- Meltham branch line
-
Meltham branch line Legend
Penistone Line to Huddersfield 
Lockwood 
Penistone Line to Sheffield 
Woodfield 
Butternab Tunnel Netherton Tunnel 
Netherton Healey House 
Healey House Tunnel Meltham Mills 
Meltham The Meltham branch line is a disused railway line that ran for 3½ miles (5.6 km) from Lockwood to Meltham, in West Yorkshire, England. The line was single track for its entire length. The last regular passenger service was on May 21, 1949. It closed completely on April 3, 1965.
Contents
History
The line was authorised by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Act of June 7 1861[1]. Construction began in April 1864 and the line opened to freight on August 10, 1868 with the first train carrying coal and lime. Passenger services began on July 5, 1869. The line was used to transport tractors from the David Brown tractor factory at Meltham.
The route
The route began just south of Lockwood station near Lockwood viaduct at a junction with the Penistone Line and continued as follows:
- Woodfield (Opened and closed June 1874)
- here is Butternab Tunnel (256 yards)
- here is Netherton Tunnel (333 yards)
- Netherton
- Healey House
- here is Healey House Tunnel (30 yards)
- Meltham Mills (Closed 1934)
- Meltham
Present day
A new housing estate and a Morrisons supermarket have been built on the site of the Meltham station but much of the line remains. In 2004 a plan was proposed to convert much of the track bed to a cycle track to be known as the Meltham Greenway.[2] The first section of this opened in May 2008[3] between Station Road in Meltham and Huddersfield road (B6108).[4]
References
- ^ *Bairstow, Martin (1993). The Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway. Martin Bairstow. ISBN 1-871944-08-2.
- ^ "Expert spotlight on plans for new cycleway". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 2004-09-20. http://ichuddersfield.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_method=full%26objectid=14664574%26siteid=50060-name_page.html. Retrieved 2007-01-01.
- ^ "Meltham Town Council - MELTHAM GREENWAY UPDATE". March 2009. http://www.melthamtowncouncil.gov.uk/homedir/GREENWAYINFO.htm. Retrieved 02 May 2009.
- ^ "Kirklees Planning Applications - Meltham Railway Path adjacent To The Cobbles, and Land Between The Cobbles / Huddersfield Road, Meltham, Holmfirth.". 30 April 2009. http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/business/planning/Details.asp?id=2007%2F94949. Retrieved 02 May 2009.
External links
Categories:- Closed railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
- Rail transport in West Yorkshire
- Railway companies established in 1861
- Railway lines opened in 1868
- Railway lines closed in 1965
- History of West Yorkshire
- Transport in Kirklees
- Rail trails in England
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