The Barnsley Coal Railway was a short railway which, when fully opened, ran between Stairfoot Junction, on the

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Situated between Manvers and Denaby Main, it lies on the River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road runs through the town. It is contiguo ...

to Barnsley line of the

South Yorkshire Railway The South Yorkshire Railway was a railway company with lines in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Initially promoted as the South Yorkshire Coal Railway in 1845, the railway was enabled by an act of 1847 as the South Yorkshire Doncaster and ...

(SYR) and a

triangular junction In railroad structures, and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' ''glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just "triangle") is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each cor ...

at Nostell on the line of the

West Riding and Grimsby Railway The West Riding and Grimsby Railway was a railway company that promoted a line between Wakefield and Doncaster, in Yorkshire, England. There was also a branch line connection from Adwick le Street to Stainforth, which gave access towards Grimsb ...

(WR&GR). The railway rights were purchased by the SYR in July 1863, just one year before that company was absorbed into the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...

. Scheduled passenger services on the lined ended in 1930, and goods services in 1961.

History

In the parliamentary session of 1860/1 an act was applied for to incorporate a company, and construct a line from a junction with the

(SYR) west of Ardsley railway station to Crigglestone. An act was passed in 1861, allowing the creation of the ''Barnsley Coal Railway'', with £40,000 of capital allowed to be raised by share issue, and £13,000 by loans. The first permitted section of line was from Stairfoot (west of Ardsley in Darfield) to Applehaigh (in Notton), long. In 1863 an act was passed allowing the South Yorkshire Railway, which had subscribed £10,000 of the railway's capital, to take over the company. In 1864 an act was obtained allowing a short extension to the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

's line near Barnsley; the new chord would have enabled the South Yorkshire company to take advantage of their recently acquired running powers to Wakefield and Leeds over the Midland's lines. This connecting line was not built.See Ordnance Survey Sheets 274NE The first section line served Rosa Colliery, and opened to traffic in January 1870. In the session of 1873/4 the SYR's successor the

(MS&LR) obtained powers to build an extension from near the 1860s terminus at Notton, to a two way junction with the

north-west of Nostel station; also sought were powers for a junction from the line to the Midland's line near to the

Barnsley Canal The Barnsley Canal is a canal that ran from Barnby Basin, through Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England to a junction with the Aire and Calder Navigation near Wakefield, West Yorkshire. It was built in the 1790s, to provide a transport link from ...

;North-west of

Royston and Notton railway station Royston and Notton railway station was opened in 1841 by the North Midland Railway, near the Yorkshire summit of the line, on the south side of Navvy Lane bridge. The original station was rebuilt, about a mile further south, in 1900 when t ...

, and at the site of the (future) ''Royston junction''. and a second junction from Coal railway to SYR's Barnsley line, creating an extended triangular junction to that line. The second section was opened for goods traffic in August 1882. This section ran from Applehaigh to a

with the

(WR&GR) at Nostell. The line included passenger stations at Staincross and Mapplewell, Notton and Royston and

Ryhill Ryhill is a small village and civil parish situated on the B6428 road in West Yorkshire, England approximately south-east of the city of Wakefield. It has a population of 2,628, increasing to 2,894 at the 2011 census. Like many of the surrou ...

, later renamed Ryhill and Wintersett. A passenger service commenced on 1 September 1882. Regular passenger services were withdrawn in 1930, goods services in 1961.

Train services

The passenger service on the line was part of a Leeds (Central) / Barnsley (Court House) service via Wakefield (Westgate). The July 1922 issue of Bradshaw's Railway Guide shows 5 trains in each direction on Mondays to Fridays, 6 trains on Saturday from Barnsley to Leeds and 7 on Saturday from Leeds to Barnsley. There was no Sunday service.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

{{commons category, Barnsley Coal Railway South Yorkshire Railway Early British railway companies Mining railways Rail transport in South Yorkshire Companies based in Barnsley Railway companies established in 1863 Railway lines opened in 1882 Coal in England