The Dearne Valley Railway (DVR) was a railway line which ran through the valley of the River Dearne

River Dearne

The River Dearne is a river in South Yorkshire, England. It flows roughly east for more than , from its source just inside West Yorkshire, through Denby Dale, Clayton West, Darton, Barnsley, Darfield, Wath upon Dearne, Bolton on Dearne, Adwick upon Dearne and Mexborough to its confluence with the...

 in South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

. It was incorporated by an Act of Parliament on 6 August 1897 to build a line between Brierley Junction, on the main line of the Hull and Barnsley Railway

Hull and Barnsley Railway

The Hull Barnsley & West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company was opened on 20 July 1885. It had a total projected length of 66 miles but never reached Barnsley, stopping a few miles short at Stairfoot. The name was changed to The Hull and Barnsley Railway in 1905...

, to junctions with the Great Northern Railway

Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....

 and the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway

Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway

The Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway was a joint railway owned by the Great Northern Railway and its rival, the Great Eastern Railway. It was established in the early 1880s, and the joint company built a new, primarily freight, route between Cambridge and Doncaster, a distance of...

 south east of Doncaster.

Although the line was considered an independent company it was worked by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...

 (LYR). It opened in sections over 7 years from 1902.

History and description

Construction was complete by 1908-9 the work being carried out by contractors Naylor Bros., Gates and Hogg, Henry Lovatt, and Whittaker Bros. At first, only goods traffic was carried. Passenger trains came to the line on 3 June 1912 running between Wakefield Kirkgate

Wakefield Kirkgate railway station

Wakefield Kirkgate railway station is a railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. Unlike the nearby Wakefield Westgate railway station, Kirkgate is unstaffed and served mostly by local trains...

 and Edlington

Edlington Halt

Edlington railway station was a small railway station at the eastern terminus of the Dearne Valley Railway. The station's full title as shown on the station nameboard is "Edlington for Balby Doncaster"...

 with intermediate halts serving Ryhill

Ryhill Halt railway station

Ryhill Halt railway station in Ryhill, West Yorkshire, England was a small railway halt on the Dearne Valley Junction Railway, a branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway which connected it to the Dearne Valley Railway. It was situated between Wakefield Kirkgate and Grimethorpe...

, Grimethorpe

Grimethorpe Halt

Grimethorpe Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway situated between Great Houghton Halt and Ryhill Halt. It served the village of Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire, England....

, Great Houghton

Great Houghton Halt

Great Houghton Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway situated between Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe Halt and Grimethorpe Halt. The halt served the village of Great Houghton in South Yorkshire, England....

, Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe

Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe Halt

Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway situated between Harlington Halt and Great Houghton Halt. It served the village of Goldthorpe in South Yorkshire, England.The station opened on 3 June 1912...

, Harlington

Harlington Halt

Harlington Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway located close by Harlington village, near Mexborough, South Yorkshire, England....

and Denaby

Denaby railway halt

Denaby Halt was a small railway station on the Dearne Valley Railway , intended to serve the mining community of Denaby Main in South Yorkshire, England although it was positioned some distance from there, in what was described as 'a marshy wilderness'. The station was opened on 3 June 1912. Its...

.

The LYR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

 on 1 January 1922; the combined organisation (also known as the London and North Western Railway) absorbed the DVR on the same day. It duly passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway

London, Midland and Scottish Railway

The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...

 on 1 January 1923.

Passenger services ceased on 10 September 1951, the last trains having run on 9 September.

Goods traffic continued but several changes were made to the track layout. The lines between (near) Grimethorpe Colliery and Brierley Junction and from Grimethorpe Colliery and Edlington were closed on the opening of a new connection from the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

's main line near Houghton in 1966. The Dearne Valley connection to Yorkshire Main Colliery at Edlington was removed in May 1972, the colliery being served by a connection to St. Catherine's Junction on the South Yorkshire Joint Railway

South Yorkshire Joint Railway

South Yorkshire Joint Railway was a committee formed in 1903, between the Great Central Railway , the Great Northern Railway , the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway , the Midland Railway and the North Eastern Railway to oversee the construction of a new railway in the Doncaster area of South...

, the junctions here being rebuilt in connection with the Doncaster area re-signalling in early May 1977.

Route diagrams