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The High Royds Hospital Railway was a short railway connecting the West Riding County Asylum near
The line was originally built to supply building materials during the construction of the hospital and later for the carriage of supplies such as flour and mostly coal for fuel in the hospital boilers. Coal wagons arriving at the hospital discharged in coal hoppers under the railway and any coal that did not empty by gravity had to be unloaded by hand, this was normally a job for male patients of the hospital.
The railway company would leave loaded wagons on siding beside the main line and collect empties from the same. Movement of the wagons between the siding and the hospital was carried out by the hospital.
File:Former High Royds Hospital Railway trackbed with commemorative section of track.jpg, Former High Royds Hospital Railway trackbed with commemorative section of track
File:Former High Royds Hospital railway trackbed.jpg, Looking west from the A65 along the former railway trackbed
File:High Royds Hospital Railway junction location.jpg, High Royds Hospital Railway junction location in Menston, West Yorkshire; the track curved in on the right and ran under the bridge that the photographer is on
File:Southern tunnel portal High Royds Hospital Railway.jpg, Southern tunnel portal High Royds Hospital Railway; the northern portal image shown in the infobox has been obliterated in an upgraded road scheme
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
in West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...
with 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 am ...
line between Menston
Menston is a village and civil parish in the City of Bradford in the county of West Yorkshire, England. Along with Burley in Wharfedale, most of Menston is within Wharfedale Ward in the metropolitan borough of Bradford. The remainder of Men ...
and Guiseley
Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds.
It sits in t ...
on the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway
The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway was a railway line running between the towns of Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The line was managed and run jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was long. Opened to ...
(nowadays the Wharfedale Line). The line opened in 1883 and ran for just over , it was constructed to and was a single line throughout. The line closed in the 1930s in the face of road competition and increasing maintenance costs but reopened again in 1939 when the outbreak of war led to a fuel shortage for road transport. Final closure came in 1951.
Usage
The line was originally built to supply building materials during the construction of the hospital and later for the carriage of supplies such as flour and mostly coal for fuel in the hospital boilers. Coal wagons arriving at the hospital discharged in coal hoppers under the railway and any coal that did not empty by gravity had to be unloaded by hand, this was normally a job for male patients of the hospital.
The railway company would leave loaded wagons on siding beside the main line and collect empties from the same. Movement of the wagons between the siding and the hospital was carried out by the hospital.
Motive power
When the line first opened a small steam engine was purchased by the hospital board but it proved to be underpowered and was prone to slipping on the severe gradient up from the main line. In 1897 the board decided to electrify the line and anoverhead line
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipmen ...
system was installed. An electric locomotive was brought in but again proved to be underpowered and could only manage to haul one loaded coal wagon up the gradient. A more powerful electric locomotive was brought in as a replacement in the 1920s and was used until the line closed in the 1930s and the subsequent wartime reopening.
Gallery
Notes
Sources
* * {{coord, 53.88547, N, 1.73087, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Hospital railways in the United Kingdom Electric railways in the United Kingdom Railway lines opened in 1883 Rail transport in West Yorkshire Railway lines closed in 1951