Sheffield District Railway Part 2 - Tinsley Yard & Depot, Meadowhall, Brightside

Sheffield District Railway Part 2 - Tinsley Marshalling Yard & Motive Power Depot, Meadowhall, Brightside disused railway.
We round off our explore of the Sheffield District Railway in South Yorkshire by picking up where we left off at the entrance to Tinsley yard and the Ukranian class 66.
This is the entrance to the Tinsley Motive Power Depot,or Tinsley Traction Mantenance Depot. Opening in the 1964 and closing in 1998. We talk a little about the history and take a look at some photos and memories of the open days.
Next to the depot was Tinsley Marshalling Yard. Also brought about by the Sheffield Railway Rationalisation program in the 1960s. A Dowty wagon sorting system was used with a hump shunt to sort wagons that same into the yard and place them on to their new trains.
The yard started to decline in the 1980s and was almost all gone by the late 1990s. Recently the yard has started to see freight again with the opening of the Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal (SIRFT).
We also look at the original line that the Sheffield District Railway followed before the opening of Tinsley yard. This included the Tinsley Wood Tunnel.
Next we head up to Brightside Junction and look at the former Brightside Station, disused since 1995 We follow what we can of the trackbed over the Rier Don Viaduct and behind the Meadowhall Shopping Centre until we reach the bridge abutment on Sheffied Road. This was the site of West Tinsley station.
Photos copyright where labelled of
Chris Booth
Phil Hodgkiss
Martin Hall

[@duncancurtis5108]

Yes we were at the last open day in 1996, tripping down the bank to Meadowhall.

[@glenbooth7903]

As a kid me and ny mate, his dad used ta work there so we used ta spend a lot of time at Tinsley yard spotting, great memories

[@retrorambles517]

Enjoyable video

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I was there in April 1996! Such a crying shame it was allowed to decay and close. Meadowhell! 😆

[@WobblyRunner]

😊 Used to love the Tinsley open days.

[@stephenchecksfield632]

Fantastic video I remember many a open day at Tinsley in the very early 80s before it’s closure In 1997 and of course the class 47s which I recall as well as celebrity class 45106 in green

[@WobblyRunner]

Nice one Stephen. Since I did this video, I've come across loads of my dads old photos of Tinsley open days in the 90s. So much I'd forgotten about.

[@stephenchecksfield632]

@@WobblyRunner yea as a railway enthusiast I remember Tinsley depot and yard plus the ubiquitous class 47s which were so common and also in the mid 90s the white Yorkshire rose that Tinsley class 47s carried on there cab sides great days and memories bud big thumbs up 👍

[@duncancurtis5108]

What a sad sight the secondary yard was back then, only one section left for storage of crippled or scrap wagons.

[@stevenhayes2589]

Thanks for a great informative video your hard work is appreciated

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Steven. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@gregsherlock5119]

Excellent video. I'm glad Chris Booth was able to assist with photos for you As an aside, the portakabin signalbox at Woodburn Jn (since removed) had the stub of the SDR from Shepcote Lane to Brightside Jn on its panel when it was commissioned in the 1990s. The route was closed and Woodburn Jn never signalled a train over it!

[@WobblyRunner]

Thanks very much Greg 👍 My dad must have taken 1000s of photos going back decades around that area and various open days. Binders and binders sat in the loft that I need to go through. Sadly when he passed away a lot of his photos were donated to the KWVR at Ingrow as the we didnt know what to do with them, so we lost a lot of his collection.

[@psychicspies673]

That was a great day out!

[@WobblyRunner]

It sure was!!! Best weather for it too.

[@ffrancrogowski2192]

Many thanks for this very well documented video. The railway scene around South Yorkshire was devastated when Tinsley yard and motive power depot closed. Great shot of the old Brightside station, by the way.

[@WobblyRunner]

👍thanks very much. It sure did leave a big hole. I wish I could go and see its heyday.

[@ffrancrogowski2192]

When I was a guard at Buxton on the railway at Buxton, I went to Tinsley only once. I thought that it was a maze of lines, but you could see that it was starting to run down, and that was about 1978. So long ago as Rotherham Masborough station was still open, then!

[@WobblyRunner]

@@ffrancrogowski2192 Rotherham Masborough. Now there is a relic. I remember the trains calling there when I was very young.

[@aston56134]

The gate that says private access and further link to the canal in the IKEA car park you can actually walk through and gain access onto the bridge and see lots of old railway workings. I did sone photography up there last summer. You can, if I remember correctly almost to the junction that joined at. sheepcote. I go down sheepcote Lane daily for work and as you travel down on the left just before the bridge a huge factory has been demolished and the ground being landscaped for future development, you can see as far as the canal and IKEA. And ironcy, as you pass under the bridge into the start of Tinsley yard the factories on the right have been demolished and again the land flat and being reworked. I kept meaning to pop down on a day off and taj sone pictures as when a freight train arrives into the 'yard' you can get sone great panoramic pictures, but that will not last when the building work starts! If anyone would like to ke to see any of the pictures I have of the old railway bed and bridge just after IKEA I'd be happy to share

[@WobblyRunner]

I was hoping that they would get around to officially opening that path by ikea as a footpath to at least get to the canal. Doesnt look like it's happening does it.

[@stevenstopford9847]

Yet another fantastic video many thanks 👍

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Steven. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@MisterHughie]

Your videos are really fantastic, extremely informative and all round brilliant, thank you 🙏 Looking forward to what’s next.

[@WobblyRunner]

Thanks very much. Very kind words 👍🙂. I'm finally getting round to editing my Welsh holiday videos of abandoned quarries, tramways and railways. So that will be in the horizon very very soon.

[@holmesjunction]

I was lucky enough to get a tour round Tinsley by a driver in the early 70's (courtesy of the Scouts). It was very busy with nearly 100 loco's altogether. You had to be careful walking round the shed yard (on the top of the embankment) as the tracks moved under the weight of the loco’s and a horrible wet slimy goo would pump up around the sleepers. Don't believe they ever 'fixed' the problem before they closed it.

[@WobblyRunner]

👍 a money can't buy experience. It seemed a little more friendly back then didn't it. We got a similar tour at Cardiff Canton in about 1991. More health and safety around these days.

[@paulketchupwitheverything767]

I lived in the Page Hall area of Sheffield for a couple of years in the mid 1980s and walked and jogged around some of the Don Valley/Brightside/Attercliffe area. I remember various small roads and foot tunnels that ran under the multiple rail lines. This was a few years before Meadowhall was built. It felt like there were acres of derelict Victorian factories and large red-brick industrial buildings progressively being demolished. The whole area had a slightly desolate feel to it. It was a bit sad to know that at one time the place had been a major site of activity and that it had all gone. I think that it was possible to see the Orgreave coking plant in the distance from the side of Sheffield Parkway (the previous video to this one). I've a vague recollection of seeing an imposing glow of lights, flame and smoke coming from it one autumn evening, like it was some kind of slumbering, industrial dinosaur.

[@WobblyRunner]

You paint a great picture Paul. I often look at old railway maps and imagine what it must have been like around that whole area. So much going on. PS. You're right - everything is best with ketchup. A man after my own heart.

[@mickd6942]

I went to a Tinsley open day in the early eighties , went through the famous hole in the road to get the brinsworth bus and I remember sitting on the grass banking or grassy knoll overlooking the depot , had to laugh I call it meadow hell or meadow oyle

[@WobblyRunner]

😄👍 Oyl in t' road. I can just about remember the smell still.

[@ogden4]

Wonder if you'd be getting round to telling the story of the Wath/Manvers signalling yards and the old lines that went from Mexborough to Barnsley

[@WobblyRunner]

HI Josef. Hopefully. I want to venture up towards Barnsley.

[@mrbetamax1969]

ANOTHER WINNER PAUL CHEERS 🍻

[@WobblyRunner]

taaaaaaa👍😉

[@barnsleytresurehunter]

Great video very informative

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers 👍🙂

[@richardburns5925]

I've climbed over at 10:17 and walked over the bridge, looking into the river. You can't go up there now. The new tenants of Artisan Stones yard have put steps into the bank from their side and built sheds, chicken pens and put a load of stuff up there! All along the top, up to the fence on the bridge. You could say they have stolen a section of railway track, but as it's long abandoned and neither use to anyone else.....it's just a shame, as people watching this film, can't now go and have a look for themselves.

[@WobblyRunner]

Cheers Richard. That's a shame. But as you say, it's currently off no use to anyone else.

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

A fascinating look back into Sheffield's past, it's wonderful that there is so much that you can still see and explore. The city appears to be an absolute goldmine of railway memorabilia and the two of you quite obviously enjoy exploring the area. The next time I'm in Sheffield competing I'll try to get myself down to Brightside Station for some photographs, I do enjoy putting my Athletics and railway photography together in a day out.

[@WobblyRunner]

Great stuff Seamus. I'd rank Brightside station up there with the Fiery Jack tunnel in terms of grimness 😄

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

@@WobblyRunner One to look forward too then!!!!

[@WobblyRunner]

​@@seamusmcevoy2011 :D and if you're after a thrill and like the litter and bravery. May I suggest the Old Colliery Road Tunnel.

[@seamusmcevoy2011]

@@WobblyRunner Yeah that did look like a bit of an adventure!!!! The same clientelle as 'Fiery Jack' I would have thought.

[@WobblyRunner]

@@seamusmcevoy2011 100%. And I understand this was a good day