Халл и Барнсли: История, Локомотивы и Катастрофы

British pre grouping railway company

On 23 December 1903, a passenger train collided with wagons on the line at Springhead Junction, Hull. Locomotive No.34 with a train of 5 four wheel carriages and a fish van ran into the back of a formation of a brake van and 11 loaded mineral wagons which had detached unnoticed from an earlier train due to a broken coupling. The driver was seriously injured, passengers reported only minor injuries. At around midnight 25 September 1907 the boiler of F2 locomotive No. 109 exploded. The train was halted whilst the fireman was collecting a signal token before Wrangbrook Junction near Wath when the boiler exploded. The driver, John Edward Brook, was blown by the blast and was badly scalded and injured; he was taken to Beckett Hospital in Barnsley but died four days later. An inquest was held, where a boiler specialist reported that 30 stays had given way – the stays had been over repaired without replacement; it was noted that suspect stays had been reported in March, and that a boilersmith had previously warned the stays required replacement. A verdict of accidental death was returned, on the basis of an error of judgement having been made.

The H&BR never manufactured any of its own locomotives, all being built elsewhere. The first types in use were of the design W. Kirtley (Locomotive Superintendent of the London, Chatham and Dover Railway) who was acting as a consultant. Matthew Stirling (son of Patrick Stirling of 'Stirling Single' fame) was the first and only Locomotive superintendent of the H&BR during its independence, and who undertook the rebuilding of some of Mr. Kirtley's designs, as well as contracting the construction of his own designs to various builders. His locomotives were typically domeless, and many of the original Kirtley engines were also rebuilt without domes. Kirtley's locomotives were painted black with grey lining. Matthew Stirling subtly modified the livery – using invisible green (black except in bright sunlight) produced from a 50:50 mixture of 'drop black' and 'brunswick green'. Lining was of broad stripes of blue (ultramarine) with red (vermilion) edges. The 2 4 0 and 0 6 0 tender locomotives procured by Kitley carried a small cursive monogram of the letters "HB&WRJR", other locomotives carried the initials "H&BR".

Initially the railway used 30 feet (9 m) 2 axle coaches, by the time services to Sheffield were introduced the company had 4 axle 51 feet (16 m) composite corridor coaches on bogies. Most of the rolling stock was for freight; in 1923 the company had 4,808 freight wagons of which over 3,000 were open wagons. Additionally the company possessed a snow plough, since the cuttings in the Yorkshire Wolds were prone to drifts when snow occurred.

The Railways Act 1921 ended the company's independence; from 1 April 1922 the Hull and Barnsley Railway became part of the NER. The locomotive works at Springhead was downgraded – the extent of locomotive maintenance was reduced and the carriage works closed, skilled workers and machinery were relocated to Darlington. At this time 43 old engines were decommissioned. Edward Watkin (General Manager) and Matthew Stirling also departed. this coincided with the construction of a chord to the NER line just north west of Walton Street level crossing to the elevated line. Mainline freight work commonly used the ex Great Central Robinson 2 8 0 locomotives (later classified as LNER Class O4). In 1929 a halt west of Springhead works and sidings was constructed, The station was unstaffed, and possibly the smallest in Britain, with two wooden platforms one coach in length each (25 ft). The same month the Springhead Halt opened passenger services between Wath and Kirk Smeaton ended. The locomotive shed at Cudworth closed in 1951. Passenger services between Hull and South Howden ended in 1955. Through freight on the same line ended in 1958, with complete closure between Little Weighton and Wrangbrook junction in 1959. Freight working on remaining sections west of Hull (Springhead) closed completely in the next decade; the section between Moorhouse and Wrangbrook: 1963, between Little Weighton and Springhead : 1964, between Wrangbrook and both Monckton as well as Sprotborough in 1967, Cudworth to Monckton in 1968. |group="note" The work was to include partial re doubling of the line, remedial and replacement work on the numerous bridges, and signalling upgrades, and to increase the line speed to except at Hull Bridge. The capacity of the line was to be increased from 10 to 22 trains in each direction. In late 2007 the Network Rail gave the contract to GrantRail (now VolkerRail). Work carried out included the re instatement of a double track junction at Hessle Road (the junction with the main line, previously singled in 1984), restoration of double track from New Bridge Road to King George Dock, and removal of Ella Street bridge along with strengthening of 15 others. The upgraded line was formally opened in June 2008 by the transport minister Rosie Winterton. Work continued on the line after the official opening; the upgraded signalling system began use in September 2008. Work on the ABP owned portion of the track was carried out by Trackwork Ltd. of Doncaster, at a cost of over £2.5 million. In July 2014 an attempt to solve a pigeon roosting problem under the Chanterlands Avenue railway bridge led to "hundreds of inch long maggots" from the carcasses of dead birds falling off the bridge onto a footpath, described by one passer by as "like something out of a horror film".

Drapers Metal merchants used the Sculcoates, and later part of the former Neptune Street goods yards as part of their scrap metal business – during the 1960s many steam locomotives were dismantled there. The cutting at Little Weighton, and nearby chalk quarries were used after closure (from 1969) as a landfill facility; filling of the quarries and cutting was approaching completion by 2008. After 2008 a site on the cutting near Willerby has been used as a recycling facility. In rural areas the embankments and earthworks remain as boundaries between fields, the trackbed west of Weedley Tunnel forms part of the Yorkshire Wolds Way and High Hunsley Circuit walks, and a section of the embankment between Kirk Ella and Hull also carries a footpath whilst a section further west is covered by the B1232 road. A section over 2 mile (3 km) long north of Newport is now part of the eastern end of M62 motorway. A number of the stations have been converted into private residences. The areas of disused land west and east of Calvert Lane in Hull (formerly Springhead works and sidings and the land between Springbank East, West and South junctions) have become a wildlife habitat, the area between the junctions being assessed as "ecologically outstanding". and are classed as Sites of nature conservance importance and is a candidate site for "Local Nature Reserve status". The disused railway bridge giving walkers access to the western site was removed in August 2009. The former sidings at Calvert Lane were developed into a small housing estate "The Sidings" in the 2010s.

The Hull & Barnsley Railway Stock Fund owns and restores the few surviving vehicles which once belonged to the H&BR. Two coaches, two wagons and a tool van are kept on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway. No locomotives have survived. It may be safely predicted that before long, and especially if business competition becomes keener, Hull will again realise that emancipation from railway thraldom is a necessity of her existence as a first class trading port|F. B. Grotrian| Closing sentence, A History of Hull Railways, 1879

Hull, Barnsley, and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. 199); An Act to authorise the construction and maintenance of the Hull, Barnsley, and West Riding Junction Railways, and of a Dock and other Works in connexion therewith; and for other purposes. Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (New Works) Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c. 246); An Act to authorise the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company to make and maintain new Railways and a new Dock and other works and to raise further money and for other purposes. Hull, Barnsley, and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (Various Powers) Act 1883 (46 & 47 Vict. c. 143); An Act to Authorise the Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company to Construct New Railways and Other Works to Amend the Acts Relating to the Company and for Other Purposes. Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (Money) Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. 254); An Act to authorise the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company to raise further money by debentures. Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (New Railways, &c.; amending acts) Act 1884 (47 & 48 Vict. c. 71); An Act to authorise the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company to construct new Railways and other Works to amend the Acts relating to the Company and for other purposes. Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 82); An Act to Confer Further Powers Upon the Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company and to Extend the Time for the Compulsory Purchase of Land for the Completion of Certain of Their Authorised Works and for Other Purposes. Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1890 (53 & 54 Vict. c. 56); An Act for extending and reviving the powers of the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company for the purchase of lands for and for the construction of certain of their authorised works for the abandonment of one of their authorised railways and for conferring further powers upon the Company and amending the Acts relating to them. Hull and Barnsley and South Yorkshire Junction Railways Act 1891 (54 & 55 Vict. c. 164); An Act to confirm and give effect to an agreement for the working of certain parts of the South Yorkshire Junction Railway by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company. Railway Rates and Charges, No. 8 (Hull and Barnsley, and West Riding Junction Railway) Order Confirmation Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 46)
Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 30); An Act for extending the time limited for the construction by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company of certain of their authorised works and for conferring further powers upon the Company and amending the Acts relating to them. Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. 152); An Act to confer further powers upon the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company and to authorise the transfer of the undertaking of the Hull and South Yorkshire Extension Railway Company to the Company and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1905 (5 Edw. 7. c. 41); An Act to extend the time for the purchase of lands and completion of works authorised by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock and for other purposes. Hull Joint Dock Act 1906 (6 Edw. 7. c. xlvi); An Act to confer additional powers upon the Hull Joint Dock Committee for the construction of dock works, and upon the North Eastern Railway Company for the construction of new railways; and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Railways Act 1906 (6 Edw. 7. c. 56); An Act to authorise the transfer to the Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Railway Companies of certain works authorised by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (South Yorkshire Extension Lines) Act 1902 and to the Great Central Railway Company of the undertaking of the Rotherham, Maltby and Laughton Railway Company, to empower the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company to construct a new railway and to acquire additional lands, and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway (Steam Vessels) Act 1906 (6 Edw. 7. c. 68); An Act to authorise the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company to provide and work steam vessels between the port of Hull and certain continental ports and to subscribe to the funds of steamship companies and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1907 (7 Edw. 7. c. 67); An Act to authorise the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company to construct a pier and railways at Hull and to purchase additional lands; and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1908' (8 Edw. 7. c. 26); An Act To extend the Time for the Purchase of Lands for and for the Completion of certain Works authorised by the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock (South Yorkshire Extension Lines) Act 1902 to authorise the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company to construct new railways and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1909 (9 Edw. 7. c. 72); An Act to authorise the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company to construct new railways and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1913 (3 & 4 Geo. 5. c. 47); An Act to confer further powers on the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company in respect of their own undertaking and upon that Company and the North eastern and Great Central Railway Company respectively in respect of joint undertakings and for other purposes. Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1914 (4 & 5 Geo. 5. c. 77); An Act to confer further powers upon the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company in respect of their own undertaking and upon that Company and the Great Central Railway Company and the North Eastern Railway Company, respectively, in respect of joint undertakings; to extend the time for the compulsory purchase of lands and for the completion of works authorised to be acquired and constructed by the Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1909; to revive the powers for the construction of works authorised by the Hull Joint Dock Act 1899; and for other purposes.