Shepley Railway Station

Shepley Railway Station is an album of images taken by me on the 21st May 2016 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. They can be seen below or on Clickasnap higher resolution and un-watermarked by clicking any image.

Shepley railway station serves the villages of Shepley and Shelley on the outskirts of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Opened on the 1st July 1850 by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the line was authorised by an act of parliament on the 30th June 1845 to connect Huddersfield with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway at Penistone. The line from Penistone to Manchester passed through the Woodhead tunnels and closed in 1981.

Shepley became a junction station on the 1st September 1879 when the 3.5 mile branch line to Clayton West opened and was known as Shepley and Shelley station during this time. The branch closed in 1983 and at the same time much of the Pensitone line was singled, with Shepley keeping it's double track layout only to provide a passing loop between here and Stocksmoor.

The modern day station is a 2 platform staggered lay out either side of a bridge, the station has been unstaffed since 1966 and has only limited facilities. There are no toilets, ticketing machines, disabled access or shops at the station. The station was used by 71536 passengers during 2018/19 at an average of 1375 per week a drop of approx 55 passengers per week on the previous year.

Clicking and image should open a link in another window to the higher resolution, un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

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All the images remain the copyright of Colin Green.

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Steam and Modern Trains at Milner Royd Junction, Sowerby Bridge

Milner Royd Junction sits approx. 1 mile to the east of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station, West Yorkshire. The site is where the Caldervale line towards Halifax and the Calder Valley (the older of the 2) towards Brighouse split. The line towards Brighouse was closed to passenger services in 1970 and was a mainly freight line until reopening in 2000. The signal box is now redundant but still stands at the junction which is crossed by a 4 arch bridge. The bridge used to have a path towards Norland but for as many years as I can remember has been closed off and locked at its accessible northern side. The higher southern gate to the bridge is normally unlocked but is hard to access as the area around it in overgrown. It's just a spot I like to go now and again as you know you'll be left alone and you can watch the world of train transport pass by.

On Sunday 3rd November 2019 I had heard a steam train was to pass along the valley and through Milner Royd Junction, it was travelling from Blackburn to Wakefield Kirkgate an so I was there early to catch it, which turned out to be a good decision as the train was early which is not something you normally associate with British railways. The following 2 videos are taken from my YouTube account and were filmed that day.

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Trains at Walsden and the Summit Tunnel.

A glorious Sunday afternoon beckoned, and with a few free hours, the Calder Valley called. A quick hop on the train whisked me to Walsden, my starting point for a leisurely stroll back along the historic Rochdale Canal to Todmorden. Camera in hand, I was eager to capture the picturesque scenery. My first stop: the eastern portal of the legendary Summit Tunnel, a feat of Victorian engineering. Intrigued by the prospect, I decided to try and film a train's passage through this iconic structure. Fortune smiled upon me; it wasn't long before an eastbound train thundered past, offering a fleeting glimpse into the tunnel's depths.

Sadly I was not aware of the distraction of the weeds in front of the camera at the time but I don't think they remove much of the feel of the video.

A testament to Victorian ingenuity, the Summit Tunnel stands as one of England's oldest railway tunnels. Completed between 1837 and 1841, this engineering marvel once claimed the title of the world's longest tunnel, stretching an impressive 1.6 miles. However, its history is not without incident. In 1984, a devastating fire ripped through the tunnel when a petrol train derailed and burst into flames, forcing an eight-month closure and highlighting the inherent dangers of such subterranean passages.

 

I also, before walking up, took a short time to film trains in operation at Walsden station, including a westbound train running straight through. An eastbound train was filmed from the iron bridge (the only remaining part of the original station closed in 1961 with the current station reopening in 1990), and another westbound train slowing on approach to platform 1 was filmed from platform 2 as it arrived.

The following video was filmed on November 14, 2014, using my handheld tablet. I was just beginning to take an interest in photography and filmed a short clip of a pacer train passing on its way into the mouth of the Summit Tunnel.