St Dunstans | |
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![]() The location of the Leeds-Bradford platforms at St Dunstans. The Bradford-Queensbury platforms were in the grassy area to the left. | |
Location | Bradford, City of Bradford England |
Coordinates | 53°47′02″N1°44′52″W / 53.7840°N 1.7477°W Coordinates: 53°47′02″N1°44′52″W / 53.7840°N 1.7477°W |
Grid reference | SE169321 |
Platforms | 4 |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Original company | Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway |
Pre-grouping | Great Northern Railway |
Key dates | |
21 November 1878 | Station opens |
15 September 1952 | Station closes |
St Dunstans railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. [1] The station was the location of a three-way junction with platforms on two of the lines.
When the Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway (later absorbed by the Great Northern) arrived in Bradford they initially built a terminus at Adolphus Street. This was poorly situated, so a link line was built from east of the terminus looping south and joining the existing Lancashire and Yorkshire line at Mill Lane junction, allowing LB & HJ services to enter the station. When the Queensbury Lines were constructed they entered Bradford from the west and passed under the L&YR line south of Mill Lane junction. They then formed a Y junction with the GN link line, just to the east of Mill Lane junction. St. Dunstans was built in this location as a transfer station so that passengers travelling east / west could change trains without entering Bradford Exchange. [2] The junction had opened in 1876 for goods traffic, two years before the passenger station was opened in November 1878. [3]
A third line, connecting Laisterdyke with the Queensbury Lines, ran along the south of the station, but it was not given platforms. The triangle was used to turn whole trains (steam locomotives and coaches) to enable them to run boiler first from Bradford Exchange railway station. [4] This practice continued until 1972 (when the lines were closed through St Dunstans) if a DMU needed turning, usually because it could not be driven from one end. [5]
With the run down in Queensbury services patronage of the station fell and it closed in 1952. [6] The triangle of lines at St Dunstans were still in operation up until August 1972, when the City Road Goods Branch was closed. [7] The branch veered off the old line to Thornton at Horton Park railway station and usually consisted of coal being forwarded from Laisterdyke goods yard. [5]
The station was located in the Bowling/Ripleyville area of Bradford, but took its name from a local manufacturing works called St. Dunstans. [8] The station nameboards and the associated signal box, were labelled as St Dunstans, [9] though several writers, and the Bradshaws Timetable, have labelled the station as St Dunstan's (with the apostrophe) [10] and some with both. [11]
Even though the route through the Aire Valley was flatter and easier to run trains over as opposed to the Queensbury Lines, the Great Northern offered passengers from Keighley a faster service to London in the 1880s by running a service from Keighley to St Dunstans, which connected with the GN service to London from Bradford Exchange station. [12] In the 1887 timetable, at least one passenger train per day between Laisterdyke and Queensbury used the southern part of the junction that did not have platforms. [3]
The Bradshaws Timetable for 1906 shows St Dunstans having five services for the Shipley and Windhill Line, [13] and 25 through services to Wakefield either direct via Morley, or taking the route via Batley and Dewsbury. [14]
In 1910, 20 services plied the route between Bradford and Queensbury, though not all trains stopped at St Dunstans. [15] In 1947, the LNER timetable shows St Dunstans had 14 departures westwards towards Queensbury, with most travelling to Halifax railway station and the rest going to Keighley. [16]
Keighley railway station serves the town of Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The station is located on the Airedale line, with longer distance services to Morecambe and Carlisle. The Keighley and Worth Valley Railway have their northern terminus in the station.
Ingrow (West) railway station is a single-platform station serving the suburb of Ingrow in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. It is served by the preserved Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. The station is 1.25 miles (2 km) west of Keighley station and 2.25 miles (3.62 km) west of Haworth railway station.
The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly by the GNR and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The terrain was extremely challenging for railway construction, and the lines were very expensive to build. The lines were
Queensbury railway station was a station on the Queensbury lines serving the village of Queensbury, West Yorkshire, England. The station was unusual due to its triangular shape, and at its opening the only other examples of this arrangement were Ambergate station in Derbyshire and Earlestown in Lancashire; since then Shipley station, also in West Yorkshire, has gained platforms on all three sides. Of the stations on the Queensbury lines, this was the most ambitious.
Holmfield railway station is a closed railway station that served the village of Holmfield in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.
Bowling railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It was on the line connecting the Bradford Exchange - Low Moor line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway with the line of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) at Laisterdyke. It was opened by the GNR on 1 August 1854 and closed to passengers on 1 February 1895. The line remained open to freight until 4 May 1964. No trace remains of the station which was located northeast of the bridge crossing Wakefield Road.
Laisterdyke railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, that served the suburb of the same name.
Bradford Adolphus Street railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Bradford Exchange railway station served the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1850 to 1973, before being replaced by a smaller, new-build station, which was later called Bradford Interchange. Railway lines from Halifax, Queensbury, Wakefield and Leeds met south of the city centre with services terminating in the station. In the British Rail era, many services did not terminate at Exchange station but became through services which reversed in the station to carry on their journey. Exchange station was originally opened in 1850 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) as Drake Street, becoming Exchange in April 1867 with the arrival of services from the Great Northern Railway (GNR).
Thornton railway station was a station on the Keighley-Queensbury section of the Queensbury Lines which ran between Keighley, Bradford and Halifax via Queensbury. The station served the village of Thornton, West Yorkshire, England from 1878 to 1955.
Cullingworth railway station was a station on the Queensbury Lines which ran between Keighley, Bradford and Halifax. The station served the village of Cullingworth, West Yorkshire, England. It opened for passengers in 1884 and closed in May 1955. Goods traffic continued until 1963, when the surviving line closed completely.
Thackley railway station was a railway station in Thackley, West Yorkshire, England.
Idle railway station was a railway station in Idle, West Yorkshire, England.
Eccleshill railway station was a railway station in Eccleshill, West Yorkshire, England.
The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was a railway line that ran east, south and then westwards from Shipley to Bradford in West Yorkshire. The route was opened in 1874 to goods traffic and then to passengers in 1875 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and looped around the eastern edge of Bradford. The GNR arrived after other railways had been established in the West Yorkshire area and many of their lines were heavily reliant on tunnels and grand viaducts, the Shipley and Windhill line being an exception to this, although it did have some steep gradients. The branch extended for 8.5 miles (13.7 km) between the two termini of Shipley Windhill and Bradford Exchange. The route as built from Laisterdyke to Shipley was actually only 6.5 miles (10.5 km) as the initial section from Bradford Exchange to Laisterdyke was already in existence as part of the Great Northern Railway's line to Leeds.
Lees Moor Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel on the former Great Northern Railway line between Queensbury and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The former dual track tunnel is just north of the village of Cullingworth in West Yorkshire and when built was 1,533 yards (1,402 m) long. Due to the pitch black inside and the squealing of the wheels on the 1 in 50 radius curve, drivers nicknamed it the 'Hell Hole'. After closure to passengers, the tunnel was used in experiments involving the effects of smoke inhalation and cancer.
The Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway (LB&HJR) was an English railway company. It built a line between Bradford and Leeds, and had running powers over the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to Halifax. It opened its main line in 1854 and later built a number of branch lines.
The Great Northern Railway Trail is a cycleway and footpath in the Bradford District of West Yorkshire, England. The path follows the route of a former railway, that of the Great Northern railway line between Bradford and Keighley that went via Queensbury and Cullingworth. The path has been designated as part of the National Cycle Route number 69.
Thwaites railway station was a railway station located just east of Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, on the Midland Railway line through the Aire Valley between Keighley and Shipley. It opened to traffic in 1892 and closed 17 years later in 1909 due to poor patronage.
The Great Northern Railway developed an extensive network over time, having started in 1846 with the intention of connecting London and York, as well as other major Yorkshire towns. The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire was a major part of that, although the GNR did not succeed in reaching York as it originally intended. By acquiring running powers it reached Leeds, Bradford and Halifax over other companies' lines, as well as Barnsley Sheffield and Grimsby, and then York too. After acquiring local companies it developed a network, chiefly in West Yorkshire. Later it built lines north and west of Bradford into hilly terrain, and these were very expensive to build, and never repaid the initial cost.
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
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Bradford Exchange | Great Northern Railway Leeds-Bradford Lines | Laisterdyke | ||
Great Northern Railway Queensbury Lines | Manchester Road |