The South Yorkshire Junction Railway was a railway which ran from Wrangbrook Junction on the main line of the

Hull and Barnsley Railway Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in a ...

to near

Denaby Main Colliery Village Denaby Main is a village situated between Mexborough and Conisbrough in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village falls within the Doncaster MBC ward of Conisbrough and Denaby. It was built by the Denaby Ma ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

. It was nominally an independent company sponsored by the Denaby and Cadeby Colliery Company but was worked by the

History

The S.Y.J.R. received its Act of Parliament on 14 August 1890, and opened 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

Sprotborough Sprotbrough and Cusworth is a civil parish in the City of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, with most of its settlements on the western edge of the Doncaster built-up area. It lies between and to the west of Doncaster and is split by the ...

and Pickburn and Brodsworth. The Hull and Barnsley Railway was absorbed into the North Eastern Railway in 1922 and then to the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...

at the Grouping.

Infrastructure

The line was over 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 Denaby, and another steep rise near Wrangbrook, 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 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 ...

after Wrangbrook junction, a short tunnel "Cadeby Tunnel" was required around from the Denaby end, being about long. A branch to Brodsworth colliery was added in 1908 from Pickburn.

Closure

Goods traffic lasted longer than passenger traffic. Most of the line, including the branch which served

Brodsworth Colliery Brodsworth Colliery was a coal mine north west of Doncaster and west of the Great North Road. in South Yorkshire, England. Two shafts were sunk between October 1905 and 1907 in a joint venture by the Hickleton Main Colliery Company and the Sta ...

, was 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 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 ...

's Doncaster-Sheffield line just west of Conisbrough station. This section ran to sidings serving a limestone quarry operated by the Steetley Dolomite 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 The National Coal Board (NCB) 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 United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

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.

References

Acts

*South Yorkshire Junction Railway Act, 1890 (53 & 54 Vic., Cap.208) ; An Act to authorise the construction of Railways in the West Riding of the County of York from Wrangbrook to Black Carr Junction with a Branch to Denaby and for other purposes. ** *Hull and Barnsley and South Yorkshire Junction Railways Act, 1891 (54 Vic., Cap.164) ; An Act to confirm and give effect to an agreement for the working of certain parts of the South Yorkshire Junction Railway by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company ** *South Yorkshire Junction Railways Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vic., Cap.77) ; An Act to extend the time for the completion of certain authorised railways of the South Yorkshire Junction Railway Company and revive the powers for the purchase of lands for such railways and for other purposes. ** *South Yorkshire Junction Railway Act, 1897 (60 & 61 Vic., Cap.8) ; An Act for the abandonment of parts of the Railways authorised by the South Yorkshire Junction Railway Act 1890, and for other purposes ** {{LNERconstituents Rail transport in South Yorkshire Hull and Barnsley Railway London and North Eastern Railway constituents