The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly by the GNR and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The terrain was extremely challenging for railway construction, and the lines were very expensive to build. The lines were
the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway,There were other variations on the name. opened from 1874; the Bradford and Thornton Railway, opened in stages from 1876; the Halifax, Thornton and Keighley Railway from Holmfield to Queensbury and from Thornton to Keighley, opened in stages from 1878; the Halifax High Level Railway, opened from 1890, but closed to passengers in 1917.
For some time the network was busy, both for passengers and goods, but carryings declined steeply, and passenger services were discontinued in 1955. Goods traffic ceased in 1974.
The lines were marked with a number of major civil engineering works including several viaducts and tunnels. A feature of the line was the unusual station at , which was on a triangular track layout, with two platforms on each of the three chords.
Background
West of Bradford, the Pennine terrain rises steeply to a plateau around above sea level, with numerous steep-sided valleys: an area of exceptional difficulty for railways. Nevertheless, it included a large area of Yorkshire with active industries, not well served by road transport.
Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway
The first Halifax station on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was opened in 1844.Marshall, page 60 The main station, opened later, is approached from the north-east by a tunnel: it is located at the bottom of the town, which is hilly. From 1854 the Great Northern Railway had running powers to Halifax over the Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway.Whitaker and Cryer, page 6 Both the L&YR and the GNR were concerned about the difficulty of carting goods to and from the higher-lying districts, as well as congestion at the station itself. The Ovenden valley, north-west of the town, was a significant source of traffic, and a branch line there would potentially assist.Bairstow, page 4
A company was formed in 1863 to build a railway along the Thornton valley, to connect Halifax with Keighley. At the time this was considered to be a very ambitious project, and during its time in Parliament, the scheme was much reduced in scope, to connect Halifax and Holmfield through the Ovenden Valley. It was to be titled the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway, and it was incorporated on 30 June 1864 by the (27 & 28 Vict. c. cxliii), with capital of £90,000. The GNR and L&YR each subscribed £30,000 towards the capital, and were to work the line jointly.Wrottesley, volume 1, page 162Awdry, page 217Carter, page 362
Construction of the line was much delayed; there was an act of Parliament of 12 August 1867, the (30 & 31 Vict. c. clxxviii), permitting a doubling of the authorised capital, some deviations of the route, and an extension of time. Nevertheless, the depressed state of the money market meant that the scheme lay dormant until a further act of Parliament, the (33 & 34 Vict. c. cxli) was obtained on 1 August 1870, sanctioning a second extension of time, and vesting the undertaking jointly in the GNR and L&YR. The concern was then renamed the Halifax and Ovenden Joint Railway. Soon afterwards, construction began from a junction with the L&YR at the north end of Halifax station, for to . The steepest gradient was 1 in 45 and the sharpest curve was radius. A masonry viaduct carried the line through Halifax, with 35 spans which varied from . A short distance beyond that, the line crossed another viaduct of 11 spans which varied from . There were two tunnels, North Bridge () and Lee Bank (). Earthworks were heavy, with high retaining walls. Goods depots were opened at North Bridge and Holmfield.Wrottesley, volume 2, page 18 The line opened for goods between Halifax and on 17 August 1874, to Holmfield on 1 September 1874, and was opened to passengers throughout on 1 December 1879.
Lee Bank Tunnel was a railway tunnel on the Halifax to Queensbury section of the Queensbury lines south of Ovenden in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It was long and was very close to Woodside Viaduct and Woodside (Old Lane) Tunnel. The southern portal of Lee Bank tunnel was infilled when the main Keighley road was doubled to a dual carriageway, the northern portal was bricked up.
Bradford and Thornton Railway
Thornton, West Yorkshire was an important industrial centre, and in 1865 separate proposals were advanced by the L&YR and the GNR for lines to Thornton, but they were rejected by Parliament. During 1870 local businessmen put forward a scheme for a railway from Bradford to Thornton via Clayton and Queensbury; this would connect industrial locations hitherto not served by railways. The project had already been cut back in scope from an earlier project to reach Keighley, on the grounds that such a line would be unaffordable, due to the difficult terrain.Whitaker and Cryer, page 7
The GNR agreed to sponsor the reduced scheme and subscribe half the capital; the GNR was partly motivated by the belief that the rival Midland Railway would step in, getting access to Halifax, if the GNR held back. Accordingly, the (34 & 35 Vict. c. clxix) was passed on 24 July 1871,Grant refers to the company as the Bradford and Thornton Railways.Carter, page 404Grant, page 63 sponsored by the GNR, and the undertaking was transferred to and vested in the GNR by the Great Northern Railway (Various Powers) Act 1872 (35 & 36 Vict. c. cxxviii) of 18 July 1872.Bairstow, page 6Awdry, page 120 The authorised construction was of line between St Dunstan's, Bradford, and Thornton. The junction at St Dunstan's was to be a triangle joining the existing GNR connecting line between Hammerton Street Junction and the Mill Lane Junction, approaching the L&YR Exchange station: this would allow direct running towards the L&YR station and also towards Laisterdyke and Leeds. (There were to be no platforms on this west-to-east side of the triangle.) In addition there was to be a short branch to Brick Lane, on the west side of Bradford, where a goods station was to be established, named City Road.
An important object of the Bradford and Thornton Railway was to provide railway facilities for Queensbury, home of the important Black Dyke Mills, run by John Foster. The town is at an altitude of above sea level. The weaving industry had flourished in this inhospitable location because of coal supplies in the immediate area; these were originally plentiful but there were now fears that the deposits were nearing the end of their life.
Construction and opening: Bradford to Thornton Work started in the Bradford to Thornton line on 21 March 1874. The earthworks were heavy, and construction was slow. The first section to be opened was from the St Dunstan's junctions at Bradford as far as Great Horton on 4 December 1876. The short branch line to City Road goods depot opened on the same day; both openings were for goods traffic only.Whitaker and Cryer, page 10 The short extension to Clayton followed on 9 July 1877Bairstow, page 64 or on 9 August 1877. The next stage was dependent on completion of Clayton Tunnel and Thornton Viaduct; opening for goods from Clayton to Thornton was on 1 May 1878. The line was opened throughout from Bradford to Thornton to all traffic on 14 October 1878.
Thornton Viaduct crossed the Pinch Beck valley. The viaduct is long and rises from the valley floor. It was built of brick and stone quarried locally and the central piers were sunk underground to the foundations. Each of its 20 arches are of span. It is still (2019) standing.
The initial passenger service was five trains each weekday from Bradford Exchange to Thornton and two from , giving Leeds connections (and avoiding the use of the L&YR station). The opening of St Dunstan's station in January 1879 meant that Leeds connections were available there, and the Laisterdyke trains were soon taken off, while the Bradford service was increased.
Although the line passed through Queensbury, there was no station there at first; a temporary structure was built, to the east of the later East Junction on 14 April 1879.Whitaker and Cryer, page 70 It had no goods facilities, and was reached only by a primitive and unmade footpath.Bairstow, page 10 The improved station, with platforms on all three curves of the triangular layout, opened later, on 1 January 1890.Whitaker and Cryer, page 22
Halifax, Thornton and Keighley Railway
In 1864 and again in 1867 moves were made independently (seeking Midland Railway support) for a rail link between Huddersfield, Halifax and Keighley, but these were unsuccessful. In 1872 another attempt was made, but the Midland Railway was implacable in refusing to assist. The GNR also rebuffed the promoters at first, and they decided to go it alone; however on 23 December 1872 agreement was reached. The GNR would not support a line from Halifax to Huddersfield, (which was now finally dead), but undertook to adopt the proposal as between Halifax and Keighley, if the independent supporters would find half the cost. The GNR's financial commitment was £640,000.Joy, pages 90 to 94
The (36 & 37 Vict. c. ccxx) was passed on 5 August 1873.Awdry, page 136 The route was to start from the almost-completed Halifax and Ovenden line at Holmfield, and join the Bradford and Thornton Railway at Queensbury, making a triangular junction there. It would then extend that line from Thornton on to Keighley. There was to be a separate terminus at Keighley near the Midland station, but this was later changed.Bairstow, page 8Grant, page 252
Between Queensbury and Holmfield the and Strines cutting caused even greater difficulties with water-bearing strata than had the tunnel, and held up opening of this section to passengers until 1 December 1879.
Construction and opening: Holmfield to Queensbury Between Holmfield and Queensbury the line was almost entirely within Queensbury Tunnel or the massive Strines Cutting. Considerable trouble was encountered with water-bearing strata during construction. Goods trains started running on 14 October 1878, the same day that Thornton station opened to passengers.
In 1878 the GNR was in serious financial difficulty on capital account, and invited the Midland Railway to join in the Keighley line works, but the Midland refused.
Passenger trains began to run from Bradford to Halifax on 1 December 1879. Initially they ran nonstop after Queensbury but a temporary station was provided at within a fortnight. North Bridge station opened on 25 March 1880, and Ovenden station in June 1881. The Halifax to Holmfield section remained in joint ownership with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Both companies ran goods trains but the GNR alone provided the passenger service.
Queensbury was not reached from Ovenden until late 1879, the line opening for goods traffic on 1 December and to passenger services two weeks later when temporary platforms at Holmfield were brought into use. Two temporary platforms at Queensbury had been in use for several months for Bradford-Thornton trains and completion of the long-awaited Halifax route gave the station a great deal of importance on account of its junction status. Initially, a daily service of six trains each way was provided between Bradford and Halifax.Whitaker and Cryer, page 11
Contractors started boring the Queensbury Tunnel on 21 May 1874; this was to be the longest tunnel on the GNR until the opening of Ponsbourne Tunnel near Hertford in 1910. Four streets of temporary houses were built in Queensbury for the construction workers; although supposedly temporary, the buildings were not condemned until 1957. The tunnel work was completed on 31 July 1878.