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Short lived railways that were built post war

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montyburns56

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Bevercotes Colliery opened in 1965 and closed in 1993, so the branch line built to serve it had a useful life of around 28 years.

Oddly enough though only a short stub leading to Boughton is shown on the latest NLS map. Perhaps the map was made in the middle of its construction.
 
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montyburns56

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The Cotgrave Colliery branch from the Nottingham to Grantham line was about 2 miles long, opened in 1960, the colliery closed in 1993 and the track was lifted in 2012.

It involved building a quite a few bridges over roads including the A52 so it couldn't have been to cheap to build!
 

montyburns56

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Cairnryan Military railway was built to serve an emergency port in 1942, it was never needed as a port, but was used post war for disposal of surplus munitions and later as a shipbreaking facility. The line was closed and lifted in 1967.

It seems that it could be one of the shortest lived post war railways at just over 25 years.
 

montyburns56

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Not so far away was the Calverton Colliery branch from the Nottingham to Mansfield line. That was over seven miles long, in operation from 1952 until the colliery closed in 1998.

I think we certainly have a winner for longest post war railway that has closed!
 

montyburns56

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Another one which I've thought of is the line to the Containerbase at Trafford Park. Built in 1968 closed in 2012?
 

d9009alycidon

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It seems that it could be one of the shortest lived post war railways at just over 25 years.

There is an interesting and humorous quote in David L. Smith's "Tales of the GSWR in LMS days". I haven't got the book to hand at the moment but it went along the the following lines.... When the line was being built the Army ordered uncreosoted sleepers from the LMS (clearly they didn't think the line was going to last too long even then), the LMS stores thought it too much trouble to order fresh plain sleepers when they had a good stock of creosoted sleepers available, so they sent those instead. The LMS then got a very strong worded telephone call from an Army Seargent demanding to know why they had sent creosoted sleepers as they were causing the sapper's uniforms to get stained!!!
 

Calthrop

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There is an interesting and humorous quote in David L. Smith's "Tales of the GSWR in LMS days". I haven't got the book to hand at the moment but it went along the the following lines.... When the line was being built the Army ordered uncreosoted sleepers from the LMS (clearly they didn't think the line was going to last too long even then), the LMS stores thought it too much trouble to order fresh plain sleepers when they had a good stock of creosoted sleepers available, so they sent those instead. The LMS then got a very strong worded telephone call from an Army Seargent demanding to know why they had sent creosoted sleepers as they were causing the sapper's uniforms to get stained!!!

This could have provided a fine opportunity for turning the tables, with reference to a favourite wartime "meme" -- "Sergeant, in case it may have escaped your notice, there's a war on..."
 
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A small Shrewsbury example was the spur built by BR between Sutton Bridge Junction (following the course of Severn Valley route to Bridgnorth) and the Oil Terminal at Abbey Foregate, formerly the Shrewsbury terminus of the Potts. I think it was built in the 1960s and closed in 1988. A lot has been built on now, with housing, a car park and a supermarket, but there is still 400 yards of recognisable trackbed to walk along, in the area of Shrewsbury still known as "the Back of the Sheds".
 

edwin_m

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Quite - it's why the flyover was constructed as part of the electrification works - as it meant traffic on the up slow would be able to pass over to the west side of the station and into the 'suburban' platforms without blocking the fast lines. Same reason for the flyover constructed at Welwyn Garden City - so the Moorgate services could arrive and depart on the west side (I forget whether it's P1 or P4 nowadays - I know they swapped them round at some point) and pass over to the east side so they were on the Up-Slow without interfering with the fasts.

I can't be certain - though I'm sure somebody else will be - but I have a feeling the link onto the Dunstable branch from the Midland at Luton was only put in around the time the Welwyn - Luton line was closed so as to allow freight to continue to use the Dunstable line. That finally got removed I think when the busway was being built - and certainly never saw significant use.
Wasn't the Belle Isle flyover there in a slightly different form before electrification? I think it was originally intended for Up trains serving the curve to the North London Line and the various freight facilities between the GN and Midland lines, but by 1977 these had virtually disappeared so it was modified to run into the high-numbered platforms at KX.
 

Journeyman

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I think a spur was built between the branch from Staines and the ex GW line to Colnbrook when the M25 was being built. Possibly was used for aggregates during motorway construction.

Yeah, a connection to the Staines West branch was provided from the Southern when the route from the West Drayton end was severed by the M25. It wasn't for construction traffic - it was provided to maintain access to an oil terminal. The spur was installed in 1981, but the oil terminal closed in 1991, so at ten years it was a very short lived bit of railway.
 

Merle Haggard

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A short lived piece of railway - although hardly even a branch - was the connection to the linkspan at Dover.
The previous arrangement was for the Dunkerque ferries (latterly the St Garmain and St Eloi) to use a dock at Western Docks but when the Nord pas de Calais was introduced to replace them it was loaded and unloaded by linkspan because it was too large for the dock. The NpdC was withdrawn when the Tunnel opened. The linkspan was reached by a spur that ran down the side of DWD passenger station (I think...).
I can't remember the dates, but it was comparatively short-lived, perhaps 2-3 years.
 

Peter Sarf

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Fareham Road to HS1 (2003-07)
Wasn’t there a spur near Manchester Airport used only for the building of Terminal 2

You mean Farningham road station. It was originally called Fawkham Junction back in the early BR days (probably 1960s).

The HS1 connection from Fawkham Junction near Longfield to Southfleet Junction wasn't wholly new construction, it was a rebuild of an L C & D branch to Gravesend.
It seems to have lost passenger services in 1953, but to have been open to freight at least to the early 1980s. By 1994 it had apparently been completely closed.

That branch served a paper mill in Gravesend iirc. Sometime in the 1970s - 1980s. I visited it with my father on a tour. There were saddle tank engines in use - well they had no fire and were re-filled from a static boiler house. Presumably the wagons they shunted would then be taken out into BR via the branch.

Was part of this branch the site of one of the few Heritage Railways/Centres that was a flop.

The branch was to be home for the North Downs Steam Railway. I think the money dried up. The dreams ended when HS1 took the South Western end almost as far North as the A2. At the same time the NEW bridge over the A2 was removed thus sealing the fate of the branch as a whole.

Now for the gap in my memory. The bridge over the A2 was wide enough to cater for the A2 3 lanes each way widening which happened in the 1960s. BUT I then think that bridge was replaced when the A2 was further widened in the 1990s ?. And then that was the one that got demolished. Or maybe the demolished bridge coincided with the A2 >3 lanes widening ?.

But it has been treated as a siding for abandoned 373s - although all that were there have now left to meet their maker.
 

Lloyds siding

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You asked about pictures of Deltic on the Cheshire Lines, this photo is from the Napier Chronicles:-
dp1_mvz - Copy.jpg


Well, nearly 60 years later, the Cheshire Lines have gone, the embankment has gone...but the power lines are still there:-
20200527_160854 - Copy.jpg

I really need to be about 25-30 feet more elevated, and with a wider angle lens, but it's not far off where the picture was taken imho (60 years ago this was the Cheshire Lines embankment after passing Old Roan station).

There's also a picture in the Napier Power Heritage Trust webpages here showing the loco at Netherton works :-

I've stood fairly close to where Deltic is stood...about 30 years ago. The Napier Trust mentions that EE at Netherton were subcontracted to make Rolls-Royce Avon engines, well when I visited it was called Coopers-Bessemer ( a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce) and was testing RR RB211 engines to destruction...by running them flat out for months at a time!
 

Mcr Warrior

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Would the three miles of double track through the new (1950s version) Woodhead tunnel count? Subsequently closed to rail traffic in 1981 and all track lifted c. 1986.
 

Merle Haggard

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Ford Branch at Bridgend off the Vale of Glamorgan line (1979) - presently no traffic.

My recollection from RfD Autos days was that it had an ungated level crossing across the A48. Regulations (possibly by the highway authority) specified that the components trains should run at night, because the road was less busy; but it does tend to be dark at night, adding a further problem. One of our Cl 47s was hit broadside by a car there once, I think I remember.
 

S&CLER

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You asked about pictures of Deltic on the Cheshire Lines, this photo is from the Napier Chronicles:-
View attachment 78587


Well, nearly 60 years later, the Cheshire Lines have gone, the embankment has gone...but the power lines are still there:-
View attachment 78588

I really need to be about 25-30 feet more elevated, and with a wider angle lens, but it's not far off where the picture was taken imho (60 years ago this was the Cheshire Lines embankment after passing Old Roan station).

There's also a picture in the Napier Power Heritage Trust webpages here showing the loco at Netherton works :-

I've stood fairly close to where Deltic is stood...about 30 years ago. The Napier Trust mentions that EE at Netherton were subcontracted to make Rolls-Royce Avon engines, well when I visited it was called Coopers-Bessemer ( a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce) and was testing RR RB211 engines to destruction...by running them flat out for months at a time!

Many thanks for this. I've walked the Trans-Pennine Trail from Southport to Sefton Lane in Maghull, where the official route deviates from the old S&CLE formation, and you can unofficially walk a bit more of it in Maghull, getting back on it once past the Sefton Lane industrial estate, as far as the former bridge over the A59, near where it crosses the River Alt; but you can't walk the old formation between there and Aintree, as it's either obliterated or cut off by the M58, M57 and Switch Island or built on (ASDA's car park). I think part of the CLC embankment between Aintree Southport Junction and the canal bridge at Old Roan was excavated away to enlarge the yard of Rainford's, the sand and gravel merchants, while the bus-rail interchange at Old Roan also encroached on the former S&CLE formation.
 

Taunton

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The Napier Trust mentions that EE at Netherton were subcontracted to make Rolls-Royce Avon engines, well when I visited it was called Coopers-Bessemer ( a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce) and was testing RR RB211 engines to destruction...by running them flat out for months at a time!
Cooper-Bessemer were the longstanding diesel prime mover manufacturers of all General Electric's diesel locos in the USA. GE sold off this division to Rolls-Royce in the mid-1990s. They did more than diesels.
 

Altfish

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Cairnryan Military railway was built to serve an emergency port in 1942, it was never needed as a port, but was used post war for disposal of surplus munitions and later as a shipbreaking facility. The line was closed and lifted in 1967.
...and since the Belfast Ferries have now moved to Cairnryan it would have been very useful if not lifted.
 

alxndr

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I believe these are the stations* opened and closed since the end of the second world war.

* stations is a loose term, including workers stops and temporary stops

Abbey Town
Abercynon North
Acrow Halt
Almeley
Ampress Works Halt
Annesley Sidings
Annesley South Junction Halt
Aviemore (Speyside)
Awe Crossing Halt
Ballifurth Farm Halt
Balnacra Level Crossing Gatehouse
Bilston West
Boscarne Exchange Platform
Bothwell
Calderpark Halt
Cefn Tilla Halt
Chee Dale Halt
Chesterton Lane Halt
Church's Hill Halt
Colnbrook Estate Halt
Dalvey Farm Halt
Dee Street Halt
Drumgelloch (old station)
Easter Road Park Halt
Featherstone Park
Filey Holiday Camp
Finingley Halt
Gilbeys Cottages Halt
Golden Sands Halt
Grain
Gwys
Hadnock Halt
Hardley Halt
Harworth Colliery Sidings
Heads of Ayr Holiday Camp
Heathrow Junction
Holywell Waterworks Halt
Hoo Junction Halt
Imber Houses
Imperial Cottages Halt
Ironbridge Gorge
Kings Cross Thameslink
Leeds (Whitehall)
London Waterloo International
Loughton Sidings
Luib Houses
Margam Halt
Market Drayton
Meadowbank Stadium
New Cross Depot Staff Platform
Over Bridge
Park Leaze Halt
Perth Yard
Pittenzie Halt
Plessey
Portland Dockyard
Poyle Estate Halt
Radclive Halt
Ramsline Halt
Rosslynlee Hospital Halt
Sandyford
Scale Hall
Sheffield Victoria
Sinfin Central
Sinfin North
Southport London Street
Spennymoor
Strageath Halt
Strathisla Platform (Keith)
Thrybergh Tins
Trouble House Halt
Viaduct Cottages
Water Stratford Halt
Watford Stadium
White Hart Halt
Wingham Colliery
Workington North
 
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duffield

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I believe these are the stations* opened and closed since the end of the second world war.

* stations is a loose term, including workers stops and temporary stops

Abbey Town
Abercynon North
Acrow Halt
Almeley
Ampress Works Halt
Annesley Sidings
Annesley South Junction Halt
Aviemore (Speyside)
Awe Crossing Halt
Ballifurth Farm Halt
Balnacra Level Crossing Gatehouse
Bilston West
Boscarne Exchange Platform
Bothwell
Calderpark Halt
Cefn Tilla Halt
Chee Dale Halt
Chesterton Lane Halt
Church's Hill Halt
Colnbrook Estate Halt
Dalvey Farm Halt
Dee Street Halt
Drumgelloch (old station)
Easter Road Park Halt
Featherstone Park
Filey Holiday Camp
Finingley Halt
Gilbeys Cottages Halt
Golden Sands Halt
Grain
Gwys
Hadnock Halt
Hardley Halt
Harworth Colliery Sidings
Heads of Ayr Holiday Camp
Heathrow Junction
Holywell Waterworks Halt
Hoo Junction Halt
Imber Houses
Imperial Cottages Halt
Ironbridge Gorge
Kings Cross Thameslink
Leeds (Whitehall)
London Waterloo International
Loughton Sidings
Luib Houses
Margam Halt
Market Drayton
Meadowbank Stadium
New Cross Depot Staff Platform
Over Bridge
Park Leaze Halt
Perth Yard
Pittenzie Halt
Plessey
Portland Dockyard
Poyle Estate Halt
Radclive Halt
Ramsline Halt
Rosslynlee Hospital Halt
Sandyford
Scale Hall
Sheffield Victoria
Sinfin Central
Sinfin North
Southport London Street
Spennymoor
Strageath Halt
Strathisla Platform (Keith)
Thrybergh Tins
Trouble House Halt
Viaduct Cottages
Water Stratford Halt
Watford Stadium
White Hart Halt
Wingham Colliery
Workington North

Unless I'm missing something here, surely Sheffield Victoria doesn't belong on this list. It opened in 1851, not 1951!
 

matchmaker

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Cairnryan Military railway was built to serve an emergency port in 1942, it was never needed as a port, but was used post war for disposal of surplus munitions and later as a shipbreaking facility. The line was closed and lifted in 1967.

It was used for the construction of Mulberry Harbours for use at D-day.
 

Ianigsy

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The loops at Kirkby and Ormskirk which were installed when through running from Liverpool to Wigan and Preston ceased and were subsequently lifted.

As far as stations go, Derker was opened in 1985 and closed for the Metrolink conversion in 2009.
 

Merle Haggard

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Unless I'm missing something here, surely Sheffield Victoria doesn't belong on this list. It opened in 1851, not 1951!

I take it that it's listed because, after closure, it was re-opened temporarily in connection with diversions because of engineering work.
 

billio

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Not sure if this can be included as it opened during WW2, but there was the 2-mile branch built by the LMS to Cold Meece station, to serve ROF Swynnerton, near Stone, Staffs. Opened August 1941; last train June 1958.
What's a few years between friends? Funnily enough I had noticed the line on a map a few years ago and marked it as an interesting site to visit, but I didn't realise it was built so recently. Also it's interesting that the station/track layout is quite similar to that at the Filey Butlins station. And like the colliery lines there must be some other ammunition depots or possibly even airfields that had lines built during and possibly after the war?
A similar railway was at the Thorp Arch munitions factory on the Church Fenton to Harrogate line. There is an interesting article in 'The British Railway Journal' volumes 65 and 66. The Thorp Arch Circular Railway ran around the perimeter of the factory with 4 stations. It opened in part in 1941 and closed in 1958.
 
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