Huddersfield South and East Junction Railway (1879/80)
The Huddersfield South & East Junction Railway was a scheme for a new railway line which failed to pass through Parliament in 1880.
History
Following the abandonment of the tentative Hull & Huddersfield Railway scheme in November 1879, the backers announced their intention to press ahead with the Huddersfield & Nostell Railway. By the following month, the title had been amended to the Huddersfield South & East Junction Railway.
The line would have run from "Huddersfield to Nostell, there to join the Great Northern line to London, and having also a communication with the Midland Railway near to Walton."[1]
The 18 mile line was to have improved communications with London and Goole, as well as linking Huddersfield to coalfields situated to the east of the town.
The scheme had widespread backing, including Huddersfield Corporation, Huddersfield Chamber of Commerce, and the owners of the various collieries that would benefit from the move to rail from road.
The Leeds Mercury (16/Dec/1879) gave the following description of the intended route:
Our readers will be interested in a description of the intended route of the line. An examination of the plans shows that, considering the great ruggedness of the country, the works are comparatively light. The line will commence at Beaumont Street, where it joins the Bradford Road, near the London and North-Western Railway Viaduct; but instead of being at the elevation of the London and North-Western Company's rails, will be at the level of the street. The space between Great Northern Street and the viaduct is intended to be used for station purposes, and this being in close proximity to the new market in course of construction by the Corporation of Huddersfield, will be a great convenience to the public. The railway passes thence over Hillhouse Road, and crosses the canal into the open ground on the other side, which will form an excellent site for a goods station. It then runs parallel to Leeds Road as far as the Peacock Inn, where a curve commences which takes it over Leeds Road, the rails being here at just sufficiently high an elevation to leave room for a bridge, without interfering with the level of the road. At this point commences a short branch to the London and North-Western Railway. It runs up, rising 1 in 67½, in a direct line to near Red Doles Bridge, over Sir John Ramsden's Canal, and thence by an easy curve joins the London and North-Western line opposite the White Stone Sheds. The main line then goes on in a direct line over the river and low lands to the junction of Jagger and Dalton Bank Lanes, which is crossed by a bridge, as is also the Kirkburton branch of the London and North-Western Railway a little farther on. The line then skirts the hill to Kirkheaton, having a tunnel 343 yards long at the steep escarpment just before arriving at that place. It is intended to place a station here for the convenience of the inhabitants of that district. The line then winds up the north side of this valley till it arrives at Hall Wood, below Whitley Park. It crosses the stream here and runs up the other side of the valley to below Great Lepton, where there will probably be another station. It runs thence in tunnel for about seven-eighths of a mile through the high ground known as Lepton Edge, and comes out again to daylight in the Flockton Beck Valley, about 1.000 yards west of the chapel house at Flockton. It passes over Flockton Road some distance to the west of this house, which it is found can be conveniently lowered so as to allow of a bridge here, it being the intention of the engineer to avoid all level crossings for public roads. The railway now passes nearly on a surface line on the north side of Flockton till it crosses the road again just below the Manor House, whence, after getting into a slight cutting, it crosses over the same road a third time near Lane End Colliery. Those three crossings could not, unfortunately, be avoided; but as bridges will be provided in each case, there will be no danger or risk to the public. It is, of course, hardly necessary to state that station accommodation will be provided for Flockton. The line next passes nearly as a surface line to Stocks Moor, where it gets into a cutting, and passes under two public roads. It then goes on, alternately in slight cutting and bank, passing under or over all public roads, to Jenkins Wood and Bimshaw Wood, where it crosses over the Woolley Edge Tunnel of the Barnsley branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. The line then skirts the hill-side to Hollingworth and Brown Wood, and passing under the Wakefield and Sheffield Road, cuts across the valley into Bushcliffe Wood, and then takes the low land below Chevet Farm, and is just low enough to pass under the main line of the Midland Railway. For the information of our more professional readers it may be stated that the gradients of the whole line are not heavy. At the Huddersfield end the gradients are very flat, and from near the river to the tunnel at Lepton Edge there is a uniform rise of 1 in 55, with flatter pieces at the stations; and from the tunnel down nearly to this point we have also a uniform fall of 1 in 85. One in 55 is by no means an extraordinary gradient in Yorkshire, as the railways run out of a great number of large towns on steeper gradients than this. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway leaves Bradford at 1 in 60 for a distance of two miles. The new Great Northern route from Halifax to Bradford and Leeds is, part of the way — from Halifax to Ovenden — on a gradient of 1 in 45, and from Queensbury to Bradford on a gradient of 1 in 50. One in 55 is therefore a fairly good gradient for this district, and there will not be the slightest difficulty in working every kind of traffic on it. It may be stated further in our description of the line that just before crossing under the Midland Railway, there will be a short branch connecting the proposed line with this railway, which will give direct access to all the towns served by the Midland Railway in the Midland Counties. After crossing under the Midland Railway, the line rises 1 in 65 for about a third of a mile, and passes over the Barnsley Canal close to the lower reservoir, and proceeds thence by easy gradients past the north side of Cold Hiendley Reservoir to the south of Wintersett, and over Ryhill Lane to its junction at Hemsworth Lane Ends with the Wakefield and Doncaster Railway of the Great Northern and Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway Companies, about three-quarters of a mile south of Nostell Station.
The Bill for the railway had its second reading in Parliament in February 1880, although objections were lodged by Sir John P. Lister-Kaye and by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Company.
The Select Committee of the House of Lords rejected the Bill in June 1880.[2] A compounding issue had been the relationship between the Great Northern Railway Company and the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway Company.[3]
In 1882, parts of the failed scheme were incorporated into the Hull & Barnsley Railway (H&BR) Huddersfield & Halifax Railway Extension. Although this Bill successfully passed through Parliament, it was ultimately abandoned in February 1884 due to financial issues.
Route
The following is a general approximation of the route, based on the description given by the Leeds Mercury, and is not intended to be accurate.