The Woodhead Tunnel 

As a Manchester child I remember people talking about the opening of the 1954 Woodhead tunnel. And later as a schoolboy attending Openshaw Technical School next to Ashburys Station on the Manchester-Sheffield line the electric locomotives could just about be seen as they passed high on the embankment. Thank you for the video.

Absolutely luv this channel and the content. Didn't realize how much I didn't know about Woodhead tunnel and only living in Barnsley as well! Keep it up!

The worst part is that the politicians,money men,and the elites,forget that times change and those things thrown away,will be needed at another time! Its always good policy to keep alternate routes available,as mainlines,can and do have accidents,breakdowns,and land slides,earthquakes,etc,but that requires too much thinking ahead,so it isn't done! There is an example from the US,the old Erie main,on the Southern Tier in New York,was moribund,but then,the Double Stack trains came along! The old Erie right-of-way was ideal for high and wides,so that line was rebuilt,and is one of the prime alternatives routes on the East Coast! Time will tell,and don't forget the revival of the old GCR,main near Nottingham! Ghosts of Christmas Past 🎄! Thank you 😇!

I thought Beeching wanted the Hope Vallley line closed to all passenger traffic (EDIT: he did the line is list near the top of page 105 as the Manchester Central-Chinley-Hope-Sheffield Midland). But this was refused as the Hope Valley line was better for social and network reasons, plus it had spare capacity that could handle all the Sheffield-Manchester traffic. The Woodhead route with its non-standard locomotives and electric equipment, both of which were coming to the end of their useful lives and were in need of replacement or major refurbishment. Couple this to the recession and falling traffic levels were the final straw for this line.

Always interested in Woodhead, was on the last westbound scheduled passenger service to Manchester before passenger closed January 1970

One addendum,with the TBM's now available,a new Woodhead could be built,and would be like the Chunnel,much improved over the old! Again thank you 😊!

Brilliant history lesson

Been looking forward to this topic, the Woodhead Line is one of my favourite sections of railway in the UK.

The Railway Children. Published in 1906.

A photo of Irish peat diggers at 10.20. Not quite historically accurate.

I moved to Glossop in 1986, just after the rails beyond Hadfield had been lifted. The ballast was still in place (and you could in theory still be fined for trespassing on it). Without any need for freight services, there was a proposal to extend the Manchester Metrolink to Glossop and Hadfield, and ultimately beyond through a reconstructed tunnel. This was dropped, because of concerns over running the lightweight trams over the Broadbottom and Dinting viaducts in high winds. There would also be substantial infrastructure work necessary to convert the existing 25KV AC supply to 750 DC. BR nevertheless were frightened into providing better rolling stock for the Glossop and Hadfield route, and improving the timetable.

As a kid we used to go through the Tunnel as regular travelers as we had some relations that lived in Blackpool ,in the Golden Years of the 50s & 60s in those days it was a big adventure ,stopping for water on the steam trains , changing trains and traveling in darkness as we went through the Tunnel .It took an age to get to the coast ,but for some reason we didn"t mind ?. I went on that same line to Hathersage & Hope as we used to go climbing and Caving - in and around Castleton & Stoney Middleton ,the Summers always seemed warmer and most things stopped in the winter ,but hey ho ! who cared as the Picture House was cheap and the Roller Skating rink & the Silver Blades ice rink was an alternative spot[s] . Of course railway travel is now too expensive and it"s cheaper by bus or even a hire car ,but it"s not the same is it ! .

Please fix your audio

I'm working on the TRU project. Upgrading the railway network on the Huddersfield line. I laid cables in the Morley tunnel which is about 3 miles long and we are about to start laying cables between Ashton under Lyne and Diggle where another long tunnel starts

Back in late summer 1979, I actually travelled via Woodhead on a special train that started from Manchester Piccadilly, and was hauled by a pair of class 76s to Sheffield Victoria, then the preserved steam loco, Clan Line, came on and we went via Sheffield Midland and via the Hope Valley route back across to Cheshire. I’ve got a few shots of coal trains that were the main source of traffic at that time, from the eastern end collieries to Ferrybridge power station in the west.

A very interesting video about the history of the Woodhead Tunnels.

I last went through from the Dunford Bridge end hauled by the electric loco Tommy, which had served in the Netherlands as part of its post-war reconstruction. A shame it was not preserved. British Railways electrified the line and built a wonderful new tunnel to replace those notorious old ones...only to have the entire line closed...This country throws away its pearls.

@Doncaster Drawn Have you watched the 25th Anniversary Titanic movie? If yes, what do you think of it?

@user-bx7bn9bv2h Hello, I worked within the tunnels from 1999 to2014 and have a dvd of a trip on the maintainance loco from Woodhead to Dunford Bridge showing the cable troughs, oil tanks and cross passages, shot from the roof of the loco in 2004. Reply

The thumbnail looks like the tunnel Henry refused to leave.

Is the narrator Jane Leeves? AKA Daphne Moon?

Very informative, good history lesson.

Love this channel

Nothing has been built on its site between Hadfield and Penistone therefore it shouldn’t be relatively expensive to rebuild it.

very interesting and informative...a great piece of railway history - Good Work DD!

Excellent vid, well done. Just one point. It's a popular quoted myth that the new Woodhead tunnel was built because there was insufficient clearance in the old single bore tunnels for the overhead electrification. Not true! In the pre-WW2 electrification scheme developed by the LNER it was intended to electrify both of the original tunnels and if you look at the photograph in your vid at 15:42 you will see that they built an electrification portal right outside the old tunnel to the left of the goods train in the pic. It was when British Railways restarted the electrication scheme after WW2 that they found that the old tunnels were in too poor a condition to support electrification. It was the poor condition of the old tunnels and not their gauge that led to decision to build the new tunnel. So the electrification portal by the old tunnel in your pic was removed and the wiring installed in the new tunnel on the right.

Another video with terrible low sound levels. Fortunately no adverts intruded otherwise we would have been deafened. We had to turn the volume up and keep our fingers crossed we could quickly turn it down again if needed.

If anyone wants to see more of tunnel building? Have a look at Queensbury tunnel. It was virtually slave labor back in them days. I was borne in Queensbury, we used to go into it when i was 10, We never went past halfway as they recon it was haunted? and at that age we believed them. there were 17 navies killed building it i think, part of their wages was free beer.

Slight correction passenger services ceased in January 1970 not 1969 😢 goods lasting until July 1981.

dreadull commentary, appalling background noise, unwatchable

King Edward the VII. Victoria's Son.

Does anyone know who Beaching was, what his background was, which organisation he was associated with/ worked for ?? Same for the other members of the committee ?? I researched a number of years ago, wanting to know who this fabled demon of destruction actually was: look him and his committee up for more comprehensive information: as a pointer, you will find copious reference to the Motor Trades Association: I wonder how lucrative his pension was at all of our expense ??

Did you come across any info about the signal box that was (briefly) opened in the middle of the tunnels in the 1900s to break up the long section between Woodhead and Dunford Bridge and ease congestion? There are some mentions of it online but it's hard to get anything official or detailed. Apparently it was only open for a few years, had to be reached via a manhole and a spiral stair from the moor above and despite the signallers there being paid more and working shorter shifts it was impossible to get people to stay working there due to the awful conditions.

Any new Pennines tunnel would most probably be a high speed _base_ tunnel in a more convenient location. The Woodhead is gone forever, for trains anyhow.

I believe the men who died were buried in Tintwistle down the road.