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The Meltham branch line is a disused railway line that ran for 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) from Lockwood to Meltham, in West Yorkshire, England. The line was single track for its entire length. Opening to goods in 1868 and to passengers on 5 July 1869 [1] , the last regular passenger service was on 21 May 1949. It closed completely on 3 April 1965.
The route began just south of Lockwood station near Lockwood Viaduct at a junction with the Penistone Line and continued as follows:
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. [3] The first section of this opened in May 2008 [4] between Station Road in Meltham and Huddersfield Road (B6108). [5]
In 2012, the Friends of Beaumont Park were awarded £49,900 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out restoration of the section of track bed which ran along the lower end of the park and to turn it into a heritage trail. The project was completed towards the end of 2014. [6]
Butternab Tunnels Southern Portal has been converted into an Airbnb (previously an art studio) the Northern Portal remains Bricked up with only a small crawl space entrance.
Much of the line between Butternab and Netherton Tunnel lies on private land however the trackbed remains traceable.
In 2022 the high winds caused a tree fall just outside the bricked up Northern Portal of Netherton Tunnel.
As of 2022 the Southern Portal of Netherton Tunnel remains bricked up and the station site is now being built over by a housing estate however some of the station platforms remain traceable.
Trackbed between Netherton and Healey house remains on private land albeit still traceable.
Occupation Bridge remains on the approach to Healey House however some track has been blocked off.
The 30 yard Healey House tunnel still remains at the old station site and some of the platform can still be traced. However most of the station has been overgrown. The bridge just before the station was demolished in the 1960s.
Trackbed between Healey House station towards Meltham Road is now a stream and a lot of the Trackbed then is blocked by tree falls then private land. Hall Heys Iron bridge which went over Meltham Road was demolished sometime in the 1960s.
The Dartmouth Steam Railway, formerly known as the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, is a 6.7-mile (10.8 km) heritage railway on the former Great Western Railway branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Devon, England. Much of the railway's business is from summer tourists from the resorts of Torbay, who travel to Kingswear, where the Dartmouth Passenger Ferry takes them across the River Dart to Dartmouth.
The Calder Valley line is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes between Leeds and Manchester, and the northernmost of the three main trans-Pennine routes.
The Penistone Line is operated by Northern Trains in the West Yorkshire Metro and Travel South Yorkshire areas of northern England. It connects Huddersfield and Sheffield via Penistone and Barnsley, serving many rural communities. Metrocards can be used for travel between Huddersfield and Denby Dale and intermediate stations.
Lockwood is an area of Huddersfield, in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is 0.9 miles (1.4 km) to the southwest of Huddersfield Town Centre, to the west of the River Holme.
Lockwood railway station is a railway station in Huddersfield, England. It is situated 1.5 miles (2 km) south of Huddersfield station on the Penistone Line between Huddersfield and Sheffield. It serves the Lockwood district of Huddersfield, and services are provided by Northern.
The Wrexham and Minera Railway or Wrexham and Minera Branch was a railway line in North Wales between the city of Wrexham, the village of Brymbo where it served the Brymbo Steelworks, and the lead mines and limeworks at Minera. A further branch ran from Brymbo to Coed Talon, where it connected with lines to Mold. The system was constructed in several stages between 1844 and 1872, while the various lines making up the system closed in 1952, 1972 and 1982.
The Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway (NSJR) was a British joint railway company.
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the "Crab and Winkle Line", was an early British railway that opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.
Forres railway station serves the town of Forres, Moray in Scotland. The station is managed and served by ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen–Inverness line, between Nairn and Elgin, measured 119 miles 42 chains (192.4 km) from Perth via the Dava route.
The Holmfirth branch line is a disused railway line that ran for 2 miles (3.2 km) from Brockholes to Holmfirth, in West Yorkshire, England. The line was built as double track as there were plans to extend the line up the Holme Valley.
The Rugby to Leamington Line was a railway line running from Rugby to Leamington Spa. It was a 15-mile (24 km) branch line built by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and opened in 1851. The branch connected Leamington with the mainline from London to Birmingham which had been opened in 1838 by the LNWR's predecessor, the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR).
The Charnwood Forest Railway was a branch line in Leicestershire constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883. The branch line ran from Coalville to the town of Loughborough.
Kingthorpe railway station was a railway station that served the village of Kingthorpe, Lincolnshire, England between 1874 and 1956, on the Louth to Bardney line.
Breadsall railway station was a former railway station in Breadsall, Derbyshire. It was opened by the Great Northern Railway on its Derbyshire Extension in 1878.
The Micklehurst Line was a railway line between Stalybridge, Cheshire, and Diggle junction in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The line, approximately eight miles (13 km) long, was also sometimes referred to as the Micklehurst Loop and the Stalybridge and Diggle Loop Line.
The Spen Valley Line was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.
Ford (Devon) railway station was originally named Ford railway station and stood at the eastern end of Station Road, Keyham Barton in Plymouth, South Devon.
Meltham railway station was the terminus of the Meltham branch line from Lockwood (Huddersfield) to Meltham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Traffic partially started in 1868, but became regular in July 1869. The station, and line, were opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR), later becoming part of the London Midland Scottish Railway. The station closed to passengers in 1949, though the branch remained open to freight until the 1960s. The railway station site is now the location of a supermarket.
Woodfield railway station served the area of Lockwood, Kirklees, England, in 1874 on the Meltham branch line.
The Royston to Thornhill line was a Midland Railway venture constructed in West Yorkshire, England, that had the intent to allow trains to travel from Sheffield to Bradford without going through Leeds. The scheme, which was promoted as the West Riding Lines, would have travelled underneath Bradford city centre in a long tunnel and ended up in the Aire Valley providing a through line across Bradford. In the event, only the section from Royston to Thornhill, a smaller branch to a goods station at Dewsbury Savile Town, and a longer branch from Mirfield to Huddersfield were ever built. By the late 1960s, the lines had all been closed, however, the viaducts at Bradley, Crigglestone, and Horbury still remain.
