The Woodhead Route & its branch lines

The iconic Woodhead route and its branch lines captured in this three minute montage from www.signalboxes.com
All pictures in this video are Copyrighted. The list of photographers is at the back of the video.

[@StaffsTransport]

Very sad. As a kid growing up it was a magical railway through some of England's most precious scenery, and I cherish my own memories which stay vivid in my mind.

[@gainsbourg66]

Great video. They chose this line for electrication in 1954, at massive expense, then closed it down just 27 years later. That just shows you they don't know what they are doing. Meanwhile, the road alternative is now constantly jammed, with heavy vehicles destroying the villages accross the pennines.

[@saltspringrailway3683]

Politicians, don't you just love 'em?

[@johnhardman3]

Politicians always know what they're doing: they are carefully-chosen and -filtered for their parliamentary careers and they know where their bread's buttered.

[@andrewlong6438]

As soon as BR took decision to go for 25V AC - the Woodhead line was already obsolete because it was electrified at 1500 and I am sure this affected the remaining life of line.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Well, there was a recession on at the time of closure AND traffic levels across the entire network was falling leaving spare capacity on the other routes from Sheffield to Manchester. Couple this with life-expired electrification equipment and locomotives, both of which were non-standard. Add to this the need to change locomotives at both end of this route increasing the time taken to deliver goods along this route. The result was the not unexpected closure of the line. Yes, they could have converted it to 25kV, butvthat would gave needed new tunnels at Woodhead and Thurgoland, as had been needed for the original electrification, made this idea uneconomic. And whilst there is the potential for the kine now, 40 years later, it would have been impossible to predict this back then.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@andrewlong6438 BR converted the 1500V DC line to Southend, but the engineering difficulties caused by the tunnels on this line would have prevented a simple conversion as they had on the Southend line. When the line was initially electrified 2 new tunnels had to be cut.

[@EM-yk1dw]

Beautiful video. Many thanks. Like so many I will never get over the pointless and shameful waste of closing this line, even after all these years. The Woodhead Route R I P

[@krnlg]

Thank you for posting this. Very interesting and poignant. I saw the end of the track in Hadfield recently and it reminded me about this line, which I'd read about previously.

[@daystatesniper01]

Scandalous closure ,i wonder how many of those signal box name boards still exist ans were not just burned with the box

[@bobbobless522]

Remember taking the last passenger hauled 76 tour in 1981. Still have the ticket.

[@ZathGB]

Think I might have been on that. Did several trips in the area, at the time. Rode my bike to Gatwick, train to Victoria, underground to Euston and then up to Manchester and Crewe. Wish I'd been living up there tbh, EMUs down here are just boring.

[@alisonlee3314]

Beautiful. Thank you x

[@JohnSmith-mx8jh]

I agree this line should never have closed

[@nigelkthomas9501]

Excellent, but I think it should be Sheffield Victoria at 1:40 not Manchester Victoria!

[@clivebroadhead4381]

With the cancellation of HS2 to Sheffield and Leeds the original line should absolutely be reopened. National Grid stated that the 1953 tunnel can be used for trains. However, if not then the 400kV cables should be moved into a smaller dedicated cable tunnel, as in the London area.

[@donovanemery597]

The line from Manchester to Sheffield via Stockport is the main route now

[@flippop101]

Superb testimony!

[@FernandoRojas-do9qj]

Exelent...........video...

[@VampMiku502]

1:40 this is Sheffield Victoria no Manchester Victoria

[@kimormond4680]

Yes

[@nigelkthomas9501]

I was quick to spot that mistake!

[@davidsnapebrcrosslane8782]

Re photo Manchester Victoria, from memory the Woodhead line ran into Manchester Piccadilly not Victoria. The photo looks like it was taken at either Ashburys or Ardwick.

[@angrydashcamman5720]

Superb video. May I ask what is the piece of music used?

[@Steven_Rowe]

I think it is almost a criminal act by the government to spend so much money building the line and the new tunnel and less than 30 years later all gone. the french dont seem to close down railway lines.

[@Isochest]

Like the American politicians, the British politicians pander to some very dodgy interest groups.

[@Steven_Rowe]

Isochest this would never happen in France. We need cars and trucks off the road or at least a lot less

[@robinmoss5470]

The Government didn't build the line. It was built during the private enterprise era with private Money. The Government and the taxpayer were not involved. The new tunnel was planned by LNER before nationalisation and was constructed during the early 1950s when British Railways were still generating a cash surplus.

[@johnhardman3]

@@robinmoss5470 Nationalising and rebuilding the post-war clapped-out railways had to be done with borrowed money, repaid mostly by the taxpayer.

[@johnhardman3]

@@robinmoss5470 The idea of privatisation was and is to dump losses (from areas like infrastructure) on the taxpayer while the profits go to the privateers: that's fairly logical.

[@jonathanwood2465]

Wow Wat a duel ov a line. Must b up there with the SNC..

[@ZathGB]

This could be reopend using some of the £39 billion saved by leaving the EU. We need Portillo back as transport minister. Thanks to him we still have the Settle & Carlisle line.

[@None-zc5vg]

We're not going to leave the E.U.: fhe interests that run our political system would never allow it. As for Woodhead, that's gone for good, like the much-lamented Somerset and Dorset line: there was not enough goods traffic left to justify keeping the Woodhead route open, along with its branches.

[@kimormond4680]

We have left the EU

[@Isochest]

Spot on!

[@oldgoat5589]

@@kimormond4680 In your dreams...

[@borderlands6606]

Perhaps the cancellation of HS2 will give the Woodhead a second lease of life?

[@None-zc5vg]

The heading at 1.42 should read "Sheffield Victoria".

[@transportationuk7656]

It’s pronounced Oughtibridge not Oughtybridge.

[@raymndharrison64]

are they going to reopened the woodhead route ? 6 November

[@robinmoss5470]

No. The Woodhead route will never be re-opened because the main cargo it carried - coal - has gone.

[@western_alex]

RIP

[@kevinsmeeton9504]

I was 2 days old when the line closed in 81, lol. So why didn't they just upgrade the line from DC to AC?

[@Stipperstone]

Possibly no other European country could have commited such gross industrial vandalism.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Closed due to falling traffic levels caused by a recession and soare capacity on other lines. Coupled with non-standard and life-expired equipment and locomotives. And the need to change locomotives at each end instead of using a single locomotive for the entire run of the coal trains from Yorkshire's pits to Fiddler's Ferry.

[@petercollingwood4108]

Too fast slow down, give us time to enjoy the photos.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

The closure of the Woodhead line shows just how stupid and unutterably wasteful this country is! The amount of cash put into this railway from day one to the opening of the third tunnel and electrifying it must be eye watering yet it was all flushed down the 🚽 in one go in the summer of 1981. What a hellish waste!

[@robtyman4281]

Yes, and so was the closure of the GCR which linked up nicely with the Woodhead line at Sheffield....making the combined route from Manchester through Sheffield and down to London Marylebone quicker than the route that we know today (Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston).....which doesn't go via Sheffield yet takes longer. But there you go, that's British logic for you.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@robtyman4281 looking back I don’t think BR should ever have come about. The big four; LNER, LMS, SR and GWR should’ve carried on without interference.

[@johnchurch4705]

It’s a shame the line down to Marylebone wasn’t wired whilst they built the new Woodhead tunnel. The excuse made was it would cost too much to convert to 25KV AC so they closed it and used the funds to electrify the East Coast line, the Hope Valley route was converted quite cheaply to 25KV AC.

[@nigelkthomas9501]

@@johnchurch4705 Hope Valley electrified? Bollocks!

[@johnchurch4705]

@@nigelkthomas9501 I thought 💭 the Hope Valley route was originally DC like the Woodhead route? Rail and The Rail Magazine done articles on the Woodhead route as it’s 40 years this year since it’s closure.