The North Midland Railway was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
company, which opened its line from
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
to
Rotherham
Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
(Masbrough) and
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 1840.
[
At ]Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
, it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station. It now forms part ...
and the Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, t ...
at what became known as the Tri-Junct Station. In 1844, the three companies merged to form 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 ...
.
Origin
The East Midlands had for some years been at the centre of plans to link the major cities throughout the country.
In Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, George Hudson
George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...
was the Chairman of the York and North Midland Railway
The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...
, a proposed line from York towards the industrial markets of Manchester and Liverpool. The new line would connect it, and the Manchester and Leeds Railway
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds. The line followed the ...
as part of a trunk route from the South and London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to Yorkshire and the North East of England. Meanwhile, financiers in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, were looking to expand their system northwards.
George Carr Glyn was the first Chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the new company, with George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
appointed as engineer. George Stephenson surveyed the line in 1835 with his secretary, Charles Binns. It would be long, meeting the York and North Midland, at Normanton, and also the projected Manchester and Leeds Railway
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds. The line followed the ...
. It received Royal Assent on 4 July 1836.
Construction
Stephenson decided the line would follow the river valleys from Derby to Leeds, with minimal gradients and large radii curves. It therefore bypassed Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
, but met the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway
The Sheffield and Rotherham Railway was a railway line in England, between the named places. The North Midland Railway was being promoted but its route was planned to go through Rotherham and by-pass Sheffield, so the S&RR was built as a connecti ...
at Masbrough
Masbrough is a suburb of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. It was named as the west of Rotherham by the middle of the Industrial Revolution, namely that part on the left bank of Don. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is ...
.
His method of working was to follow river valleys as far as possible, with branches into major towns along the way. The Sheffield people, in lobbying for the line to enter their city, engaged Joseph Locke
Joseph Locke FRSA (9 August 1805 – 18 September 1860) was a notable English civil engineer of the nineteenth century, particularly associated with railway projects. Locke ranked alongside Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel as on ...
, who believed lines should pass through towns, proceeding along hills, if necessary, with bridges, embankments and cuttings. These were the two opposing schools of thought at the time and, in this case, Stephenson had his way.
An additional advantage was that his customers would, in most cases, be transporting their goods downhill from the mines and quarries to the railhead. It should be said, however, that the North Midland was among the first of the new breed of railway conceived as a means of improved passenger travel between the great cities, particularly London, rather than, like the Midland Counties and earlier lines, an adjunct to coal mines and quarries. Indeed, the rise in the coal trade, which was to become so important to the railways, had barely begun and, even a few years later, directors of the Midland Railway were questioning whether the revenue made it a worthwhile market to pursue.
In 1870 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 ...
opened a diversion through Dronfield
Dronfield is a town in North East Derbyshire, England, which includes Dronfield Woodhouse and Coal Aston. It lies in the valley of the River Drone between Chesterfield and Sheffield. The Peak District National Park is to the west. The name co ...
and Sheffield, which became known to railwaymen as the "New Road", as opposed to the "Old Road". It followed a route which, in 1840, would have been uneconomic to build and difficult to work.
Nevertheless, the terrain was more difficult than for the other two railways to Derby, requiring 200 bridges and seven tunnels, and an aqueduct for the railway to pass underneath the Cromford Canal
The Cromford Canal ran from Cromford to the Erewash Canal in Derbyshire, England with a branch to Pinxton. Built by William Jessop with the assistance of Benjamin Outram, its alignment included four tunnels and 14 locks.
From Cromford it ran ...
. By that time, Stephenson, who was wishing to concentrate in exploiting the coal around Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
, delegated the responsibility for almost the entire work of its design and construction to his engineer Frederick Swanwick
Frederick Swanwick (1810–1885) was an English civil engineer who assisted George and Robert Stephenson. He was responsible for much of the work on railways in the North and Midlands of England, particularly the Whitby and Pickering Railway a ...
.
The major bridges were at Oakenshaw, over 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 ...
, and the Calder and Chevet Viaducts. In addition there were massive stone retaining walls for the cutting through Belper and the embankment north of Ambergate. Although the general radius of curves was , gradients
In vector calculus, the gradient of a scalar-valued differentiable function of several variables is the vector field (or vector-valued function) \nabla f whose value at a point p is the "direction and rate of fastest increase". If the grad ...
were as steep as 1 in 264 and practically the whole length was embanked or in cuttings, when not proceeding through a tunnel. The number of men employed was 8,600, with eighteen pumping engines providing drainage. It was tough work and a number of people died, particularly in the boring of the Clay Cross Tunnel
Clay Cross Tunnel is a tunnel on the former North Midland Railway line near Clay Cross in Derbyshire, England, now part of the Midland Main Line.
Construction
It was designed by George Stephenson with an estimate of £96,000 for construction ...
. It must be said, however, that some of them were due to carelessness with blasting powder.
The track was gauge either single or double parallel (see Rail track), the former , the latter . A mixture of stone blocks and timber sleepers were used.
Not all the stations shown above were open at the beginning. The original intermediate stations were , , , , , , , , , , , and . All were designed by Francis Thompson
Francis Joseph Thompson (16 December 1859 – 13 November 1907) was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer a ...
. Although praising their design, Whishaw was somewhat critical: "we cannot but deplore the growing evil of expending large sums of money on railway appendages. Instead of cottage buildings, which, for the traffic of most of the intermediate stopping places on this line, would have been amply sufficient, we find the railway literally ornamented with so many beautiful villas, any one of which would grace the sloping lawn of some domain by nature highly favoured."[
Trains in those days, of course, had no toilets, so passengers had to use facilities at the stations while the train paused. On the North Midland at Wingfield and elsewhere, they were built under the engine house, with its water column, by which they could be flushed. Whishaw commented that it was "a much better arrangement than in common use on other main lines." However, he added "The doorways ... are in so exposed a situation as naturally to shock the female portion of travellers, who, while the trains are stopping, cannot fail to observe the constant bustle about these buildings."][
]
Opening
It was completed to Masbrough on 11 May 1840, and to Leeds on 1 July.
The ''Sheffield Iris'' for 7 July reported on the opening ceremony:
the directors, accompanied by their friends, to the number of several hundreds, in thirty-four carriages, drawn by two powerful engines, proceeded from Leeds at eight o’clock in the morning, to Derby where they met the directors of that end of the line.... At twenty-four minutes past ten the train arrived at Masbro’ Station, where a number of passengers had arrived from Sheffield... After a few minutes rest, to allow the engines to receive water, the train moved on and arrived at Belper, at 14 minutes before one, stayed four minutes, and at 10 minutes past one, stopped within the truly splendid and extensive station at Derby where was provided a cold collation, nowise unacceptable to the travellers.... The stay at Derby occupied about an hour, or rather more, it being judged necessary to return as soon as possible, on account of the time occupied in the trip. Consequently, at half-past two, the shrill whistle of the engine gave the note of departure. The time occupied in the return however, was not so long as in going. The train left Derby at half-past two, and arrived in Leeds at five minutes before seven o’clock – four hours and twenty five minutes, the distance being , and the train a quarter of a mile 00 mlong.
Operation
From the start, there was intense competition between the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway
The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station. It now forms part ...
and the Midland Counties Railway
The Midland Counties' Railway (MCR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1839 and 1844, connecting Nottingham, Leicester and Derby with Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby and thence, via the London and Birmingham Railway, t ...
for traffic into London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Though this did not directly affect the North Midland, it had financial problems of its own. With so many earthworks it had been extremely expensive to build, and its station and other buildings were arguably extravagant. Moreover, by the time it opened, the country had entered an economic depression. In the first two years, dividends were as low as 3.5%, compared with 10% for the London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
. Economies were put in place but in 1842 the dividend was a mere 1% and the Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
and Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
shareholders called for a Committee of Enquiry.
This included George Hudson, and after a tour of the complete network, he insisted on drastic measures. Against the wishes of the Derby directors, Hudson and the others insisted on halving expenditure. At a meeting on 16 November 1842 in Leeds, the shareholders had their way. On 30 November 1842 at a meeting in Derby, John Walbanke Childers MP, Mr. Pickersgill, Hatton Stansfield, T.B. Pease, F. Carbutt, and Mr. Hall retired from their positions as directors, and W.L. Newton (chairman), A. Titley (deputy-chairman), Mr. Laycock, Mr. Lee, Mr Cox and J. Holdsworth remained. Six of the Committee of Inquiry, P.W. Brancker, J.T. Alston, George Hudson, George Wilson, John Waddingham and William Murgatroyd. forced their way onto the board.
One of the first acts of the new directors was to close Beighton, Killamarsh and Kilnhurst stations from 1 January 1843. Boys, instead of men, would work points at junctions, services were reduced and fares raised and a number of carriages were sold.
A quarter of the footplate staff were sacked. The remainder (43 enginemen, stokers and turners) protested over the lower wages, and were sacked as well, on Christmas Eve 1842 and without pay in lieu of notice. He employed in their place, enginemen he described as "skilled replacements" who included in their number a platelayer
A platelayer (British English), fettler (British English – UK, Australia, NZ) or trackman (American English) is a railway employee who inspects and maintains the permanent way of a railway, usually under the charge of a foreman called (in UK ...
, a fireman, a stonemason, two had been sacked for drunkenness and one who had been sacked for overturning a train of wagons.
The result was chaos, with trains running late or erratically, and the remainder of the workforce demoralised. Finally a luggage train, with an elderly driver of only three weeks experience, collided with the rear of a stationary train at Cudworth in fog on 12 January 1843. The inquest sent the 24 year old driver, Edward Jenkins, to the York Assizes for trial and criticised the cutbacks and there was wide publicity about the trial of the driver for manslaughter. The jury at the York Assizes acquitted Jenkins and censured the directors. Meanwhile, the Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
was also extremely critical and the directors made somewhat grudging improvements to working practices.
Meanwhile, the situation between the Birmingham & Derby and the Midland Counties was becoming steadily worse. Hudson's first approach was to the Midland Counties in 1843. He then negotiated a secret amalgamation with the Birmingham and Derby which would remove all the Midland Counties' trade and, in August, returned to the latter with an ultimatum. Finally, on 22 September 1843, at a meeting in Derby under the chairman of the Directors, William Leaper Newton, the triple merger was agreed.
The Midland Railway Consolidation Bill was placed before Parliament and was passed in 1844 and from May of that year 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 ...
came into being.
Accidents and incidents
*In September 1840, a passenger train was derailed between South Wingfield
South Wingfield is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England, it is now part of the borough of Amber Valley and formerly in the Scarsdale hundred. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,514.
History and description
...
and , Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. Two people were killed.
*In January 1843, a collision between two trains at Cudworth (then known as Barnsley), Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
killed one person.[
*On 25 April 1848, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at ]Normanton, Derbyshire
Normanton is an inner city suburb and ward of the city of Derby in Derbyshire, England, situated approximately south of the city centre. Neighbouring suburbs include Littleover, Pear Tree, Rose Hill and Sunny Hill. The original village of Norman ...
, scalding three people.
Present day
Derby–Chesterfield
This section of the North Midland is part of the Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
used by East Midlands Railway London St Pancras–Leicester–Derby–Sheffield and CrossCountry South West–Birmingham–North East–Scotland (sometimes known as the Cross Country Route
A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...
) express services. In addition, the section from Derby to Ambergate
Ambergate is a village in Derbyshire, England, situated where the River Amber joins the River Derwent, and where the A610 road from Ripley and Nottingham joins the A6 that runs along the Derwent valley between Derby to the south and Matloc ...
, where the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton.
In time it would become part of the Midland Railway's main line between ...
diverged, has local services as part of the Derwent Valley Line, whilst the section north from Clay Cross
Clay Cross is a town and a civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield.
It is directly on the A61. Surrounding settlements include North W ...
is served by other East Midlands Railway services on the Nottingham–Sheffield corridor.
Chesterfield–Rotherham
All passenger services north from Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
now serve Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
. The section north from Beighton Junction to Rotherham Masborough
Rotherham Masborough railway station was the main railway station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England from the 1840s until 1987, when most trains were rerouted via Rotherham Central. It had four platforms, with a large sandstone stati ...
(the "Old Road") has been freight-only since July 1954, although it is very occasionally used as a diversionary route and by excursions not calling at Sheffield. It serves as a bypass line which keeps freight trains away from the congested lines through central Sheffield. a handful of passenger trains go the "long way round" between Chesterfield and Sheffield, travelling northbound via the Old Road to Beighton Junction then turning left (west) to pass through and then left again to enter Sheffield station from the north. Southbound trains reverse the process.Passenger Services Over Unusual Lines 2013, corroborated by observation and the WTT
The main aim of this exercise is to preserve staff route knowledge for times when diversions are necessary.
Rotherham–Swinton
This section has been subject to several changes as a result of integration with the parallel former Great Central Railway
The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
line between Sheffield and 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 contiguous ...
. From 1966, Sheffield–Doncaster services were switched from Sheffield Victoria to Sheffield (Midland) station, and thus ran over the North Midland line through Rotherham Masborough as far north as Aldwarke Junction (south of Kilnhurst). In 1987, the opening of a new connecting line between Holmes Junction and Rotherham Central on the former Great Central line allowed local trains to serve a reopened Rotherham Central station, with Masborough station closing the following year. In 1990 the former freight connecting curve between Swinton Town and Mexborough was reopened, allowing passenger trains for Doncaster to use the North Midland line between Aldwarke Junction and the reopened Swinton station.
Current passenger services are: CrossCountry long distance express services, and Northern stopping services from Sheffield to Leeds (via Wakefield Westgate), and to Adwick or Scunthorpe (via Doncaster), along with infrequent East Midlands Railway express services from London to Leeds, and Northern Rail stopping trains to York via Pontefract. The stopping trains run via Rotherham Central and only use the North Midland line north of Aldwarke Junction.
Swinton–Normanton
Stopping passenger trains between Sheffield and Leeds via Cudworth were withdrawn in January 1968, with all of the remaining stations between Rotherham Masborough and Normanton closing at that time. The section between Swinton (Wath Road Junction) and Cudworth had been plagued by mining subsidence for years, and so in October 1968 the decision was taken for safety reasons to divert all remaining passenger traffic onto the Swinton and Knottingley Railway
The Swinton and Knottingley Joint Railway was a British railway company formed to connect the Midland and Great Central lines at Swinton, north of Rotherham, with the North Eastern Railway at Ferrybridge, near Knottingley, a distance of , op ...
via Moorthorpe
Moorthorpe is a village in the civil parish of South Kirkby and Moorthorpe in the City of Wakefield district of West Yorkshire, England. It is governed by South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council.
Meaning of the name 'Moorthorpe'
Moorthorpe lit ...
, and thence Wakefield Westgate
Wakefield Westgate railway station is a mainline railway station in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Leeds to the west of the city centre, on the Wakefield Line and Leeds branch of the East Coast Main Line.
The first Westga ...
. This entailed the closure to passengers of the complete section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction), although it was still heavily used by freight. By May 1972 however the Swinton and Knottingley line was experiencing subsidence of its own, resulting in the reopening of the North Midland section to passengers. The early 1980s saw the Swinton and Knottingley line back in favour, and finally in 1988 this section of the North Midland section was closed to all through traffic, including freight.
Today the section from Swinton (Wath Road Junction) to Cudworth North Junction has been lifted; the entire length of well over a mile between Wath Road Junction and the site of Wath North station itself has been eradicated by a large new area of light industry and commerce called Brookfield Park, one of the largest developments of its kind in the country and part of the Dearne Valley
The Dearne Valley is an area of South Yorkshire, England, along the River Dearne. It encompasses the towns of Wombwell, Wath-upon-Dearne, Swinton, Conisbrough and Mexborough, the large villages of Ardsley, Bolton on Dearne, Goldthorpe, T ...
Enterprise Zone (much of this area being the former site of Manvers Main Colliery
Manvers Main Colliery was a coal mine, sunk on land belonging to the Earl Manvers on the northern edge of Wath-upon-Dearne, between that town and Mexborough in the Dearne Valley, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The regional headquar ...
and several others), while about three quarters of a mile of the route north of Darfield is now a road (the A6195). Cudworth North Junction to Oakenshaw survives, mostly as a single line, to serve the Ardagh Glass works on the Monk Bretton
Monk Bretton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately two miles north-east from Barnsley town centre.
History
Monk Bretton has been a settlement since medieval times and was origin ...
spur, but Oakenshaw to Normanton (Goose Hill Junction) is all gone.
Normanton–Leeds
This section is used by stopping and semi-fast passenger services from Sheffield to Leeds (via Barnsley), and north of Methley Junction also by Knottingley to Leeds services. The line is also an important freight corridor north from Healey Mills yard
Healey Mills Marshalling Yard was a railway marshalling yard located in the village of Healey, south west of Ossett in West Yorkshire, England. The yard was opened in 1963 and replaced several smaller yards in the area. It was part of the Brit ...
, on the former Lancashire and Yorkshire line west of Wakefield.
See also
* North Midland Railway Locomotives
References
*Allen, R. (1842), ''The North Midland Railway Guide'', Nottingham: R. Allen
*Billson, P., (1996) ''Derby and the Midland Railway'' Derby: Breedon Books
*Naylor, P. ''(Ed)'' (2000) ''An Illustrated History of Belper and its Environs'', Belper: M.G.Morris
*Pixton, B., (2000) ''North Midland: Portrait of a Famous Route'', Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing
*
*
*Williams, F.S., (1876) ''The Midland Railway: Its Rise and Progress'' Derby: Bemrose and Son
*Williams, R., (1988) ''The Midland Railway: A New History,'' Newton Abbot: David and Charles
Further reading
*
External links
Topographic map of the Sheffield area, making clear why the North Midland avoided the city
* {{cite Wikisource , wslink=Bradshaw's Monthly Railway and Steam Navigation Guide (XVI)/North Midland , title=March 1843 Timetable , publisher=Bradshaw's Guide
''Bradshaw's'' was a series of railway Public transport timetable, timetables and travel guide books published by W.J. Adams and later Henry Blacklock, both of London. They are named after founder George Bradshaw, who produced his first timet ...
s
Railway companies established in 1836
Railway lines opened in 1840
Railway companies disestablished in 1844
Midland Railway
Early British railway companies
History of Derbyshire
History of Yorkshire
Rail transport in Derby
Rail transport in Derbyshire
Rail transport in South Yorkshire
Rail transport in West Yorkshire
Companies based in Derbyshire
1836 establishments in England