Freight line just south of Davenport and Woodsmoor (Stockport)

Hi all,

Apologies I'm not sure of the name of this freight only line that starts at Hazel Grove and heads north west, just south of the passenger line between hazel grove and stockport.

Would anyone be able to tell me the typical service pattern on this line? Number of trains per day and times and also what is the typical freight hauled and typical journey start and end points? Also what locos are typical?

Thanks much appreciated.

I assume you mean the line through Cheadle Junction (which is still an identified location on the network even though it is no longer a junction). A search on Real Time Trains for anything running through that location suggests that there is very little.

You are looking at the remnants of the Midland main line from Derby to Manchester, now singled and linked only to the mid-Cheshire (ex-CLC) line at Northenden.
It carries most of the westbound freight originating at the limestone quarries around Buxton and the Hope Valley.
If you run Realtimetrains with a location of Hazel Grove HL Jn and filter by Freight Services you will get a substantial list of train paths, though only a fraction of these will run on any particular day.
This line at one time carried the Midland Pullman and an hourly Manchester Central-London St Pancras inter-city service (some calling at Cheadle Heath for Stockport).

Have you looked at the New_Adlestrop_Railway_Atlas ? It often answers questions like this, although it can't show all the lines in congested areas.

Believe that the length of the line (= "Cheadle Branch") between 'Hazel Grove High Level Junction' and 'Northenden Junction' is around some 6 miles 46 chains. Opened c. 1901/1902. Line ran through Cheadle Heath (for Stockport) station (opened 1901, closed 1967) which is now a Morrison's supermarket. Now freight only. Not to be confused with the similarly named but completely separate now closed former 'Cheadle branch' line in Staffordshire.

qarty said:

what is the typical freight hauled and typical journey start and end points?

Click to expand...

Stone traffic from Tunstead and Peak Forest to various receiving terminals,
including Warrington, Small Heath, Banbury, Rugby, Northampton, etc.

qarty said:

Also what locos are typical?

Click to expand...

Almost all trains on the line are 66-hauled these days.

Hi all thanks for your replies! I'm struggling with real time train website. If anyone is better at searching can they tell me a typical number of trains per day passing along this line?

It likely varies. On some days, the typical number actually running could be zero. Several are pathed, but not so many do then run.

Yesterday (22JUL2026) there looks to have been just two workings. 6H75 running from Arpley Sidings to Tunstead Sdgs which passed Northenden Junction at 1219 and then Hazel Grove High Lane Junction, some fifteen minutes later, at 1234. And 6H50, from the Wembley area to Tunstead Sidings, which passed the two above-named locations at 1849 and 1904 respectively.


Can't see anything as actually having run in the other direction.

Mcr Warrior said:

Can't see anything as actually having run in the other direction.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/search/detailed/gb-nr:HAZLGHJ/to/gb-nr:NTHNDNJ/2026-07-22/0000-2359?stp=WVS&show=all&order=wtt

Click to expand...

Please be aware that the "later call at" option on RTT does not include trains booked to pass the specified location.

As an example, this loaded stone train ran yesterday:

6B26 - https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:H00643/2026-07-22/detailed

(not booked to stop anywhere between Chinley North Junction and Crewe)


because of this limitation, the only way to find trains running on a route like this
(i.e. one with no intermediate timing point) is to look through the listings for the
timing points at each end of the line for trains which report at both locations.

Freightmaster said:

because of this limitation, the only way to find trains running on a route like this
(i.e. one with no intermediate timing point) is to look through the listings for the
timing points at each end of the line for trains which report at both locations.

Click to expand...

Made a lot harder by the limited coverage of SMART Train Describer coverage, although in this instance Hazel Grove High Level Jn is covered.

Signal 21 (Westbound Traffic to Northenden Jn) https://vaildata.uk/berth_history?describer=E1&berth=HG21
Signal 29 (Eastbound Traffic from Northenden Jn) https://vaildata.uk/berth_history?describer=E1&berth=HG29

Valid Data Berth Finder: https://vaildata.uk/bplan/berth-find?loc=HAZLGHJ
(OTT link for the signal numbers: https://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/hopevalley)

Note that each train will generate a record for entering the berth (the one with the headcode) and leaving the berth (the blank row). Also the headcodes aren't hyperlinked, so anybody trying to work out what's run will need to cross-reference with RTT.

It seems to vary with 0-2 Westbound and 1-4 Eastbound trains a day a rough guide.

Rather than focusing on individual trains it’s probably worth pointing out the strategic value of the line. Basically it allows access from the quarries and cement works of the Peak District to the West Coast Main Line without going through Manchester.

Southbound via Northwich-Middlewich-Sandbach-Crewe Independent Lines. Northbound via the Greenbank-Hartford spur. (This is a broadly equivalent role to the Hope Valley Line via the junctions at Dore onto the Midland Main Line in both directions.)

Obviously the demand for construction materials depends on the state of the construction market. With Phase 1 of HS2 winding down on the heavy engineering side and no Phase 2 to ramp up that demand has reduced. Construction of houses and flats is sluggish for various reasons - shortages of tradespeople, planning, post-Grenfell changes relating to flats and so on.

Heathrow Third Runway isn’t going ahead; Avonmouth (for Hinkley Point) being better accessed via Dore; and Sizewell is also awkward from the WCML.

But the route has potential long term value, with the 75% freight growth target, and can be useful for some ancillary flows such as slate waste from North Wales to Hope to supplement local exhaustion of part of the feed mix for the cement kilns (until 2042 anyway).

I associate this route mainly with "the hoppers" from Tunstead to Lostock but of course that's not run for a while now...

Out of curiosity, I've compiled a quick list from TRUST of the trains which ran on this route from Mon - Thu this week. It's been a steady 5 workings per day, although I expect it would vary from one week to another.

As noted by Freightmaster, almost all these freight trains are direct workings between the quarries at Tunstead or Peak Forest (Dove Holes) to various stone terminals, and return empties. 6H75 from Warrington Arpley is a set of empty HRA wagons to form 6G75 Tunstead - Washwood Heath (another stone train), which then runs empty to Warrington Arpley and completes a daily circuit.

6H50 from Wembley can be empties from various London stone terminals. Sometimes it might have more than one portion and run as a "jumbo" but I'm not sure if that's happened recently. Today's 6H50 conveys empty HIA hoppers from Paddington which worked south from Tunstead to Hanwell Bridge Loops on 6V51 last night (Thursday), then as 6A55 to Paddington and 6M52 empties to Wembley today. Last night's 6V51 ran via Guide Bridge and Stockport which is another alternative route - in this case towards Stoke and Colwich but can also be used to reach Crewe via Northwich. For some reason I thought stone trains from Tunstead running via Guide Bridge and Stockport would be more common than via the Cheadle Branch but obviously not, or maybe it depends which routes are shut for engineering works overnight...

As mentioned in previous posts, for stone trains from the Peak District to the midlands or further south, the route via the Cheadle Branch is an alternative to running via Chesterfield, so if one route is blocked for engineering work the other can be used. Some trains run loaded one way and empty the other, which is why the corresponding outward or return working may be missing from the list below:

Passing times at Hazel Grove High Level Junction - trains to or from Northenden Junction (Cheadle Branch)

Mon 20th
6M44 Ripple Lane Stora - Peak Forest Cemex 11:37
6G99 Tunstead - Banbury 07:21
6G92 Tunstead - Small Heath 10:15
6B26 Tunstead - Rugby 13:15
6F07 Peak Forest Cemex - Warrington Dallam 15:37

Tue 21st
6G99 Tunstead - Banbury 07:23
6B71 Tunstead - Northampton 07:49
6G92 Tunstead - Small Heath 10:15
0Z22 Basford Hall - Tunstead 11:34
6B26 Tunstead - Rugby 12:58
6F07 Peak Forest Cemex - Warrington Dallam 15:29

Wed 22nd
4H26 Rugby - Tunstead 06:54
6G99 Tunstead - Banbury 07:20
6H75 Warrington Arpley - Tunstead 12:34
6B26 Tunstead - Rugby 12:54
6H50 Wembley - Tunstead 19:04

Thu 23rd
4H26 Rugby - Tunstead 06:51
6G99 Tunstead - Banbury 07:25
6G92 Tunstead - Small Heath 10:00
6H75 Warrington Arpley - Tunstead 12:35
6B26 Tunstead - Rugby 12:54

***

Aside from the stone trains, 6E61 Tuebrook - Attercliffe (empty box wagons for scrap loading) ran this way on 10th July (i.e. via Earlestown / Warrington Bank Quay / Hartford Jn / Northwich), passing Hazel Grove High Level Jn at the ungodly hour of 03:43. On the 17th July 6E61 was planned the same way but was diverted via Manchester Victoria and Ashburys to reach Chinley and the Hope Valley; and this morning 6E61 ran via Manchester Piccadilly and Ashburys. This shows the variety of routes around Manchester, which are useful alternatives when there is engineering work.

Edit: The route via the Cheadle Branch is shown in this cab ride video (train approaches Hazel Grove High Level Junction about 24 min into the video)

Earles to Crewe Basford Hall via Middlewich | Don Coffey

Thank you all for your replies. Extremely informative and interesting. Much appreciated.