you can hear two axles bogie passing over track joints.
It's definitely a DMU.
@BaseTurnComplete South African 3kv dc look similar, too. I remember riding out on an EMU from Cape Town to Paarl back in 1994 and it was like going to Hadfield but more interesting. Plus the people wanted to talk to me. The Spoornet staff were really polite and friendly as well as the local passengers.
This was a really wholesome freight railway hat could have survived with the decline of coal as a route from Hull and Immingham. I would love the route from Mexborough to Hadfield to reopen as part of an electrified railway across the pennines
Actually ,the line branching to the left at Wombwell Main Junction is the ex Manchester Sheffield and Linconshire Blackburn Valley line to Sheffield
The Birdwell & Pilley line mentioned in the commentry was a branch off the ex-Midland Sheffield to Barnsley line (Chapeltown Loop)
Got this film on video. Must’ve been a rather grey day considering the lack of colour!
the junction to the right would have been Wombwell Central Station, the lines in use in this video are the freight lines, and lines would have diverged to the right for Wombwell Central Station, known locally as 'Wombwell Bottom Station'
Wombwell Central Station closed in 1960, but the freight lines were used up until 1986. all thats left of Wombwell Central Station is what is now the Railway Inn pub on the left of the picture after the bridge (next to the one thats been back filled)
Furthermore, if you watch the video The Woodhead route 1972
At about 3:24 in you will see the loading guage bells stretched across the road
at Glasshouse crossing
In this video they have been removed .
So this suggests that the video could have been made during the last day(s)
of the lines operation?
it cranks me up that they are up in arms about this HS2 shit,and yet they closed down a line that could have gone from Man Pic via Woodhead and Sheff Vic to Marylebone and been electrified as well,all be it 1500v dc to start with,then up to 25Kv like they have now to Hadfield/glossop,closing the GCR was a mistake which ig the Gov has its way is gonna wreck the countryside and financially bust us,thanks for posting this vid,great to see
The Woodhead line linked up well with teh old GCR line between Sheffield Victoria and London Marylebone. We could really do with both lines being around now....such a shame, such shortsightedness. The GCR would have been ideal for HS2. The terminus could have been changed from Marylebone to Euston, but apart from that it would be ideal. Class 88 electric locos could run on the Woodhead line today, in place of the class 76's.
@@robtyman4281 Yes, it's so easy to hammer away in UA-cam comments criticizing people for failing to predict what would happen 35 years later. While we're at it, those guys who failed to predict World War II in 1904 were total morons who really were trying to destroy the country.
@@beeble2003 It was wrong to scrap this route - it was a valuable main line route between two northern cities, it wasn't some 'obscure' branch line'.
Not sure how you can defend those who axed the line. And yes, as a nation, the UK STILL suffers from a chronic lack of foresight. Something that's blighted us for decades.
The combined issues of Covid, and Brexit are not helping matters, and will in time probably exacerbate things even more.
I bet in ten years from now, because of a lack of money we'll be axing railway lines just as we did in the 60's. We'll be repeating mistakes we made back then.
No - I'm no fan of this government, and NO, I did not vote for Brexit. In the end we'll be the ones who will pay for the folly of it - not other European countries or the EU.
How can a country make a success of Brexit when it has virtually no large scale manufacturing base??
You can see why the line was ultimately stiffed. A reliance on a declining traffic, riddled with manual boxes and speed restirctions and non standard electrification. They were never going to, or never had the money to, upgrade it.
But Government never had the heart to commit to a viable standard. The Electrification was standardised on an awful French system but even so the CTC could have been concentrated. Woodhead could work now.
Worsbrough Bridge crossing was converted to lifting barriers in 1973 (the old machanism moved to Dovecliffe)so after then
Ironic it was closed down in the late 70's and now it seems electrification and rail is the way forwards in the UK .. I remember the route functioning and was caught multiple times in having to stop for crossing rail traffic. There is talk again of a multi-million cross Pennine rail link (although it will not happen) It is all cycle route now, part of the trans Pennine Trail. I have ridden it many times on my mountain bike as I live very close I rode pretty much this exact route, It was a hard slog cycling up to and through (cant get through now though) the Silkstone tunnels, but coming back down was all free wheel :-)
Ive got the RAIL video to this
It seems crazy to me that in the mid 50s they electrified this line, built new locos an bored new tunnels, only for it to be closed barely 25 years later!! How wrong can a government get it? The way things are going now it may yet re-open sooner rather than later. (I hope)
Also note that Worsbrough Dale crossing appears to have been taken out of use
(distant signal missing from below Lewden Crossing,s up home post, and trailing crossover has been partially lifted).
I still think it's unusual this approach track is not wired. Still this is wholesome stuff and the cost of electric power compared to fossil diesel is bugger all.
@baconsandwich2007 The 'bridge' is Stathies or Staithes (can't remember which way you spell it) viaduct, it carries the Midalnd railway Barnsley to Meadowhall over the GC.
Hi. Its actually called Swaithe & here is my video of the Viaduct from 8th April 2020. ua-cam.com/video/8qBUc8arV6Y/v-deo.html&pbjreload=101
I also made a video of the trains and that section ua-cam.com/video/vA15iuW9xlk/v-deo.html&pbjreload=101
@BaseTurnComplete Same can be said of Belgische Spoorwegen and Spoornet (South Africa) though these networks are largely energised at 3kv dc
Some people think wind turbines look ugly. I suppose they need to live without on tap electricity for a while. Most people haven't got a clue how and where their creature comforts come from. Never mind.
Actually AC locos DID exist (in europe, and america), but BR did not decide to make the 25kv AC system the national standard until 1955, which was shortly after this line was electrified, so unfortunately it just missed out. :-(
great vid all the best from RobotRuss
What year was this filmed? does anybody know?
Probably in 1981 shortly before it was closed
@BaseTurnComplete Look at Spoornet (South Africa) and Belgische Spoorwegen at 3kv dc, too.
This videos gold dust really enjoyed watching that love the track sound why are the freaky looking gantry's so different to one's on other electrified lines?
Because they're older and because you need much less isolation for 1500V than 25kV. The gantries on the London-Southend line looked quite a lot like this until recently, but I believe they've been replaced in the last year or so.
Hello ,nothing remains!
you can walk sections of trackbed which is used for horses e.t.c
but all the railway has gone
No high speed railway wrecks the countryside but numerous motorways have done so:-(
I've had this complete video many years now and living in Barnsley it makes sad viewing whenever I drive through Worsbrough. The trees have been allowed to take over and it's become a haven for the off-road bike idiots brigade. Have been puzzled when this vid was made - August (77?) as Mitchells Main Colliery was still open. Any ideas anyone?
It makes me sad too. We've lost a couple of good railways. Thanks for your insight on South Yorkshire history.
MrDavros1234 mitchells main colliery closed in the 1930's do you mean darfield main , i lived very close to the wombwell main juct and mitchells main parts , i would date this video between 1980 and closure as there is sewer construction to the left of
The track between darfield main crossing and aldam juction , i remember this being done at great cost only for the scrap thieves to nick the big cast aluminium man hole covers , you can see the large piles of agrogate in the video , used to watch endless 76's with 37,47, 45, 31, 56 ,20 storming
Up the bank to barrow colliery too from my bedroom window which overlooked wombwell main junction to swaith viaduct section ,
Happy times , i can see the sheffield manchester section being reopened at some point even the barnsley doncaster part but the worsbough section is gone for good , coal made it and coal broke it.
Imagine this, in your attic, in Z or T scale.
Can't take the power: A class 92 on a freight or eurostar doing 65 mph stretches the third rail substations to their limit. So does an emu doing 110mph and collector shoe dynamics come in at this speed. Overhead catenary is beautiful:-))))
@theredraven That is true. Beeching saw this one as a Primary Route. A Class 1 Railroad in US terms. Perhaps it's closure owed much to the influence of the Derby (Midland Rail) Mafia that wanted to bury the GC in its entirety:-(((
That's not what "Class 1 Railroad" means. Class 1/2/3 is a classification of companies, not routes, and it's based entirely on revenue. (Currently, Class 1 railroads have income over $250M per year, Class 2 have $20-250M and anything under $20M is Class 3. For some reason, those numbers are in 1991 dollars, so Class 1 is somewhere over $430M per year, now.)
Not true, some of the 350 desiros (350/1s) have third rail collector shoes to allow them to work on southern lines aswell as the WCML, but the new batch of 350/2s currently being introduced are bein built without them. Similarly some of the southern EMUs have a pantograph fitted, and most have a cutout in the roof to allow one to be retro fitted should the need arise.
I take it you've never been down the great eastern line then? The stretch between liverpool street and chelmsford uses exactly the same designs as here and was completed in 1949, also at 1500v dc, as here. In 1960 the line was re-equipped to 25kv ac. B.R. COULD have done that here but this was a much less profitable line so they (regrattably) closed it down instead.
I will reiterate a Mexborough to Hadfield or even a Hull to Hadfield reopening is needed. This will be an all electric railway: Diesels will soon go the way of steam.
And the Horn
@MK55A Err, and the diesel engines and gear changes...........?!
@soundseeker63 same here. no smelly engine farts:-))))
We made a walking and droning video of part of this route from the Glasshouse Crossing at Worsbrough down to the Aldham Junction before heading to the Stairfoot area, the Ardsley Tunnel and Viaduct which of course is now part of the Trans Pennine Trail and incorporated some of the footage into our video which can be seen here ua-cam.com/video/TXHm928rmHM/v-deo.html
At 2:24,there appears to be a junction off to the right where track has been lifted.
Does anyone know what this junction was and where it went to ?
BonkeyDollocks maybe it was the route that ran through Bolton upon Dearne
@LukaSteinberg Why should the government be running truck companies? Public transport is one thing, freight haulage is entirely another.
In fact, since privatisation, freight is the one thing that has improved on the railways. Why take a step back?
Psychopaths would rather take that step backward. Anti Social Personalities rule because the majority of people lick their arses. Humanity is shit. I am a proud Misanthrope due to this.
What year was this filmed?
happy days,woodhead will probably never re-open,to much infrastructure to re-instate,been better off closing the hope valley line instead if one line had to close,can only dream what might have been
I would love to see this railway now in situ carrying intermodal goods trains across the pennines. Sod the Government ant the cohorts of Nimbys
@aureol40012 Good lad, well spotted
The background sounds give the game away this was a (probably Derby built) DMU. Pity the crossrail trains were given to Siemens probably by George Osborne/Rory Stewart at bilderberg 2011 in St. Moritz to Peter Loeshcer CEO of Siemens:-(((
Because these overhead lines and gantries were actually designed in the 1930's and don't need insulating like AC systems. The line used a different voltage: 1500v DC, instead of 25Kv AC. DC was proven to work and AC powered trains didn't exist due to the technology.
With hindsight, the whole DC concept was a bit rubbish though, as it meant the route was hugely expensive to convert: BR shut it instead.
Finally, they look weird because you could ADJUST them: to counteract mining subsidence.
the route will never reopen becuse the gas people own the tunnnel and there is no station at sheffield :(
Why am I as a taxpayer being asked to northern power house cross pennine links when we one but closed it !
Personally I would much rather live next to an electrified railway than be breathing in all the fumes and increased noise of a diesel only line. Say what you want about how they look, but its the way to go, for train performance and the environment.
@tolgug Seems to be a common British thing : Infrastructure trashed for no good reason. Like Gordon Brown selling half our Gold Reserve at Rock bottom price. That's known as Brown's bottom in the Stock World. Stinks of subversion against us all:-(((
is anything of this left?
It is now all cycle tracks.
All I can think of when I see this is "A nation betrayed": This fair England!
M
IT'S NO WOTH ITS PRONOUNCE WATH LIKE BATH WORSBROUGH ITS PRONOUNCE WUZBOROUGH ASK ANYONE IN BARNSLEY
not gonna happen :-(
Sadly it is. But there are Machiavellian motives for this. We are all at war with Sociopaths.
What year was this filmed? does anybody know?
What year was this filmed? does anybody know?