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Need help identifying something please (not datum plates)

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bluethistle

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Hi I am new to all of this so please forgive me if this is in the wrong place or it is a dumb question (we all gotta start somewhere right?).

I have recently become interested in disused railways and today I walked along a section of the old Castleford to Garforth line and I came across this and I don't know what it is. I have tried googling but feel like I am looking for a needle in a haystack as I don't really know what I am searching for.

Help would be greatly appreciated :) I believe I have put the photo as an attachment to this post I hope it has worked.
 

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Peter Mugridge

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That could be the foundations for any one of a number of things - footbridge, water tower, even signals are just some examples. The sleeper stacked nearby suggests there is space between the foundations for at least one track.

Do you have a wider angle picture of the area so we can see the context better please?









PS I was expecting to see a picture of a datum plate when I opened the thread.... :lol:
 

bluethistle

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Thanks for replying :D

ah I am glad it is not something blindingly obvious then!

Here is the widest angle photo I have...which doesn't give much more info at all. The track is running up along side it so whatever it was was is at the side of the track. There were no similar structures the other side.
 

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ainsworth74

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Thanks and apologies for confusion! :/

Not your fault at all so don't worry about it. It's something of a running joke on this forum that we get people posting 'what's this thing' and nine times out of ten it's a datum plate :lol:
 

najaB

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I thought it was going to be datum plates as well before the title change... Are the two bases parallel or perpendicular to the line of the railway?
 

bluethistle

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I thought it was going to be datum plates as well before the title change... Are the two bases parallel or perpendicular to the line of the railway?

They are parallel. (so they are on the left hand side of the track bed)
 
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Pinza-C55

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Thank you :) Really appreciate your input.

It doesn't look like the foundations for a signal gantry let alone the fact that this was a very minor line which wouldn't warrant signal gantries.
Bearing in mind that this was a coal mining area could it be something to do with an overhead coal conveyor ?
 

najaB

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It doesn't look like the foundations for a signal gantry let alone the fact that this was a very minor line which wouldn't warrant signal gantries.
Bearing in mind that this was a coal mining area could it be something to do with an overhead coal conveyor ?
I'd expect there to be more than one - though they could be hidden in the bushes.
 

Peter Mugridge

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It does look a bit too substantial to be a signal foundation anyway, even for a gantry.

Methinks we need to try to dig up some old pictures of the location. Do you know exactly where between Garforth and Castleford you took the picture?
 

bluethistle

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It does look a bit too substantial to be a signal foundation anyway, even for a gantry.

Methinks we need to try to dig up some old pictures of the location. Do you know exactly where between Garforth and Castleford you took the picture?

It was between Castleford Viaduct and (what was) Ledston station
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
aha...just found a list of collieries. There was one in Ledston.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collieries_in_Yorkshire_(1984–present)

Does this shed anymore light?
 

TheEdge

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It does look a bit too substantial to be a signal foundation anyway, even for a gantry.

Yea, working on the Sheringham and Breckland lines both with the remains of their semaphore systems these look far too substantial to be signal bases. Signal bases look more like small hard-standings with some fairly minor metalwork sticking up.

A quick look on Google Maps at the location given there looks like the remains of slag pits/heaps so the idea of a coal conveyor holds up. They looks too substantial for signals or a footbridge and I'd have thought there would be more if they were a water tower.
 

edwin_m

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If the OP can find the location on http://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, there is a selection of map backgrounds that can be viewed including some old large-scale ones which often identify individual structures. These might give an indication of what sort of structure existed at that site.
 

Pinza-C55

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It was between Castleford Viaduct and (what was) Ledston station
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
aha...just found a list of collieries. There was one in Ledston.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collieries_in_Yorkshire_(1984–present)

Does this shed anymore light?

Indeed there were. In 1978 I visited Ledston station when "UK Coal Industry" was a phrase which still had meaning.

Ledston Station (2) 11.3.78 par PinzaC55, on ipernity


Ledston Station (1) 11.3.78 par PinzaC55, on ipernity
 

Peter Mugridge

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Straight away I can see several structures in those photos which would appear to solve the mystery; Bluethistle - are you able to pinpoint anything specific from those in relation to where the platform is?
 

lincolnshire

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It was between Castleford Viaduct and (what was) Ledston station
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
aha...just found a list of collieries. There was one in Ledston.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_collieries_in_Yorkshire_(1984–present)

Does this shed anymore light?

I believe the pit was called Ledston Luck.

Also on this piece of line was Allerton Bywater another former pit site, they built a terminal for unloading spoil from Gasconige Wood which was brought to site in MGR wagons and was fitted with darleks to unload the wagons. The spoil dropped into and under track hopper and was taken away by a chain style belt to be placed onto spoil heap. So they most probable been bases for overhead belts for coal or spoil.
 

lincolnshire

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When did the line finally close? Could it ever reopen?

The part to Allerton Bywater area I do believe is still officially open, but the bridge across the River Aire. at Castleford is a bit like the Shake Shake bridge on Thomas the tank engine, not in avery good shape due to mining subsidence.
Somewhere on thee internet there is pictures and you would,t be rushing to go across in a train on it let alone walk across it.

Aftern Allerton Bywater I think the rails have been pulled up.
 

Pinza-C55

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When did the line finally close? Could it ever reopen?

Apparently a few years ago -2008- Network Rail said they were thinking of reopening the line to run extra trains from Cas Vegas to Leeds.
I do know that in the 1960s the line was occasionally used by Deltics on diversion which would have been quite a thrash.
 
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