Yorkshire Dales Railway | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Other name(s) | Grassington Branch |
Status | Open |
Termini |
|
Service | |
Type | Heavy rail |
History | |
Commenced | 7 June 1900 |
Opened | 2 July 1902 |
Technical | |
Line length | 11 mi (18 km) |
Number of tracks | 1 (was dual to former Embsay Junction) |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Yorkshire Dales Railway | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Yorkshire Dales Railway was a branch line linking the town of Skipton with the villages of Rylstone, Threshfield and Grassington in North Yorkshire, England. There were two stations on the line - Grassington & Threshfield and Rylstone - and a connection via the Skipton to Ilkley Line to Skipton.
The line closed to passengers in 1930, but is still in use up to Swinden Quarry for the transport of aggregates. It is also known as the Grassington Branch.
The railway company was authorised by Act of Parliament dated 6 August 1897 after several previous attempts to open a line to Grassington including one which would have driven eastwards from Gargrave. The first sod was cut on 7 June 1900 and the single-track line was opened to traffic on 29 July 1902. It was operated by the Midland Railway from the start. [1]
The station at Grassington & Threshfield was built 0.5 miles (0.8 km) short of Grassington itself, thereby saving the cost of having to cross the River Wharfe. [2] The station was built as a through station despite being the line's terminus, because there were plans to extend the line northwards to Hawes, where it would meet the Wensleydale Railway. Those plans were never realised. [3] There is only one significant engineering structure on the line; Haw Bank Tunnel (which lies under the A65 road and is 220 yards (200 m) long) which was built as part of the Skipton to Ilkley line.
The line was single track from Embsay Junction throughout, however, the section from Skipton to Embsay Junction was double track by virtue of the already existing Skipton to Ilkley line which was opened in 1888. [4] A passing loop was installed at Rylstone when traffic from the quarries at Swinden and Skirethornes (the latter via the 2-mile (3.2 km) tramway at Threshfield) increased in number. [5] The passing loop was actually north west of the station's one platform, so trains would have to wait outside the station for the other service to pass. The loop was removed in 1937, as a result of, but some years after, the cessation of passenger workings. [6] Passenger services on the line typically numbered seven a day in each direction, with one southbound working being split at Embsay Junction; the front portion of the train would go forward to Skipton, whilst the rear portion was coupled up to another locomotive, and would run east via Ilkley to Bradford Forster Square. [7]
Skirethorns Quarry, was operated by John Delaney and was 1 mile (2 km) north west of Grassington station. [8] Connection to the end of the YDR was by a small exchange siding and a 2 feet 6 inches (0.76 m) gauge rope-hauled tramway. [9] The exchange siding was just east of the main road through Threshfield, and the tramway extended to Skirethorns underneath the Grassington and Kettlewell roads. Traffic consisted of lime being taken to the Sheffield steel mills and had ceased by 1966 when the quarry was taken over by another company. [10]
Regular passenger services ceased on 22 September 1930, but freight and occasional excursion trains continued until 11 August 1969. [11] The line was the last steam-worked branchline on the British Railways system, with steam finally giving way in the summer of 1968. [12] After August 1969, the line was cut back to Swinden Quarry (9 miles 13 chains (14.7 km)) [13] and it focussed strictly on sending out limestone. In 1970, new owners promoted an upsurge in rail-borne traffic which necessitated a pipeline being laid to power the kilns with gas rather than coal. As the B6265 (Skipton to Grassington road) ran between the quarry works and the railway, movements across the road had become hazardous and the company paid for the road to be moved to the eastern side of the railway line. This was completed in 1973. [14]
The YDR remains a freight-only line used for carrying bulk trainloads of limestone aggregate from the quarry to terminals in Leeds, Hull, Birmingham and Wellingborough. [15]
The "Yorkshire Dales Railway" name survives as that of the trust that operates the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.
The idea of full re-opening of the line to passengers, or an extension of the current Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway into Skipton, has been raised ever since the line's closure to passengers. [16]
In January 2019, Campaign for Better Transport released a report identifying the line which was listed as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments). [17]
The Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (E&BASR) is a heritage railway in North Yorkshire, England, formed in 1979 and opened in 1981.
Grassington is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The population of the parish at the 2011 Census was 1,126. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and now in the lieutenancy area of North Yorkshire, the village is situated in Wharfedale, about 8 miles (10 km) north-west from Bolton Abbey, and is surrounded by limestone scenery. Nearby villages include Linton, Threshfield, Hebden, Conistone and Kilnsey.
The Wharfedale line is one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. The service connects Ilkley with Leeds and Bradford, and is operated by Northern Trains. West Yorkshire Metrocards are available for use on the line, covering Zones 3–5. The line is served predominantly by four-coach Class 333 electric multiple units.
The North Western Railway (NWR) was an early British railway company in the north-west of England. It was commonly known as the "Little" North Western Railway, to distinguish it from the larger London and North Western Railway (LNWR).
Colne railway station serves the town of Colne, in Lancashire, England, which is situated close to Pendle Hill. The station, which is managed by Northern, is the eastern terminus of the East Lancashire Line. Trains from Blackpool South run through Preston and Blackburn to Burnley and Colne.
Menston railway station serves Menston in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. On the Wharfedale Line between Ilkley and Leeds/Bradford Forster Square, it is served by Class 331 and 333 electric trains run by Northern Trains, who also manage the station.
Ilkley railway station serves Ilkley in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. On the Wharfedale Line, it is served by Class 333 electric trains run by Northern Trains, which also manages the station.
Skipton railway station is a Grade II listed station which serves the market town of Skipton in North Yorkshire, England on the Airedale Line, which gives Skipton access to destinations such as Leeds, Bradford, Carlisle, Lancaster and Morecambe. The station is operated by Northern Trains and is situated 27 miles (43 km) north-west of Leeds.
The Leeds and Bradford Railway Company (L&BR) opened a railway line between the towns on 1 July 1846. It extended its line from Shipley through Keighley to Skipton and Colne, in 1847 and 1848.
The Preston and Longridge Railway (P&LR) was a branch line in Lancashire, England. Originally designed to carry quarried stone in horse-drawn wagons, it became part of an ambitious plan to link the Lancashire coast to the heart of Yorkshire. The ambition was never achieved, but the line continued to carry passengers until 1930 and goods until 1967.
Grassington & Threshfield railway station was a railway station that served the town of Grassington and village of Threshfield, in North Yorkshire, England.
The Forge Valley Line was a 16-mile-long branch of the North Eastern Railway between Seamer and Pickering in North Yorkshire, England. The line was intended to link Scarborough with Pickering. It opened in 1882 and closed in 1950, with the exception of a stretch from Pickering to Thornton Dale which remained open for quarry traffic until 1963.
Embsay railway station is a railway station on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. It serves the small village of Embsay in North Yorkshire, England. The station is a terminus on the railway and was re-opened in 1981.
The Skipton–Ilkley line is the route that the Midland Railway took to link the towns of Skipton and Ilkley via the villages of Embsay, Bolton Abbey and Addingham.
Rylstone railway station was a railway station that served the small village of Rylstone in North Yorkshire, England. It was built by the Yorkshire Dales Railway and operated by the Midland Railway. The station opened on 29 July 1902 with a station building that was to the same design as most of the stations on the Derwent Valley Light Railway.
Swinden Quarry is 0.62 miles (1 km) north of the village of Cracoe, and 1.9 miles (3 km) south-west of Grassington in North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by LaFarge Tarmac. The former Skipton-Grassington railway line still serves this location, and in railway terminology, the site is known as Rylstone Quarry.
Earby railway station was a junction station that served the town of Earby, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Since 1974 Earby is within the boundaries of the administrative county of Lancashire. The station was built by the Midland Railway, on the former Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway between Skipton and Colne and opened in 1848.
The Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway was an early British railway company in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It built a line from Shipley near Bradford through Keighley and Skipton to Colne. The Skipton–Colne Line closed in 1970, but the remainder of the line is still in use today, and once formed part of the Midland Railway's main line route from London to Glasgow.
The Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway was a railway line running between the towns of Otley and Ilkley in West Yorkshire. The line was managed and run jointly by the Midland Railway (MR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was 6+1⁄2 miles (10 km) long. Opened to passenger traffic on 1 August 1865 and freight traffic some months later, the line ran for almost 100 years before partial closure in July 1965 when the line to Otley closed. Today passenger services run over the rest of the line as part of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE) Wharfedale Line.
Skirethorns is a hamlet in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, England. The hamlet is just west of the village of Threshfield, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, some 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Kettlewell, and 8 miles (13 km) north of Skipton. Threshfield Quarry is located north-west of the hamlet, and despite its name, it is located in Skirethorns.