Woodhead Route

[Whistler40145]

Although it's a long time since the Woodhead route closed & I am not old enough to remember it, but would appreciate some feedback on the following questions.

I have seen pictures of a Peak on a diverted Transpennine service near Torside, which route would it have taken from Penistone to get back on route?

Which other routes electrified @ 1500v dc would be used for diversions of Sheffield Victoria services & other services?

I appreciate this could have some head scratching & don't expect quick replies.

 

[Welshman]

When you say " a diverted Trans-Pennine Service" I'm not sure whether you mean a Manchester-Huddersfield-Leeds service or a Manchester-Sheffield service.

Presumably if it were the former, it would have reversed at Penistone to gain the Huddersfield line, but if it were the latter, it would have gone through Sheffield Victoria and reversed to go down to Sheffield Midland, the way the Huddersfield-Sheffield dmu service was routed for a time before being diverted via Barnsley.

I've seen photos of Manchester-Sheffield Victoria trains diverted via and reversing at Huddersfield when there was maintenance work in Woodhead tunnel going on in the 1960s - presumably the opposite diversion was used when Standedge tunnel was closed.

I remember too, that towards the end of the Woodhead line, the Harwich-Manchester service and return was sometimes diesel-hauled throughout, rather than changing to a dc electric at Sheffield Victoria.

 

[Whistler40145]

I did mean Manchester to Leeds services.

Also, were Sheffield Victoria services ever diverted via Wath?

 

[Welshman]

I can't remember Victoria trains going that way.

 

[daikilo]

Although it's a long time since the Woodhead route closed & I am not old enough to remember it, but would appreciate some feedback on the following questions.

I have seen pictures of a Peak on a diverted Transpennine service near Torside, which route would it have taken from Penistone to get back on route?

Which other routes electrified @ 1500v dc would be used for diversions of Sheffield Victoria services & other services?

I appreciate this could have some head scratching & don't expect quick replies.

I cannot remember, and nor can I find a photo of, what we had at the head, but I was definitely on a diversion which routed through Sheffield Victoria and through the Penistone tunnels on a Sunday in around mid 1973. Indeed it was the one and only time I used this route. A Peak would be a logical head-end but I must have been to far back to remember the Peak heart-beat..

As for other 1500V DC overhead, it was unique.

 

[sidmouth]

When Sheffield Midland was closed for engineering (signalling?) works back in the mid 70's I took a peak hauled train from Derby to Machester Pic via Beighton and Sheffield Vic. On the way back I had to change trains at Sheffield Vic and remember using the re-opened waiting room and which was temporarily lit (I think by hurricane lamps).

 

[pablo]

Some suburban services on the GER were 1500v dc originally. Converted to 25kV sometime later.

 

[NightatLaira]

Some suburban services on the GER were 1500v dc originally. Converted to 25kV sometime later.

Yes this is true, in fact a lot of the sidings in the Ilford / Barking / Romford area still contain these 'vintage' 1500v DC gantries, just replaced with 25kv AC catenaries (but the same stanchions and knitting poles) they are identical to those found on the old Woodhead route...

I'm an anorak pylons and things :roll:

 

[table38]

I'm an anorak pylons and things :roll:

Just east of Guide Bridge there is what I assume is one of the old pylons that was part of a headspan over Brookside sidings, (see here) like the one below at Wath

 

[NightatLaira]

That's the sort I mean - not the big over-arching one, but the smaller set in the centre-right of the picture with the downward pointing triangular elements.