39-454: The Stocksbridge Railway was a subsidiary of Samuel Fox and Company and linked the company's works at Stocksbridge , near Sheffield , South Yorkshire , England, with the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Deepcar . As the size of Fox's steelworks expanded, better transport links were needed, and the railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1874. It
78-694: A heritage railway from 1997 to 2019. Nine months of work by Network Rail included laying 11 miles (17 km) of new track. Following the change of governing party after the July 2024 general election, new Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (Lab.) said that projects in the Restoring Your Railway programme that had not commenced would be cancelled, as part of her Commons announcement on 29 July which aimed to reduce national public spending. Reeves revealed that no money had been spent during
117-604: A Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1975, grew up in Stocksbridge and family members worked at Samuel Fox. The works, along with other major producers in Great Britain, were nationalised in 1967, to become British Steel Corporation . During the 1980s and 1990s the works became part of a joint British Steel / GKN venture known as "Stocksbridge Engineering Steels" and in 1999 they became part of Corus . The works
156-409: A cotton mill, which he subsequently bought in 1851. He adapted it to produce wire for textile pins, and in 1848 started to produce wire for umbrella frames. Realising that it would be cheaper to produce steel than to buy it in, he then invested in furnaces and a rolling mill. Soon he was producing rails for the railway industry and springs, but transporting his products to the nearest rail head at Deepcar
195-439: A disused corn mill close by the centre of the town in 1842 and made alterations so that he could produce wire for the manufacture of textile pins. Within 6 years the business began to manufacture wire for umbrella frames and he developed his own variant, the “Paragon” in 1851. Expansion continued and by the mid-1860s furnaces and rolling mills had been built and the production of railway lines and springs begun. Road transport in
234-462: A new set of sidings had been constructed to the north of the tracks, beyond the Little Don bridge. By 1959, the section before the Little Don bridge had been converted to double track, with the southern track containing a weigh bridge, with two more sidings to the south of that. The sidings to the brick yard were still there, but the tramway and gannister works were not. After Henholmes level crossing,
273-464: A working capital of £33,000. The act gave the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway , to whose line the railway would connect at Deepcar station , rights to invest in the Stocksbridge Railway, although they were not permitted to sell any shares which they acquired. The company was to have three directors, and these were named as Samuel Fox, Henry Unwin, and James Halliday in the act, on
312-657: Is now used as a bridleway. Deepcar station was on the Woodhead line between Sheffield and Manchester Central , which was electrified in the 1950s, with electric locomotives running right through from September 1954. However, the line was closed in 1981, only 27 years later, although trains from Sheffield to Huddersfield via Penistone continued to pass through Deepcar until 1983, when they were re-routed through Barnsley and West Silkstone . The station had closed to passengers in 1959 and for all traffic in 1968. In order to enable steel trains to continue reaching Stocksbridge, once
351-524: Is steeply graded, and descends at 1 in 27 to cross a bridge over the Wortley Road. Sidings to the north of the line formerly served Hen Holmes Brick and Tile Works, while to the south, trailing sidings served a brick yard, from which a tramway ran to a ganister and brick works at Carr Lane. The railway then crossed over the Little Don River on Hen Holmes bridge. By 1931, Hen Holme Works was disused, but
390-563: Is still open although steel stock is brought from the main melting site at Aldwarke, near Rotherham, for secondary processing. In 2007 the site was bought by Tata Steel and has been renamed Tata Steel Speciality Steels. Investment at the site has continued and a high-tech Vacuum Induction Melting furnace was due to be commissioned early in 2015. Liberty House Group Purchased the Speciality Steels group from TATA in May 2017. The name adopted for
429-650: The Camp Hill line in the West Midlands, reopen the Northumberland Line to passengers and build a new station at Cambridge South . In January 2020, the Department for Transport announced a £500 million "Restoring Your Railway" fund and asked MPs , local authorities and community groups to make proposals to reinstate local services and reopen stations. The government also announced £1.5 million towards plans to reopen
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#1732858487955468-594: The Northumberland line , £100,000 towards assessment of the Fleetwood branch line , and £20 million for a third round of the New Stations Fund . The £500 million would not be spent on building railway lines but on developing proposals through feasibility studies, business cases and designs. Proposals for projects would be sponsored by a local MP, gather local support, and then be put to a panel of experts chaired by
507-664: The Don Valley line, calling at re-opened stations at Neepsend , Wadsley Bridge , Oughtibridge , and Deepcar, with the trains continuing over the Stocksbridge Railway to a new station at Stocksbridge. The pitch was made by Miriam Cates, the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, the Sheffield City Region Mayoral Combined Authority, and the Don Valley Railway group. The bid was one of 60 made to secure funds in
546-584: The Horner House sidings and engine shed. While the railway was just under 2 miles (3.2 km) long, there were many miles of sidings in addition to the main line. [REDACTED] Media related to Stocksbridge Railway at Wikimedia Commons Samuel Fox and Company Samuel Fox and Company was a company operating a major steel complex built in the Upper Don Valley at Stocksbridge , near Sheffield , South Yorkshire , England . Samuel Fox bought
585-471: The Rail Minister. Examples given were: Successful proposals would receive funding to develop their business case, which would be submitted to the Department for Transport in a bid for more substantial development funding. In April 2020, the Department for Transport stated that unsuccessful proposals would receive help from the department so they could improve their proposals for a later round of ideas. At
624-566: The Woodhead line had closed, the track between Deepcar and Nunnery Junction in Sheffield was singled and retained as a long siding. The line officially began at a rail joint which was 77 yards (70 m) to the north of Deepcar station. The line turned to the west, where there were a number of exchange sidings, after which it crossed a viaduct over the River Don , some 56 feet (17 m) below. The line
663-474: The area was difficult and with larger products being manufactured a new outlet was required. In the 1870s a short branch line was built to link the works with the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway at Deepcar . This was known as the Stocksbridge Railway which was a subsidiary of the main company until the early 1990s. The line was still open in 2018 and handles regular traffic to and from
702-503: The company provided a pair of stainless steel foxes to the London & North Eastern Railway which were used to decorate the sides of their new Class A4 locomotive no. 2512 Silver Fox . The iconic stainless steel Fox weather vane was made by Trevor Faulkner ARCA FRBS, his first commission, whilst he was a student at the Royal College of Art in the 1950s. Trevor Faulkner, who was elected
741-466: The corporation employed, and the line was ready for use by 7 September 1898. Sheffield Corporation obtained an 0-6-0 saddle tank from Manning Wardle to work the line. The locomotive was named Langsett , and although construction of the reservoirs was completed in 1904, it was retained until late 1907, when filling of the Underbank Reservoir was completed. It was then sold to the steelworks, where it
780-565: The department announced that five schemes had been successful in the New Stations Fund 3: In October 2021, the third and final round of successful bids were announced, taking the number of schemes accepted for further feasibility studies to 38. The first project to be completed under the "Restoring Your Railway" banner was the 15½-mile Dartmoor line from Crediton to Okehampton , where services resumed on 20 November 2021. The line had closed to passengers in 1972 but had been operated as
819-654: The first round of applications, and although the first bid was unsuccessful, Cates and the Sheffield Authority were invited to further talks with the Department for Transport in June 2020 and it succeeded via a subsequent round of bids in 2021. On the 4th of October 2023 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed that the Don Valley Railway between Stocksbridge and Sheffield would be on the list of lines to be reopened as part of
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#1732858487955858-410: The government announced plans to reverse some of the cuts made in the 1960s, and later cuts by British Rail, to restore lost capacity and introduce new routes to help with new housing or relieve congestion. In December 2018, the Department for Transport confirmed that it was investigating a number of proposals to restore old lines in addition to plans to improve Heathrow links, reinstate stations on
897-402: The government's "Network North" Scheme which was launched to replace HS2. In 1896, Sheffield Corporation negotiated with Fox's Steelworks to allow them to build an extension to the railway, from the steelworks up to the site of the dam for Langsett Reservoir . This would enable them to carry materials for the construction of both Langsett and Underbank reservoirs. The preferred route ran along
936-456: The line begins to rise and crosses the Little Don again. Soon, the river is culverted, and the railway crosses its subterranean course. The line enters the Low Yard, beyond which the wooden station stood close to the road until it was demolished in 1932. The only overbridge was known as Smithy Hill Tunnel, after which there was an engine shed and watering point. The line continued through the works to
975-538: The line commenced on 14 April 1877, making use of the bay platform at Deepcar station, to a platform in Stocksbridge , on the edge of the works complex. The passenger service ceased in 1931. The line later became a subsidiary of the steel company, under various ownerships, until 1992, when it ended its separate existence. Some idea of the size of the undertaking can be gained from the fact that in 1954 it carried 490,912 tons of traffic, and 22 staff were employed to operate
1014-498: The new group was Liberty Speciality Steels. The group comprised the Site at Aldwarke , Bolton , Brinsworth , Stocksbridge and Wednesbury . Restoring Your Railway The Beeching cuts were a reduction in the size of the British railway network, along with a restructuring of British Rail , in the 1960s. Since the mid-1990s there has been significant growth in passenger numbers on
1053-536: The north side of the road from Stocksbridge to Flounce. Two bridges were required to carry it over roads at Midhopestones, and then it passed under the Manchester Road to end at a quarry near to the foot of the Langsett dam. Within the steelworks, construction was carried out by Fowler and Marshall, a contract which included diverting the river and building the bridge. The rest of the line was built by direct labour, which
1092-411: The railway. As of 2018 the line is still open and handles regular traffic to and from the works carrying scrap in and finished steel outwards. In May 2020, three groups worked together in an attempt to secure funding from the government's Restoring Your Railway Fund for a feasibility study aimed at reinstating passenger services between Sheffield and Stocksbridge. The plans envisaged running trains over
1131-574: The railways and renewed government interest in the role of rail in UK transport. Some closed stations have reopened, and rail passenger services have been restored on a few lines where they had been withdrawn. Some former British Rail lines have become heritage railways , for example the Bluebell Railway in Sussex, which reopened in stages from 1960. In 2022, proposals being pursued included: In November 2017
1170-478: The same time, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the Department announced a third round of ideas for November 2020. In May 2020, the department announced that ten schemes had been successful in the first round of bidding: In November 2020, the department announced that fifteen further schemes had been successful in the second round of bidding, as well as the restoration of rail links to Okehampton : In November 2020,
1209-494: The southern edge of Fox's site, close to the road, but in order to fit it in, the Little Don River needed to be diverted to the south, and a bridge constructed to carry the railway over the revised course. Until this work was completed, the corporation negotiated the use of a more northerly route, which ran between the buildings in the works. From the western end of the site, the new line continued under Underbank Lane, and ran on
Stocksbridge Railway - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-481: The understanding that when the first ordinary meeting of shareholders was held, they could retain these men or elect others as they thought appropriate. Once the act became law, the directors had three years to complete construction of the railway. The engineer for the project was Fred Fowler, the brother of Sir John Fowler , who designed the Forth Railway Bridge . The main contractor was a Mr Rigby, but there
1287-542: The works. Samuel Fox & Company joined with Steel, Peech & Tozer of Rotherham and Scunthorpe-based Appleby-Frodingham Steel Company to form the United Steel Companies after the First World War . Products from various sites were coordinated, each works specialising in a particular range. At Stocksbridge they specialised in special steels, particularly the various grades of stainless steel. In 1935,
1326-452: Was a Manning Wardle 0-4-0 locomotive called Fox , built in 1876, but this was soon assisted by Wharncliffe , an 0-6-0 locomotive built by the same manufacturer in 1867. By 1941, the railway was using an 0-6-0 side tank, built by Hudswell Clarke in 1923. At that time, the steelworks also owned 11 steam locomotives for use internally, all but one with the 0-6-0 wheel formation, and with a mixture of side and saddle tanks. Passenger services on
1365-454: Was also involvement by Fowler's nephew, who was part of Fowler and Marshall. When the work was nearing completion, a Board of Trade inspection took place, but opening was delayed by the requirement for additional work at the Deepcar end of the line. The line finally opened on 14 April 1877. When the line was built, it was equipped with one steam locomotive, 76 wagons and a brake van. Initially this
1404-430: Was completed in 1877, and remained an independent subsidiary until 1992, when it became part of the steelworks operation. When the Woodhead line was closed to the north of Deepcar, the line south to Sheffield was singled, and operates as a long siding. A 3.5-mile (5.6 km) extension was constructed between 1897 and 1898 by Sheffield Corporation, to service the construction of reservoirs at Langsett and Underbank. It
1443-579: Was difficult, and so he solved the problem by building a railway link. The line was authorised by the Stocksbridge Railway Act 1874 ( 37 & 38 Vict. c. lv). This act of Parliament created the Stocksbridge Railway Company, with powers to construct a railway which was 1 mile 7 furlongs and 1 chain long (just under 2 miles (3.2 km)). The railway was to be financed by the issuing of 3,300 shares, valued at £10 each, to give
1482-439: Was unusual in that it used dual gauge track to allow both standard gauge and 3 ft ( 914 mm )-gauge stock to work on it. Reservoir building was completed in 1904, but the locomotive was retained until 1907 when Underbank Reservoir was finally full. Subsequently, the line was used occasionally until 1912 for deliveries of chalk, using locomotives from the steelworks. Samuel Fox arrived in Stocksbridge in 1842, and rented
1521-409: Was used as a shunter. The railway was just over 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long, and was constructed with three rails, enabling it to be used by standard gauge and 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge stock. After 1907, the tracks were retained for another five years or so, and occasional trains of chalk were worked up to Langsett Reservoir by locomotives from the steelworks. Most of the route still exists, and
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