This new title in OPC's popular "Illustrated History" series covers the history of the Woodhead Route, a line which has almost achieved a cult status among railway enthusiasts. Constructed originally by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway, the route from Sheffield to Manchester was opened in 1845. Crossing the bleak and dramatic Pennine landscsape, the route featured one of the earliest long tunnels to be constructed in Britain - the Woodhead Tunnel - which, when originally completed, was the longest tunnel in the world. The route became part of the Great Central Railway, passing to the LNER in 1923 and to BR in 1948. Although the GCR had proposals to electrify the route, it was only under the LNER that progress commenced but it was not until after Nationalisation that the route - with its new tunnels at Woodhead - was fully electrified. The line was unique in that it had its own fleet of distinctive electric locomotives and while primarily electrified for trans-Pennine coal traffic, the route also saw electrified passenger services and remained a diversionary route until closure as a through route in 1981.  The tracks were lifted in the mid-1980s ending short-term hopes of reopening. Almost the entire line east of Hadfield has now been lifted (apart from a few short sections shared with other lines, notably at Penistone). The trackbed between Hadfield and the Woodhead Tunnel has been adapted as the Longdendale Trail for hikers and cyclists. Originally, the route from Manchester to Sheffield was 41.5 miles with stops at Manchester, Guide Bridge, Newton, Godley Junction, Mottram, Glossop and Dinting, Glossop Central, Hadfield, Crowden, Woodhead, Dunford Bridge, Hazlehead Bridge, Penistone, Wortley, Deepcar, Oughty Bridge, Wadsley Bridge, Neepsend and Sheffield. Services still run from Manchester to Glossop and Hadfield, and the section from Deepcar to Sheffield is currently used for freight. This is the full and detailed story of the intricate history of this line with its many twists and turns over its 136 year history. Alan Whitehouse is an expert on the line and he has produced the definitive history including a comprehensive range of over 200 mono and colour illustrations, together with line drawings.

An Illustrated History of the Woodhead Route

Whitehouse, Alan

OPC / Ian Allan

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Books by OPC / Ian Allan

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An Illustrated History of the Woodhead Route