South Yorkshire Junction Railway
Encyclopedia
Wrangbrook Junction
Wrangbrook Junction near Upton in West Yorkshire was a location where two lines branched off the Hull and Barnsley Railway main line from to . The first junction led to on the South Yorkshire Junction Railway, and after some four chains further the Hull & South Yorkshire Extension Railway to...
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 near Denaby
Denaby Main Colliery Village
Denaby Main is a village situated between Mexborough and Conisbrough in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. It was built by the Denaby Main Colliery Company to house its workers and their families, and originally given the name Denaby Main Colliery Village, to...
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 nominally an independent company sponsored by the Denaby and Cadeby Colliery Company but was worked by 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...
.
Description
The S.Y.J.R. received its Act of Parliament on 14 August 1890 opening for goods traffic on 1 September 1894 and for passengers on 1 December the same year. The passenger service lasted less than 9 years, the last trains running on 1 February 1903. Intermediate passenger stations were at SprotboroughSprotborough (H&B) railway halt
Sprotborough railway station was a small halt on the South Yorkshire Junction Railway, which ran south from Wrangbrook Junction, where it joined the main line of the Hull and Barnsley Railway...
and Pickburn and Brodsworth
Pickburn and Brodsworth railway station
Pickburn and Brodsworth railway station was a small railway station situated on the South Yorkshire Junction Railway's line between Wrangbrook Junction and Denaby and Conisbrough...
.
The line was over 11miles in length, with many embankments and cuttings, it also had steep uphill grades in the northerly direction at parts, including a 1 in 100 rise after Denabby, and another steep rise near Wrangbrook, 3miles long being between built at a grade of 1 in 100 or 1 in 112. It crossed the Great Northern and Great Central Joint line 2.5 miles after Wrangbrook junction, a short tunnel "Cadeby Tunnel" was required around 1.5 miles from the Denaby end, being ~250yards long. A branch to Brodsworth colliery was added in 1908 from Pickburn.
Goods traffic lasted some time longer. Most of the line, including the branch which served Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery
Brodsworth Colliery was a colliery near Woodlands, South Yorkshire, England that closed in 1990. It was renowned for the superb model village of Woodlands that housed its workers...
, was eventually closed on 7 August 1967. A short stub remained after this date, extending northwards from Lowfield Junction, the line's southern connection with the Great Central Railway
Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway was a railway company in England which came into being when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897 in anticipation of the opening in 1899 of its London Extension . On 1 January 1923, it was grouped into the London and North Eastern...
's Doncaster
Doncaster railway station
Doncaster railway station serves the town of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the East Coast Main Line north of London Kings Cross, and is about five minutes walk from Doncaster town centre. The station is managed by East Coast...
to Sheffield line just west of Conisbrough
Conisbrough railway station
Conisbrough railway station is a railway station in Conisbrough, South Yorkshire, England. The station is south west of Doncaster towards Sheffield...
. This section ran to sidings serving a limestone quarry operated by the Steetley Dolomite
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
company. It saw its last main line traffic in July 1975, although it continued to be used as a link by the National Coal Board
National Coal Board
The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...
to transfer traffic between Cadeby Colliery and Denaby Main Colliery, where the N.C.B. had wagon repair facilities, until the collieries closed in 1986.
The Hull and Barnsley Railway was absorbed into the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
in 1922 and then to the London and North Eastern Railway
London and North Eastern Railway
The London and North Eastern Railway was the second-largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain...
at the Grouping.