Railway History around Sheffield

[Texas 10]

I was inspired to start this thread on reading the one about Victoria Station. I was a Midland man myself but I had a few memories about the old GC. My first question, however, is about the old Wicker Goods Yard. I remember seeing an old print somewhere showing people milling about, waiting for a train presumably, in what became the goods yard in later years. They were dressed, the females, in long dresses, and the gents in frock coats and stove pipe hats. So it could've been in the early 1800's. Now I know that there was a lot of amalgamation around that time, lots of what we call take overs now, but I've never been clear on who was running the railway, passengerwise, back then. The railway companies and their lines have always been complicated in the Sheffield area, and in starting this thread I know I'm inviting all the railway nuts in the Universe to participate. So, which railway company opened the Wicker as a passenger station?

[hillsbro 29]

... which railway company opened the Wicker as a passenger station?

It was the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway - see here. When the North Midland Railway was being built northwards from Derby towards Leeds, Sheffield was not considered an important enough town to justify building what eventually became Bradway Tunnel, plus cuttings etc., and so the line veered eastwards via Barrow Hill and Beighton to Rotherham. So the Sheffield and Rotherham line provided a link.

[Texas 10]

Thanks hillsbro, I thought you'd come up with something. Now why didn't I think of that?

[CaptChris 10]

It was the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway - see here. When the North Midland Railway was being built northwards from Derby towards Leeds, Sheffield was not considered an important enough town to justify building what eventually became Bradway Tunnel, plus cuttings etc., and so the line veered eastwards via Barrow Hill and Beighton to Rotherham. So the Sheffield and Rotherham line provided a link.

 

 

I cannot comment on Sheffield not being an important enough town but I respectfully refer to the following publication:

North Midland - Portrait of a Famous Route - Part Two: Chesterfield-Sheffield-Rotherham

Author Bob Pixton through Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870754-51-4.

 

In particular the top of page 96 where there are two route profiles with the following written thereunder:

"Gradient profiles of the 'Old Road' on the left and the 'New Road' via Sheffield on the right, vividly contrasting Stephenson's 1840 route with the Midland Railway's 1870 line and illustrating why Sheffield was not on the original North Midland Railway".

 

If anyone can tell me how to place scanned images in my posts then I would be pleased to send the images. Perhaps I should ask if scanned images can be pasted onto posts?

[Banker 10]

If anyone can tell me how to place scanned images in my posts then I would be pleased to send the images. Perhaps I should ask if scanned images can be pasted onto posts?

You can provide links to images that have been uploaded to an image hosting site such as photobucket.com

 

It's quite true that, when the North Midland Railway was being planned, the likely traffic to and from Sheffield (which was of course a relatively small town in 1840, served by a canal) was not enough to justify the expense of building a line directly to Sheffield, which would have necessitated a tunnel (this eventually being Bradway Tunnel, over a mile in length) and associated cuttings and other earthworks. Also the necessary gradients would have been difficult for the motive power of that time to handle, especially with goods trains which were a major source of income for the North Midland, especially coal traffic. So between Chesterfield and Rotherham the line followed the easier route via Beighton, which older railwaymen still refer to as the "Old Road". Within 20 years or so, Sheffield had expanded (this being shown by increased traffic on the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway) and the Midland Railway built the line through Dronfield and Bradway Tunnel. The Wikipedia article on the North Midland includes this paragraph:

 

In later years the Midland Railway built a diversion through Dronfield and Sheffield, which became known to railwaymen as the "New Road", as opposed to the "Old Road". It followed a route which, in 1840, would have been uneconomic to build and difficult to work.

[Organgrinder 1,946]

I also remember seeing the print which Texas refers to when Wicker Station was a passenger station (yes, they were very prosperous passengers, waiting for a train).

 

I have no idea where I saw it but would love to come across it again as I worked at the Wicker Goods Station in the 1950's and never realised how nostalgic I'd feel about the place 50 odd years later.

[OwlsChick 10]

I have a question which im asking on behalf of my hubby.Opposite the old victoria station at ground level where Ant marketing,lloyds banking group,an ncp and the Hilton are now well having looked at some old photos it looks like this area was a train depot of sorts and hubby was wondering if and where the trains linked to Vs? So to summerize,did trains run into the canal basin from Vs and if so where did they round in from Vs to the canal basin.Thanks..

[Organgrinder 1,946]

I have a question which im asking on behalf of my hubby.Opposite the old victoria station at ground level where Ant marketing,lloyds banking group,an ncp and the Hilton are now well having looked at some old photos it looks like this area was a train depot of sorts and hubby was wondering if and where the trains linked to Vs? So to summerize,did trains run into the canal basin from Vs and if so where did they round in from Vs to the canal basin.Thanks..

 

Yes, there was a railway goods yard on the opposite side of Furnival Road from the Victoria station.

The railway track linking it, curved round and joined the same track which was the in & out track of the Victoria Station and continued in the direction of Darnall where there was another goods yard.

[hillsbro 29]

Yes, there was a railway goods yard on the opposite side of Furnival Road from the Victoria station...

This was the Park Goods Station - it can be seen on this early 1900s map. A bit further away, just across the canal was the City Goods Station. Here's a link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site. The warehouse towards the right is still there, on the canal wharf. Trains entered the City Station via a tunnel under Navigation Hill, adjacent to Bernard Road.

[Texas 10]

I purchased Stephen R Batty's 'Rail Centres Sheffield' book. A good read, answering a lot of questions I'd often wondered about. Although I worked on the railway for several years, from Grimesthorpe and later from Bridgehouses, I didn't know it all.

Regarding the old print of the Wicker Goods, Organgrinder, I was smitten the same. All the buildings shown on the print were still there in the 50's and perhaps later. Really history I could relate to. A shame something of it couldn't have been preserved.

[GrinderBloke 10]

This was the Park Goods Station - it can be seen on this early 1900s map. A bit further away, just across the canal was the City Goods Station. Here's a link to a photo on the picturesheffield.com site. The warehouse towards the right is still there, on the canal wharf. Trains entered the City Station via a tunnel under Navigation Hill, adjacent to Bernard Road.

 

I remember playing in the tunnel just before it was blocked during the building of the Parkway into Central Sheffield in the early 1970s.

 

The tunnel wasn't infilled, the Eastern tunnel mouth was blocked with what we now call breeze block and then rocks and soil was piled up to to the tunnel mouth.