Yorkie Posted June 27, 2004 Share Posted June 27, 2004 Lifted from elsewhere - maybe of local interest The first Ecclesfield railway station: South Yorkshire Railway commenced construction of a railway for Ecclesfield in 1851. A single line was built from Barnsley through Ecclesfield to Blackburn near Meadowhall, where the line joined the Midland Railway. A three times daily passenger service started in November 1854, but the Midland Railway operated the early passenger services because SYR possessed no passenger coaches. In 1861, the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway offered SYR the use of its new Sheffield Victoria station and SYR fully merged with the M S & L. in 1864. In 1876, plans were made to double the line, as the single-track was a bottleneck. The double tracks made a strange layout for Ecclesfield station. A goods-shed had been erected opposite the single platform so the new platform had to be constructed some distance away. A footbridge linked the two platforms. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1953, as the station was a long way from the centre of the village at that time, being 3km from Ecclesfield Church. (The station area is at the rear of where Morrisons is today) The second Ecclesfield railway station: In 1892, the rival Midland Railway was keen to exploit the industrial and coal traffic at the massive industrial complex of Newton Chambers at Thorncliffe near Chapeltown. As the South Yorkshire Railway had been absorbed into the rival Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, the Midland couldn’t buy that. Midland Railway constructed their own branch line to serve Thorncliffe and this also ran along to the Blackburn Valley, parallel to the M S & L and never more than a few hundred metres away from it. Ecclesfield got its second station in 1893 as a result of the rivalry between these two railway companies. In 1897, the Midland Thorncliffe branch was extended to create a passenger service between Barnsley, Chapeltown, Ecclesfield and Sheffield. A new junction was also constructed at Barnsley, giving the Midland access to Leeds. This 'Chapeltown Loop' was often used to avoid engineering works on the main line and in the late 1950s; most express trains to the North came this way to avoid main line speed restrictions. Midland’s Ecclesfield station (named Ecclesfield West to avoid confusion with the other station) remained open until 1967. Being remote from the village and having only four trains a day, it was little used in its final years. The last train to use Ecclesfield station was a Scarborough holiday special organised by Ecclesfield Working Men's Club in the summer of 1968. The station goods yard was converted into sidings to serve an oil distribution depot on Station Road at Ecclesfield, but this ceased to be used in the early 1980s when the depot closed. The line is still used today by local trains serving Barnsley and Huddersfield, but nothing remains of the largely wooden Ecclesfield West station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hutch Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Went on a day trip to Belle vue Manchester,that would be in the early 50's with the Ecclesfield junior school caught the train from that wooden station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker Posted July 24, 2004 Share Posted July 24, 2004 I am intrested in this section from Ecclesfield to Blackburn rd. What the old station looked like when it was opened? Trek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted July 24, 2004 Author Share Posted July 24, 2004 Originally posted by Trekker I am intrested in this section from Ecclesfield to Blackburn rd. What the old station looked like when it was opened? Trek. A bit like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted July 24, 2004 Author Share Posted July 24, 2004 And this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basalt Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 A good bit of the old railway track bed minus the rails is still there from Ecclesfield to Wincobank and at Grange lane where there used to be a station. In the other direction it used to go towards Smithy Wood Coke plant then under Cowley Lane, (the road bridge still goes over the non existent track just above Nether Lane junction). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverknight Posted August 23, 2004 Share Posted August 23, 2004 The PTE have Ecclesfield on their long term '2020 Railplan' as a possible new railway station along with 25 other idea sites to develop the SY rail network. However due to rising costs of building work and adjustments to track and signal we are only likely to see only 6 being built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trekker Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 are any pics of this old railway station out there in forum land? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Womersle Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 A bit like this. At one time, the father of the late film actor Donald Pleasence (yes that's how to spell it) was station master at this station and the family - Donald included, lived there. Donald's name is on the honours board at Ecclesfield School - then the Ecclesfield Grammar School. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemansam Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 Arthur Lees old site is now an industrial estate and trains pass by regularly. I believe the station was somewhere near there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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