History of The Sheffield District Railway - your stories and/or information please

[Intercity 225]

Hi,

I've recently been spending quite a lot of time exploring and learning about the relatively recently decommissioned railways in Sheffield and the surrounding area after moving back to the city in the summer. This is a line I know little about but understand that although passenger services ceased way back in the 1940s, the line remained open for freight use for a significant period of time afterwards between the MML and Tinsley TMD.

Today, a relatively short distance of the former line near Meadowhall Shopping Centre is accessible to explore on foot and I had a walk down there earlier this week - although the tracks have been lifted and it's covered in undergrowth, bits of lineside infrastructure remain and you can still get a feel of the route.

Does anyone know much about it and/or historically worked on the route? Wikipedia information is limited and I'm hoping that some people on here can expand upon it, I'm interested in the line's entire history but particularly regarding it's later years just before it was severed from the network.

Many Thanks

 

[Bevan Price]

This map shows railways in the Sheffield area:

Category:South Yorkshire RJD 1914 - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

The "true" Sheffield District Railway ran between Treeton Jn and Brightside Jn, with intermediate stations at Catcliffe & West Tinsley. According to Michael Quick's book of stations, both opened in 1900 and closed in 1939.
It did not extend to the Meadowhall area. Tinsley Yard was a late-ish addition, and was connected to the electrified Woodhead route via connections onto the line from Sheffield Victoria & Woodburn Jn to Rotherham Central & beyond.

The Meadow Hall area was served by the Midland Railway from Sheffield Midland to Rotherham Masborough & Leeds, with a station at Wincobank (for Meadow Hall); the Midland branch to Barnsley left the main line just south of Wincobank station

The other route was the Great Central line to Barnsley which left the Sheffield Victoria /Rotherham Central line at Tinsley South Jn., and had its own station called Meadow Hall. This line had a (freight) connection from the MML at Blackburn Valley Jn, also just south of the Midland's Wincobank station. The GCR Barnsley branch lost its passenger services in the 1930s, but parts remained in use for freight until the 1970s (at least)

 

[Intercity 225]

Thanks for the reply - very interesting. I should have probably also included the link below in my opening post to more clearly explain the part I was able to walk along:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

Do you know when this section of the line closed/was lifted?

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Thanks for the reply - very interesting. I should have probably also included the link below in my opening post to more clearly explain the part I was able to walk along:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

Do you know when this section of the line closed/was lifted?

The Tinsley Yard opened in 1965 and closed in 1998. I believe there were plans to reopen the line with West Tinsley reopening as Meadowhall Tivoli Gardens (a planned leisure complex, which never happened) and was to have been served by a diverted Sheffield-Lincoln Line (closing Darnall and Woodhouse) and a new station was to be opened at Swallownest (close to Waleswood station). Plans came to naught.

Guessing the line was lifted shortly after that


Some more info on Meadowhall Tivoli Gardens: https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/11718422

Meadowhall (Tivoli Gardens) railway station

Meadowhall (Tivoli Gardens) railway station was a station planned with the enlargement of the Meadowhall leisure and shopping complex in the east end of Sheffield, England. It was to be built on the site of the former West Tinsley station on the Sheffield District Railway line, with access from Sheffield Road.

The station was part of the 10-year South Yorkshire Transport Plan put forward in 1990 to increase rail passengers in the county and give access to the leisure facility planned at Meadowhall, which was originally to be based on a Tivoli Gardens theme, inspired by the amusement park in Copenhagen. The plan was later changed to a Bourbon Street theme, based on the New Orleans locale, but neither were built. The proposed station site is still vacant and is used as an overflow car park at busy shopping periods.

 

[Intercity 225]

Thanks very much for this, so there would have been a (relatively short) period of time when the line was both operational and Meadowhall Shopping Centre was open.

Does anyone have any photos of the line from the 1990s?