Woodhead Line
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The Woodhead Line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester in the north of England. A key feature of the route is the passage under the high moorlands of the northern Peak District through the Woodhead Tunnels. The line was electrified in 1954 and controversially closed east of Hadfield in 1981.
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[edit] Construction
The line opened in 1845. It was built by the Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway, with Joseph Locke as its engineer. In 1847 the railway merged with the Sheffield & Lincolnshire Junction Railway, the Great Grimsby & Sheffield Junction Railway, and the Grimsby Docks Company to form the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (later the Great Central Railway (GCR)). Ownership passed to LNER in 1923, and finally to British Railways in 1948.
The original eastern terminus of the line was at Bridgehouses station. By the time of the creation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847 the station at Bridgehouses had been outgrown. A 1 km extension — including the Wicker Arches viaduct, engineered by John Fowler — was constructed to the new Sheffield Victoria Station, which opened in 1851.
[edit] Electrification
Electrification was first mooted by the Great Central Railway owing to the difficulties of operating heavy steam-hauled coal trains on the Penistone-Wath section (the Worsborough branch), a line with steep gradients and several tunnels. Definitive plans were drawn up by the LNER in the mid-1930s; many of the gantries for the catenary (electric wires) were erected before World War II.
World War II prevented progress on electrification, but the plans were restarted immediately after the war - but now with plans for a new double-track Woodhead Tunnel. This (third) Woodhead Tunnel was constructed to replace the twin single-bore Victorian tunnels which had been damaged by years of smoke from steam engines.
The Manchester-Sheffield-Wath electrification project was finally completed in 1954 using overhead wires energised at 1,500 Volts Direct Current. Whilst this was tried and tested technology (and is still standard in the Netherlands), the comparitively low voltage meant that a large number of electricity substations and heavy cabling would be required. Following technological developments (especially in France) 1.5 kV DC was soon superceded by the later network standard of 25 kV AC. This left the Woodhead Line as the only main line in the UK with 1.5 kV DC eletrification.
New electric locomotives for the line were constructed at Gorton Works, Manchester. These were the EM1/Class 76 for freight trains (and some passenger duties) and EM2/Class 77 locomotives for express passenger trains. Given the steep gradients on the line, the locomotives were able to use regenerative braking on their descent from Woodhead. Rheostatic braking was also later added.
Additionally, Class 506 electric multiple units were built for suburban services between Manchester, Glossop and Hadfield.
[edit] Closure
Having seen major investment in the 1950s the line was controversally closed to passenger traffic on 5th January 1970 when it was clear that the alternative Hope Valley Line through Edale would be required to remain open for social and network reasons and could handle all Manchester–Sheffield passenger traffic. The Class 77 locomotives for passenger trafffic were sold to the Netherlands Railways, where 1500V DC electrification was standard. By the late 1970s, virtually all the remaining freight traffic consisted of coal trains from Yorkshire to Fiddlers Ferry Power Station near Widnes - which required a change to diesel haulage for the final part of the journey.
By the 1980s a combination of alternative available routes, an absence of passenger traffic since 1970, a downturn in coal traffic across the Pennines and a need to eventually upgrade or replace the (non-standard) electrical supply systems and Class 76 locomotives resulted in the line's closure east of Hadfield. The last train operated on 17th July 1981 and the line was mothballed.
The tracks were lifted in the mid-1980s ending short-term hopes of reopening. Almost the entire line east of Hadfield has now been lifted (apart from a few short sections shared with other lines, notably at Penistone). The trackbed between Hadfield and the Woodhead Tunnel has been adapted as the Longdendale Trail for hikers and cyclists.
[edit] The surviving sections
- See also: Manchester-Glossop Line
The suburban passenger service between Manchester, Glossop and Hadfield remains in service, but the electricity supply was converted to standard 25kV AC overhead in December 1984. The Class 506 EMUs were then withdrawn and replaced by Class 303 EMUs from the Glasgow area. The service is now operated (as of 2006) by Class 323 EMUs.
The Huddersfield line platforms at Penistone station remain open, used by the Huddersfield-Sheffield diesel-operated local trains, which traverse the line the short distance between the former Huddersfield Junction and Barnsley Junction.
There is just one other part of the line open to traffic, albeit freight, and that is the single line from Woodburn Junction, on the Sheffield to Lincoln line, to Deepcar to serve the Corus steel works at Stocksbridge. Traffic is sparse and usually at night or early morning.
[edit] Proposals for the future
Whilst much of the trackbed is currently part of the Trans-Pennine Trail there have been periodic proposals to revive the Woodhead route. In 1996 and 2003 it formed part of the proposed Central Railway route from Liverpool to the Channel Tunnel. 2006 saw another proposal, this time as a rolling highway [1]. Alternative uses for the tunnel route have been suggested from time to time — see M67 motorway. There are also plans to restore the route from Deepcar to Sheffield city centre as a heritage line called the Don Valley Line.
The Woodhead line has, unusually for an electric route, managed to achieve a cult status with collectors of railway memorabilia (perhaps because of a feeling that the closure of a modern electric railway was a mistake, given that the alternative routes were (are) not electrified). The original poster of the 'modern' route, published in 1955 by British Railways Board and entitled 'Britain's First All-Electric Main Line', fetches high prices at auction, and is still available in reproduction.
