Midland Railway Huddersfield Branch Line

Representatives of the Midland Railway Company met with Huddersfield Corporation in March 1899 "for the purpose of settling the claims affecting Huddersfield in the bill which the company are promoting for the connection of their line from their land at Newtown, Huddersfield, to within a quarter of a mile of Mirfield, where they will join the L. and Y. Railway".

The line opened on 1 November 1910 and ran from 4½ miles from the Newtown Goods Yard at Huddersfield to Lower Hopton Junction (near Mirfield). Although the line was planned for double tracks, only a single track was ever laid.

The 15-arch Bradley Viaduct carried the line over the Huddersfield Broad Canal and River Colne.

Coal was transported from the Newtown goods yard to the Huddersfield Corporation gas works on Leeds Road by the Beaumont Street Flyer.

After the formation of the London, Midland & Scottish Railway company (LMS) in 1923, the branch was shortened to 1.2 miles by connecting it to the Huddersfield & Heaton Lodge line at Red Doles Junction near Woodhouse Hall. The remaining section to Mirfield was closed in 1937, although it was later partly converted into the Calder Valley Greenway cycle path.

The Newtown to Red Doles section was closed in August 1968 and the line dismantled.

Discovering Old Huddersfield

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

In 1899 the Midland Railway Company was empowered by an Act of Parliament to build a new main line to the north through Bradford, with branches to Huddersfield and Halifax. The new line into Huddersfield was to run from Mirfield through Deighton, Fartown and Birkby to Newtown which was seen as an ideal site for a goods yard, sidings and a station. The five mile length of line was completed in 1910 and opened to goods traffic but, owing to the outbreak of war in 1914, plans for a passenger station at Newtown were abandoned. After the war, because of the amalgamation of various railway companies, the original grand scheme was dropped The line continued to carry goods traffic until 1937 when it was abandoned, although the sidings at Newtown Yard were maintained until the 1950s. Subsequently the site was cleared and redeveloped in the modern style we see today.

Gallery

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Route

The original 4.4 mile route from Huddersfield to the junction at Lower Hopton is shown below:

The later 1.2 mile route from Huddersfield to Red Doles Junction is shown below, including sidings:

Links

• Lost Railways: Newtown Goods (Midland Railway Extension)