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Killamarsh Central Station on the old GCR.


Paolo Coopio

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Hope you like the video. 

Just a short walk from me. Anyone not familiar with this end of Shefffield (is suppose technically just outside Sheffield) - you can walk down the trackbed as part of the Transpennine trail between Sheffield-rother valley-Chesterfield 

 

 

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Station building was knocked down a few years ago. After the railway closed it was used as a props supply warehouse, they hired out stuff for filming. There were rumours that the building was taken down by someone who was going to rebuild it somewhere locally, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

Nigel L

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20 hours ago, Lemmy117 said:

Station building was knocked down a few years ago. After the railway closed it was used as a props supply warehouse, they hired out stuff for filming. There were rumours that the building was taken down by someone who was going to rebuild it somewhere locally, but that doesn't seem to have happened.

Nigel L

That's right Havenplan.

Someone told me it was also partially damaged by fire and the cost/space to dismantle and move wasn't worthwhile. 

Such a shame as I bet it would make a killing as a cafe on the trail for passing cyclists and walkers. 

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Once again, I found your video of Killamarsh Station to be fascinating, although I did find my eyes watering just a little, when I realised as to how much this scene has changed since my youth.

So, I have again taken the opportunity of sharing with you, some images taken by myself in “happier times”, i.e. 1977, when this section of the line remained open, as a freight only route in order to serve collieries at Staveley.

For a potted, though relatively detailed description and history of both, the station and the railway, I recommend the Disused Station Website, link below:

http://disused-stations.org.uk/k/killamarsh/index.shtml

I hope that you can relate them back to the remains and locations shown in your video.

GCR001-Killamarsh Central Station-Down Platform, 16/06/1977

GCR002-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR003-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR004-Killamarsh Central Station, EEVF.E3615-D1014/1966, Class 20, No.20144 & EEVF.E3616-D1015/1966, Class 20, No.20145, 16/06/1977

GCR005-Killamarsh Central Station-Up Platform, 16/06/1977

GCR006-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR007-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR001-Killamarsh Central Station-Down Platform-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR002-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR003-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR004-Killamarsh Central Station, EEVF.E3615.D1014-1966, Class 20, No.20144 & EEVF.E3616.D1015-1966, Class 20, No.20145-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR005-Killamarsh Central Station-Up Platform-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR006-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR007-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

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There's something very poignant about such photos, as the old stations wait patiently for the next train to stop there. Occasionally of course it happens (route deviation, line preservation), but more often they just spend years gradually fading until one day a contractor arrives and flattens them.

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4 hours ago, Unitedite Returns said:

Once again, I found your video of Killamarsh Station to be fascinating, although I did find my eyes watering just a little, when I realised as to how much this scene has changed since my youth.

So, I have again taken the opportunity of sharing with you, some images taken by myself in “happier times”, i.e. 1977, when this section of the line remained open, as a freight only route in order to serve collieries at Staveley.

For a potted, though relatively detailed description and history of both, the station and the railway, I recommend the Disused Station Website, link below:

http://disused-stations.org.uk/k/killamarsh/index.shtml

I hope that you can relate them back to the remains and locations shown in your video.

GCR001-Killamarsh Central Station-Down Platform, 16/06/1977

GCR002-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR003-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR004-Killamarsh Central Station, EEVF.E3615-D1014/1966, Class 20, No.20144 & EEVF.E3616-D1015/1966, Class 20, No.20145, 16/06/1977

GCR005-Killamarsh Central Station-Up Platform, 16/06/1977

GCR006-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR007-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North, 16/06/1977

GCR001-Killamarsh Central Station-Down Platform-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR002-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR003-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR004-Killamarsh Central Station, EEVF.E3615.D1014-1966, Class 20, No.20144 & EEVF.E3616.D1015-1966, Class 20, No.20145-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR005-Killamarsh Central Station-Up Platform-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR006-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

GCR007-Killamarsh Central Station-Looking North-16-06-1977.jpg

 

I love seeing these old photos. Cheers for posting them. Looking already in an overgrown state by then. 

I've said it many times that the old station building would make a great cafe now for passing trail users.

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My Sister lived at Cherry Tree Drive at Killamarsh in the early 80's and I remember seeing those type 20 locos parked up in the station whenever we went past, just like in the above photo, with the 16 ton mineral wagons too!

They must have been using the line as a siding.

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On 22/04/2021 at 17:27, History dude said:

My Sister lived at Cherry Tree Drive at Killamarsh in the early 80's and I remember seeing those type 20 locos parked up in the station whenever we went past, just like in the above photo, with the 16 ton mineral wagons too!

They must have been using the line as a siding.

 

I think the other line through Killamarsh was open back then too. The LDECR which went the other bridge parallel to this line.

I did read somewhere that there was a preservation society based at the other old Killamarsh Station (upperthorpe and Killamarsh). Does anyone have information about that?

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There was a preservation scheme based at Upperthorpe & Killamarsh Station in the late 1980s and early 1990s known as the Rother Valley Railway. This was an unfortunate choice of name for anyone now trying to find anything out online as there is an extant Rother Valley Railway in East Sussex!

Industrial Locomotives 8EL (Industrial Railway Society, 1989) lists but one locomotive at the Rother Valley Railway (No 47, Moorbarrow, a 1955 built 0-6-0 saddle tank), but there is no mention of the Rother Valley Railway in the next edition, Industrial Locomotives 9EL, 1992).

I might be able to find out more on Sunday when I get a chance to look through a large pile of magazines.

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Whilst we are on the subject of Killamarsh, I am hoping that someone out there might be able to help me with one of my own enquiries.

There used to be a Tar Distilling Plant, based at Norwood, Killamarsh, rail access to which was served by the old Norwood Colliery branch, which connected with the Midland Railway's, Old Road, at Holbrook Colliery Sidings. Line closure came in 1971, or thereabouts.

The Tar Distilling Plant was owned successively by Ellison & Mitchell Ltd., then Midland Tar Distillers Ltd., and later by Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd.

Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd., used to operate a Ruston & Hornsby, Class 48DS, 48 h.p., chain driven 0-4-0 Diesel Mechanical Locomotive, which I think lasted, although out-of-use, until 1973, or thereabouts.

Does anyone know as to precisely which locomotive this was, i.e. works number and build year, and as to what was it's ultimate fate?

 

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Industrial Locomotives 1973, published by the Industrial Railway Society, has the loco as Ruston Hornsby 237928 of 1946. Other than that I have no information, but I have asked some people who are likely to know the answers.

Hopefully a reply will be forthcoming soon

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That's interesting and more than I knew. Thank you.

RH.237928/1946, (Engine No.236343), was sold ex-works, 04/09/1946, to British Titan Products Ltd, Pyewipe Works, Grimsby, so it must have subsequently been sold on to Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd.

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So far I have nothing more on what happened to the loco after Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers.

I have been told (by a member of the Industrial Railways discussion group) that the loco moved from British Titan Products to ICI, Billingham Works in 1958 or 1959 before being sold to Midland-Yorkshire in 1963.

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On 23/04/2021 at 21:26, madannie77 said:

There was a preservation scheme based at Upperthorpe & Killamarsh Station in the late 1980s and early 1990s known as the Rother Valley Railway. This was an unfortunate choice of name for anyone now trying to find anything out online as there is an extant Rother Valley Railway in East Sussex!

Industrial Locomotives 8EL (Industrial Railway Society, 1989) lists but one locomotive at the Rother Valley Railway (No 47, Moorbarrow, a 1955 built 0-6-0 saddle tank), but there is no mention of the Rother Valley Railway in the next edition, Industrial Locomotives 9EL, 1992).

I might be able to find out more on Sunday when I get a chance to look through a large pile of magazines.

Apologies for quoting myself, but I have more info.

From Railway Magazine, Issue 1070, June 1990. Information about the Rother Valley Railway starts at the bottom of the first page.

I assume that when the article mentions Boiler Lane it should be Boiley Lane. The old line certainly crossed Boiley Lane en route for Spinkhill.

rother valley 1.jpg

rother valley 2.jpg

The only mention I have found about the end of the scheme is in the Wikipedia article on the other Rother Valley Railway!

"From 1988 until the early 1990s, another "Rother Valley Railway" had a brief existence on the site of Upperthorpe and Killamarsh station near the River Rother in South Yorkshire. The line had three locomotives on loan, a five-ton steam crane and a membership of over eighty. Although the line featured in a two-page article in The Railway Magazine in 1990, little seems to have happened and the society faded away. After many years details have been published stating that the society was unable to gain agreement with the necessary local authorities, so was unable to proceed. They sought another opportunity elsewhere, which they found by taking over Cleethorpes Council's struggling miniature railway, turning it into the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway in 1991. That "Rother Valley Railway Limited" was formally dissolved on 9 June 1992.

And two references are given, neither of which I have had a chance to look at:

·         Booth, Chris (2013). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway A pictorial view of the "Dukeries Route" and branches. Blurb. 06715029.

·         Booth, Chris (2017). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway Chesterfield to Langwith Junction, The Beighton Branch and Sheffield District Railway. Fonthill. ISBN 978-1-78155-628-3.

 

 

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12 hours ago, madannie77 said:

Apologies for quoting myself, but I have more info.

From Railway Magazine, Issue 1070, June 1990. Information about the Rother Valley Railway starts at the bottom of the first page.

I assume that when the article mentions Boiler Lane it should be Boiley Lane. The old line certainly crossed Boiley Lane en route for Spinkhill.

rother valley 1.jpg

rother valley 2.jpg

The only mention I have found about the end of the scheme is in the Wikipedia article on the other Rother Valley Railway!

"From 1988 until the early 1990s, another "Rother Valley Railway" had a brief existence on the site of Upperthorpe and Killamarsh station near the River Rother in South Yorkshire. The line had three locomotives on loan, a five-ton steam crane and a membership of over eighty. Although the line featured in a two-page article in The Railway Magazine in 1990, little seems to have happened and the society faded away. After many years details have been published stating that the society was unable to gain agreement with the necessary local authorities, so was unable to proceed. They sought another opportunity elsewhere, which they found by taking over Cleethorpes Council's struggling miniature railway, turning it into the Cleethorpes Coast Light Railway in 1991. That "Rother Valley Railway Limited" was formally dissolved on 9 June 1992.

And two references are given, neither of which I have had a chance to look at:

·         Booth, Chris (2013). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway A pictorial view of the "Dukeries Route" and branches. Blurb. 06715029.

·         Booth, Chris (2017). The Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway Chesterfield to Langwith Junction, The Beighton Branch and Sheffield District Railway. Fonthill. ISBN 978-1-78155-628-3.

 

 

Such a shame that project didn't take off. Amazing to think how poor the trackbed is now in such a relatively short space of time. 

As a twist, in about 1992 I started working at Cleethorpes coast light railway as a volunteer in the school holidays (I would  have been about 11). Chris Shaw had just taken it over and they were trying to get it back in its feet. He worked there with his wife and a few other permanent staff. I had no idea they were involved in the Killamarsh thing. Amazing how paths cross and later dig things up years later. They were so welcoming.

I finished volunteering at the railway after around 3 or 4 years as other things in life started to take priority. 

 

But wow. In hindsight I wish I could have got to know more about something local to me that I would take such an interest in years later. At the time I lived in Doncaster so had no idea. 

 

As I remember there were also people at cclr who came from the Fairbourne Railway in Wales too.

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Incidentally I did make a video of the section from Upperthorpe and Killamarsh, past Boiley Lane to Spinkhill recently

I'm fascinated to see those guys laying sleepers in the same spot I stood in. 

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Guest leksand
On 24/04/2021 at 10:00, Unitedite Returns said:

Whilst we are on the subject of Killamarsh, I am hoping that someone out there might be able to help me with one of my own enquiries.

There used to be a Tar Distilling Plant, based at Norwood, Killamarsh, rail access to which was served by the old Norwood Colliery branch, which connected with the Midland Railway's, Old Road, at Holbrook Colliery Sidings. Line closure came in 1971, or thereabouts.

The Tar Distilling Plant was owned successively by Ellison & Mitchell Ltd., then Midland Tar Distillers Ltd., and later by Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd.

Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd., used to operate a Ruston & Hornsby, Class 48DS, 48 h.p., chain driven 0-4-0 Diesel Mechanical Locomotive, which I think lasted, although out-of-use, until 1973, or thereabouts.

Does anyone know as to precisely which locomotive this was, i.e. works number and build year, and as to what was it's ultimate fate?

 

I'm really not sure what the things that you've asked for are, but the titling below is used for a group of photos posted on flikr including one which is, perhaps, the item described, posted here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/190924022@N03/51386153453/in/album-72157719694832918/

(copyright retained)

CAIMF930-RH.237928-1946, Ruston & Hornsby, Class 48DS, (48 h.p., chain driven 0-4-0 DM) Locomotive, at Midland-Yorkshire Tar Distillers Ltd, Norwood, Killamarsh-20-01-1973

Apologies if this is irelevant, or you already know - it's not a field I'm familiar with I'm afraid.

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