Meltham railway station was the terminus of the Meltham branch line from Lockwood (Huddersfield) to Meltham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. Traffic partially started in 1868, but became regular in July 1869. The station, and line, were opened by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR), later becoming part of the London Midland Scottish Railway. The station closed to passengers in 1949, though the branch remained open to freight until the 1960s. The railway station site is now the location of a supermarket.
Meltham railway station | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Morrison's supermarket, Meltham | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Meltham, West Yorkshire England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°35′35″N 1°51′00″W / 53.593°N 1.850°W | ||||
| Grid reference | SE099107 | ||||
| Platforms | 1 | ||||
| Tracks | 3 | ||||
| History | |||||
| Pre-grouping | Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway | ||||
| Post-grouping | London Midland Scottish Railway | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| August 1868 | Opened to goods | ||||
| September 1868 | Closed temporarily | ||||
| February 1869 | Re-opened to Goods | ||||
| 5 July 1869 | Opened to Passengers | ||||
| 23 May 1949 | Closed to passengers | ||||
| 3 April 1965 | closed completely | ||||
| |||||
History
editThe branch line to Meltham from Lockwood was opened in August 1868 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, but was closed soon afterwards owing to the collapse of an embankment.[1][2] It re-opened to freight in February 1869,[3] and finally to a regular passenger service in July 1869.[4] During the first week of opening, over 2,000 tickets were sold from Meltham station alone.[5] Although the terminus had three sidings serving it, only the northernmost line had a platform.[6]
The town had an extensive goods yard on a lower level to the station, and away from the terminus to the east.[7] It had at least seven sidings and a two-road goods shed.[8] The station was listed as being able to handle livestock, vans, horse boxes, general goods, and coal. It had a steam crane with a maximum lifting weight of 10 tonnes (11 tons).[9] In 1922 the L&YR merged into the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), and then a year later became a major constituent of the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMS).[10]
The station was closed to passenger traffic in May 1949.[11] The line remained open for goods well into the 1960s, and occasional special passenger trains were run on the line, such as in June 1950, when 800 schoolchildren went on a trip to London from the station.[12] The site of the station is now a supermarket,[13] and the former railway line trackbed is in use as cycle path 689 to Lockwood.[14]
Services
editThe timetable for 1877 shows six daily workings along the line, all of which originated and terminated at Bradford Exchange. These services ran via Huddersfield, Mirfield, and Cleckheaton Central.[15] By 1906, this had been extended to twelve services a day in each direction, though most services ran through to Bradford, two of those ran via the Pickle Bridge line, with the rest going via Cleckheaton Central (the Spen Valley Line).[16]
By 1939, when the LMS were running the services, the number of trains had increased to 15, with some originating at Bradford Exchange, others at Huddersfield, two from Halifax, and one from Wakefield Kirkgate.[17] The timetable for 1944, five years before closure, shows seven daily out-and-back workings from Bradford Exchange via the Spen Valley Line, with the first service of the day only running to and from Huddersfield.[18]
References
edit- ^ Normington, Thomas (1898). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway : being a full account of the rise and progress of this railway, together with numerous interesting reminiscences and incidents on the line. Manchester: Heywood. pp. 124–125. OCLC 931285763.
- ^ Suggitt 2007, p. 87.
- ^ Joy 1984, p. 262.
- ^ Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 310. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
- ^ "The Opening of Meltham Railway". Huddersfield Chronicle. No. 1005. Column E. 17 July 1869. p. 7. OCLC 751659052.
- ^ Fraser, Neil (1987). "Branchlines of the L.&.Y.R. No. 5: The Meltham Branch". Branchlines of the L. &. Y. R. (5). Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society: 28. ISSN 0261-7919.
- ^ "Meltham branch". www.forgottenrelics.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Meltham Branch". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ The Railway Clearing House handbook of railway stations, 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970. p. 366. ISBN 0715351206.
- ^ "Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway - Institution of Mechanical Engineers". archives.imeche.org. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ Suggitt 2007, p. 89.
- ^ "On this day". infoweb.newsbank.com. 16 June 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
- ^ "Meltham Branch 1869 - 1965 Lancashire & Yorkshire railway". lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ "Route 689". sustrans.org.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ^ Bradshaw's general railway and steam navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland at the Internet Archive
- ^ Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide 1906 at the Internet Archive
- ^ 1939 LMS at the Internet Archive
- ^ 1944 Bradshaw's Guide for Great Britain and Ireland No. 1328: March, 1944. at the Internet Archive
Sources
edit- Joy, David (1984). South and West Yorkshire : (the industrial West Riding) (2 ed.). Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-11-9.
- Suggitt, Gordon (2007). Lost railways of South & West Yorkshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-043-5.
External links
edit| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meltham Mills Halt Line and station closed |
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Meltham branch line |
Terminus Line and station closed |