Bradnop railway station

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Bradnop
Bradnop Station (remains) - geograph.org.uk - 1878328.jpg
The station in 1962
General information
Location Bradnop, Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands
England
Coordinates 53°05′28″N1°59′10″W / 53.0910°N 1.9860°W / 53.0910; -1.9860 Coordinates: 53°05′28″N1°59′10″W / 53.0910°N 1.9860°W / 53.0910; -1.9860
Grid reference SK010548
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company North Staffordshire Railway
Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
5 June 1905Opened [1]
30 September 1935Closed to passengers [1]
4 May 1964Closed to freight [2]

Bradnop railway station was a railway station that served the village of Bradnop, Staffordshire. It was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1905 and closed to passenger use in 1935, [3] but remained open to freight traffic until 1964. [2]

Contents

Construction and opening

The station was on the NSR branch from Leekbrook Junction to Waterhouses. The single-line branch was authorised on 1 March 1899 by the Leek, Caldon Low, and Hartington Light Railways Order, 1898, [4] [5] and construction took several years.

The station at Bradnop was built in a cutting on the long gradient from Leek Brook to Ipstones. Digging the cutting required the excavation of 500,000 cubic yards (380,000 m3) of material to create a cutting 1 mile (1.6 km) long and, at its deepest, 60 feet (18.3 m) deep. [6]

Station layout

The station site in 1962 showing the goods yard high above the main running line Bradnop Station (remains) - geograph.org.uk - 1878328.jpg
The station site in 1962 showing the goods yard high above the main running line

The station had a single platform and limited goods facilities. [7] Although the station buildings and passenger platform were in a cutting, the small goods yard was constructed at the top of the bank and this necessitated quite a steep gradient in the track leading from the branch line to the goods yard. [8] A passing loop was installed and Bradnop was a block section with Ipstones and Leek Brook East signalboxes, [9] although Bradnop itself was not equipped with a signal box, only a ground frame. [10]

In NSR days the station staff comprised a Station Master, 1 porter and 1 porter/signalman. [11]

The station buildings were of wooden construction and had to be rebuilt following a fire in April 1926 which destroyed the original building. [12]

Closure

The branch line was never a financial success and passenger services were withdrawn on 30 September 1935. [13] The station remained open as a goods station until May 1964 when all traffic on the branch except mineral workings from Caldon Low quarries was withdrawn. [2]

The site today

Mineral trains to Caldon Low continued until 1989 when the line was mothballed. In 2009 Moorland and City Railways purchased the line with the intention of reopening the line to mineral traffic from the quarry. [14] In 2014 this plan was placed on hold as the Competition Commission ruled that Lafarge Tarmac must sell one of its sites, possibly Caldon Low, so the heritage railway, the Churnet Valley Railway, are seeking to purchase the line themselves. [15]

Route

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Ipstones
Waterhouses branch 		  North Staffordshire Railway   Leek
Churnet Valley Line
Line and station closed

Notes

  1. 1 2 Quick (2009), p. 96.
  2. 1 2 3 Jeuda (1980), p. 68.
  3. ↑ Christiansen & Miller (1971), p. 304.
  4. ↑ "Light Railways Act 1896". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . House of Commons. 21 March 1899. col. 1552.
  5. ↑ "No. 27062". The London Gazette . 14 March 1899. p. 1761.
  6. ↑ Jeuda (1980), p. 19.
  7. ↑ Jeuda (1980), p. 70.
  8. ↑ Christiansen (1997), p. 57.
  9. ↑ Jeuda (1980), p. 71.
  10. ↑ Christiansen (1997), p. 56.
  11. ↑ Jeuda (1980), p. 73.
  12. ↑ Jeuda (2014), p. 151.
  13. ↑ Christiansen & Miller (1971), p. 258.
  14. ↑ "Steaming back to Cauldon Lowe". Heritage Railway. 25 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "Leek railway line moves a step closer". Leek Post & Times. 12 March 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2014.

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References

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