Beaumont Street Flyer

Following the opening of the Midland Railway's Newtown Goods Yard, Huddersfield Corporation embedded a single set of railway tracks along Beaumont Street in 1922 in order to move coal from the goods yard to the Corporation's gas works situated off Leeds Road.

The two small saddle tank engines that shunted the coal trucks became known as the Beaumont Street Flyers, perhaps as an ironic reference to the fact that they travelled slowly to avoid accidents. According to some sources, the engine would often be preceded by a man waving a warning flag.

Following the closure of Midland Railway's Huddersfield Branch Line in the 1960s, the Beaumont Street Flyer service ceased in 1966 and the tracks along Beaumont Street were removed.

Discovering Old Huddersfield

Extract from Discovering Old Huddersfield (1993-2002) by Gordon & Enid Minter:

Just after the bus depot notice the now blocked off Beaumont Street which was once the route taken by the engine and coal trucks of the Huddersfield gasworks railway. The track of this small railway, which was opened in 1922, ran for approximately three quarters of a mile from the gasworks in Leeds Road, along the centre of Beaumont Street and across Bradford Road to the Newtown sidings. In the twenty-five years of the railway's existence a small steam engine hauled some five million tons of coal from Newtown to the gasworks and, of course, an equivalent amount of coke on the return journey. The engine, which was affectionately known as the "Beaumont Street Flyer", was always preceeded by a flag man who would make sure that the line was clear of pedestrians and traffic. At the time of writing (1994) the lines of the old railway may still be seen in the centre of Beaumont Street.

Watch Online

  • Vimeo — undated video footage uploaded by Marsh Lad

Gallery

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Location

The sections of track are shown below, as marked on the 1960 O.S. map. A portion of the track that crossed over Gasworks Street still remains as of 2016 alongside the Gas Works Club and is shown on the Google Street View.