😲 Long-derelict railway yard brought back to life as TRU logistics hub

Healey Mills Marshalling Yard, near Ossett, Wakefield, closed fully in 2012 after many decades of decline. Now, brand new sidings are being created on the huge site to create a distribution hub to serve the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU). The long-derelict site is ideally located for the likes of Ravensthorpe and Mirfield, where huge works are taking place. #train #tru #railway

[@PaulDenison-r7r]

Spent hours as a kid watching trains coming and going in the early 1980's. Am glad to see it being reused.

[@sarahandwills]

It was a great location. Healey Mills, Tinsley and Toton all had big hills overlooking the depot below.

[@adrianwoolliscroft7441]

What a pleasant surprise to see an old yard being brought back to life! Marvellous!

[@KevinMorrison-xj2bt]

My uncle Jack worked as a platelayer at Healey Mills yard during the 1960's, and lived in Ossett. I was a keen steam trainspotter so stayed with him for a week during the school summer holidays, and one evening during 1966 (aged 14) I was allowed to visit the control box in the marshalling yard, and operate the retarders to slow down the wagons. The yard was so busy in those days, mainly with the WD steam engines busy at work hauling heavy coal trains. And Wakefield, Low moor, Mirfield, Normanton, Goole, Hull, Leeds Holbeck sheds were still in steam. I remember the long gone Horbury Station was a nice original station to sit and watch steam locomotives at work. So glad they are bringing the yard back to life, just like they have done with Feltham yard down south. Thanks for uploading.

[@sarahandwills]

Many thanks for these memories. Fantastic stuff! I agree that it's great to see it brought back to life.

[@stevecurd3944]

fantastic footage,great to see the old yard & part of Britains heritage being re-used & not covered in housing

[@paulmarwood4325]

Exactly

[@cathybrind2381]

And shopping trolleys..........

[@Novocastrian-wp4ll]

There’s probably a few developers crying over the loss of the site

[@andrewmuff2862]

A 'good news' story for a change and very welcome too. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@mrollivetti]

Thank you very much, very interesting and wonderfully designed (pictures, music, taxonomy). Every railway enthusiast enjoys such films. Best wishes from Germany!

[@sarahandwills]

That's very kind of you. I appreciate the feedback. Much appreciated!

[@Flymochairman1]

Great to see this Sarah. Thank you. From losing the Line up to the Steel Works at Deepcar, to rejuvenation of an older TMD back to use is great. Just make sure there's no Buddleia! Have a Good Christmas and a Happy New Year, Sarah. Cheers!

[@a11csc]

glad to see it back in some form

[@grahambaker1122]

Great vid Sarah!what a nice Refreshing change,to see This once important railway Yard,coming back to life! Maybe?on the same lines As whitemoor yard March! Plenty of room for expansion!

[@MyWayRailway40199]

Great video nice to see it put back to its right use it would be perfect to reopen with a class 40 👍

[@Guard_Amos]

Its good to see the yard being brought back to life. I used to go passed as a kid and I've also worked trains passed there.

[@stevenperry7493]

That was very interesting , thanks for that .😊

[@pn112upfast]

Thank you Sarah very interesting 👍👍

[@Geo46115]

Amazing footage, and I, for one, thought all the track had been lifted! As an ex: BR fireman, I've worked heavy freight trains from Manchester via Stalybridge / Micklehurst line. On arrival at Healey Mills, we've been held in a queue until a 'slot' became available many times - before we could be released. Then, to prepare for a return working, once we'd turned our engine. Can't believe just how busy that yard used to be! Good news on its resurrection!

[@sarahandwills]

Thanks for that. The reward for uploading these videos is hearing great memories and insights like that. Much appreciated 👍

[@phillipmcmullen316]

I’ve always loved Hayley Mills!..💕🥃

[@ricktownend9144]

Thank you for this bit of positive news

[@sarahandwills]

Yes, great to see such a big site back in use after all these years

[@guyroebuck8510]

Hope it continues to be usefull for the railway and goods in the future too. Great news! 😊

[@djwarren5081]

I spent many a happy hour there in the late 60's and early 70's. Quiet a way home to Scholes, Cleckheaton on my bicycle.

[@sarahandwills]

Yes, quite a lengthy bike ride, but it was a great location up on the banking watching over the yard. It was Class 56 city by the time I started going in the 80s

[@elisabethj.v.beardsell9853]

Excellent news. Employment for those who want to work👏💷

[@Anonymoususer_8823]

I think it’s a good idea to bring back how it used to be before. And to store more trains for storage.

[@davestrains6816]

Great video and thanks for sharing. Dave

[@boyfromblackstuff7859]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Thanks for the video Sarah 😊 How I spent many hours train spotting at Healey Mills on my Honda CB250 from Urmston Manchester in the late 70s 80s 😊Busy happy days. It always saddened me when it closed. But seeing it being repurposed is a start and hopefully a rail connecting distribution centre when TPU is finished 🤔

[@caleblindley7142]

Wow great vid. I used to go here with my grandad watching all trains back in the day. Good to see new tracks put down.

[@suesmith4366]

Fantastic, that is good news. My stepdad was a goods guard based there. It was just left to rot which was a shame. Thanks Sarah 😎

[@andyallthings]

This is content that I like you strike gold with this stuff

[@XxBec3509]

Great video. Thanks for sharing

[@dennisshaffer4528]

Thank you again for this informative video.

[@sarahandwills]

You're welcome. Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@WayneGibbins]

The old Freightliner depot in Hull is being rebuilt as well. It will be a hub for track manufacturing for HS2

[@sarahandwills]

Great to hear it's being brought back into use. Might try to get some video next time I'm in that neck of the woods

[@philiphirst1310]

I grew up in Ossett. I went to south Ossett High school and I've seen that place in its prime and it's rock bottom. I hope there is a future for it beyond the upgrade

[@sarahandwills]

Maybe the upgrade will show the current railway bosses the true potential of the site. I mean, it's a lot less constrained than a lot of the other Yorkshire depots and provides good access to various population centres.

[@petetrundell5454]

So much has changed in the intervening decades that I find it curious that this land hasn’t been re-purposed like it has at Tinsley and so many other, smaller yards. Makes me wonder if there is some grand on-going master plan for the railways after all.

[@billmmckelvie5188]

Hallelujah! Thank you for sharing It has been a real worry when you see other railway support infrastructure being built on greenfield sites and this one has been left to go to rack and ruin, with existing tracks already there!

[@michaelbolt4530]

This is good news, I noticed there’s a new yard behind built just outside Huddersfield

[@andrewreynolds4949]

That’s a stabling and reversing yard to replace the tracks in Huddersfield Station itself, which are being replaced with a new platform as part of TRU

[@chriswaring5565]

AT LAST HEALEY MILLS HAS BEEN GIVEN A NEW LEASE OF LIFE AFTER BEEN NEGLECTED FOR YEARS

[@rodneyelliott5995]

I have often wondered about that site and it’s heartening to learn its being resurrected and has a useful and valuable purpose. Very nice video marred only by the ‘plinky’ noises. I do which video and film makers would be rather more circumspect about adding what is quite unnecessary ’Muzak’ to their material.

[@doncoffey5820]

Enjoying your updates Sarah. I’ve subscribed.

[@sarahandwills]

Thanks Don - much appreciated!

[@davefreeman7629]

nice video it was my frist one from you and i liked the details you put in very good a like and a subscribed from me hope to see many more videos like this nice one!

[@sarahandwills]

Thanks for that. I try to do updates on some of the big railway projects, so I hope you like the channel. 👍

[@maniac9902]

There is a possibility it stays after TRU too, for stabling units from Neville Hill

[@michaelbenton4117]

ITt is good to see that rail is not forgotten. But are they just burying the old track? I know it cost to ripe the old up, but still a waste.

[@sarahandwills]

I believe they've ripped up the old track in the part of the yard they're using for the new sidings. That still leaves a huge amount of the old marshalling yard disused, so I guess they'll just leave the rest like it is, with the old tracks getting overgrown.

[@tomaszpado4064]

I know many class 37 47 56 were stored. Lately in 2009 class 56 were stored there. All Class 56s were removed in winter 2010 and some rest of freight and ballast wagons were abandoned then. I observed some photos on Flickr I think this yard was early closed maybe in 2009/2010 because class 60 and 66s didnt moving there.

[@sarahandwills]

Yes, that all sounds very accurate. I don't ever remember seeing a Class 66 at Healey Mills when it was fully functioning, so it must have been mothballed before the 66s started to dominate UK freight

[@clivebroadhead4381]

Is it being re-opened as a freight yard, or for some other purpose?

[@AngloYorkshire]

It's also to store trains when Neville Hill has work done soon

[@sarahandwills]

Ah, that would make sense. I thought seven or eight sidings seemed a lot purely for TRU works as I guess you'd only need to load up two or three engineering trains at any one time. Hope it can continue to be used for something after the TRU and Neville Hill works.

[@johnabbott2575]

They could build it up like DIRFT after that it's close to m1 m62 so good for transport

[@annatrindall9829]

What a fascinating video this is, thankyou so much for posting it 😊

[@sarahandwills]

Thank you. At the time, I was a bit annoyed that the mist had stopped me getting a clear zoom shot on the sidings in the distance. However, watching it back now makes me think it adds to the air of mystery and creates a bit more atmosphere. Great to see something happening after all these years.

[@wideyxyz2271]

❤

[@gwrydd]

So what happens once the TRU is complete? It goes back to being disused?

[@Sam_Green____4114]

Yes but not for normal freight !! Couldn't they build a container terminal there ?

[@sarahandwills]

Hopefully, they'll use it for a few years for the TRU and then people will realise what a great site it is for a depot or terminal. It's a waste to have such a big site largely unused

[@385Denny]

Very poor road access prevents it from been used for container traffic for example plus there's a big terminal just up the road in Leeds

[@simontaylor2319]

What's the matter with the wprd "area" or "site" .........why "footprint"?

[@DeepakVerma-cd4fe]

Is the railway sidings being brought back to life

[@richardchadwick4028]

Can't believe it's not been built on ,housing....Good use of railway land ....!

[@sarahandwills]

I thought the same. I think it's location sandwiched between a couple of live lines might have saved it from housing over the years due to access complexities.

[@kevinfowkes2327]

@@sarahandwills Former hump marshalling yards and diesel depots are on land which is often very badly polluted. The old Tinsley yard is regarded as one of the most polluted brownfield sites in western Europe, partly because the hydraulic wagon retarders leaked oil into the ground constantly for 20 years. There may be similar factors here, with an eye-wateringly expensive decontamination necessary for any residential development. If you believe Wikipedia, Healey Mills is also prone to flooding. My memories of Healey Mills are mostly from the early 90s. It wasn't a marshalling yard by then but quite a few freight trains stopped for crew and engine changes, and the depot was still quite busy. I hope (as others have said) that a use is found for it when the upgrade is done.

[@Billybutlin46]

A TOC will take over this after the TRU has finished.

[@beeble2003]

I'd mute the sound of the passing road traffic rather than blending it into the music. It's just annoying background noise.

[@chrisbower5854]

Who are TRU.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Trans-Pennine Upgrade. It's the Trans-Pennine electrification guys. Just replaced the ballast between Leeds and Ravensthorpe - which is pink now!😅

[@railfreightdrivergallagherGBRf]

Transpennine Route Upgrade. JG.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

It’s a lot more than electrification; they’re rebuilding stations and bridges, and four-tracking Huddersfield to Ravensthorpe

[@robertwilloughby8050]

@@andrewreynolds4949 Oh sure, I was just giving what the Americans would call the "Cliffs Notes" version. There's also the new bit of Ravensthorpe station on the Huddersfield - Wakefield line to come, too.