Barrow Hill to Bolsover

[seawright]

Does anyone know what is happening to the mineral line that leaves the "Old Road" at Barrow Hill and terminates at Bolsover. It was used for removing opencast coal until a few years ago but has since become overgrown and idle.

I understood that it was going to be used to provide a rail link to Markham Vale industrial estate but have noted recent photographs on Facebook showing track removal adjacent to Hall Lane Staveley. I assumed it had a future as Chesterfield Canal Preservation Trust are engaged on building locks to allow sufficient head room for boats to pass under the line. There has also been talk that part on the line bed would be used for access to a maintenance facility for HS2 but plans for this are still subject to approval.

 

[LDECRexile]

Does anyone know what is happening to the mineral line that leaves the "Old Road" at Barrow Hill and terminates at Bolsover. It was used for removing opencast coal until a few years ago but has since become overgrown and idle.

I understood that it was going to be used to provide a rail link to Markham Vale industrial estate but have noted recent photographs on Facebook showing track removal adjacent to Hall Lane Staveley. I assumed it had a future as Chesterfield Canal Preservation Trust are engaged on building locks to allow sufficient head room for boats to pass under the line. There has also been talk that part on the line bed would be used for access to a maintenance facility for HS2 but plans for this are still subject to approval.

You summarise it well.

A road/rail interchange at Markham Vale remains an aspiration. The road side is a dream, ie just south of the M1/M18 junction. The rail side is pretty darned good, too, with the Old Road linking to just about everywhere in the Northern Powerhouse. The difficulties are at least two-fold: 1. if you've got your goods onto a lorry and onto the M1 you need something pretty special to get it off again onto a train then off a train again at the other end, and 2. the trackbed etc is intact, but the infrastructure will need a fair few Bob spending to get it off the ground.

The line from Foxlow Jct to Oxcroft Disposal Point was in regular use until 2005 when the opencasting at Arkwright was worked out. You may be interested in these shots of the last revenue-earning train on the branch - a Branch Line Society special in March 2006.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127646831@N03/sets/72157649756265407

Within weeks vandals destroyed Seymour Jct signalbox.

Eventually Network Rail lifted tracks before thieves did it for them.

The routes are protected, hence the Canal's efforts. HS2 is some way off yet, though it could provide both canal and the Bolsover Branch with hope, eg with goodwill and bridges for the former and trackbed use for the latter.

There isn't an obvious potential call for rail south of Markham Vale or north east of Seymour Jct towards Clowne, though even here, if Markham Vale took off as a road/rail interchange a route out north east could be a goer, though I reckon it would need a significant, specific investor to make it happen.

 

[dbmbridges]

A few years ago as i worked on the new bridge at Staveley and demolished the old bridge BAC2 Bridge 5 Barrow Hill - http://www.dbmbridges.com/Project-24-Barrow-Hill-Demolition.php

Looks like the track has now all been removed - when we built the new bridge - we had to take a T2 - even with trees growing out of the track as it was technically still a live railway !!

That's me standing on top of the last slab - at least the site was classed as highways environment (hence the yellow and orange ppe) - the arch demolition was interesting on this project.

Sorry not sure what the future holds for the line - we did the bridge at lowgates as part of the same project i believe this was a large station at one time, when we did the project in 2009 wasn't much left.

 

[talltim]

A few years ago as i worked on the new bridge at Staveley and demolished the old bridge BAC2 Bridge 5 Barrow Hill - http://www.dbmbridges.com/Project-24-Barrow-Hill-Demolition.php

Looks like the track has now all been removed - when we built the new bridge - we had to take a T2 - even with trees growing out of the track as it was technically still a live railway !!

That's me standing on top of the last slab - at least the site was classed as highways environment (hence the yellow and orange ppe) - the arch demolition was interesting on this project.

Sorry not sure what the future holds for the line - we did the bridge at lowgates as part of the same project i believe this was a large station at one time, when we did the project in 2009 wasn't much left.

A very interesting set of pictures, thanks

 

[seawright]

Very interesting. I take it that all the foam concrete was more than a temporary expedient and is still buried somewhere beneath Eckington road.

As for the other bridge at Lowgates this was over the Great Central Railway the tracks having been lifted sometime during the 1960s. Interestingly pedestrian access to the station platforms was via steps from a gap in the bridge parapet.

 

[Philip Elliott]

The track from Staveley to Arkwright Town was lifted in 1988, the last train having run in 1985.

 

[LDECRexile]

The track from Staveley to Arkwright Town was lifted in 1988, the last train having run in 1985.

For anyone interested the timeline of changes to tracks in the area is quite well documented and diagrammed in the Duckmanton Junction entry in Wikipedia.

Please let me know of any errors or omissions in it.

The photos sent by dmbbridges are superb, thank you for sharing.

 

[seawright]

I remember the track between Staveley Central and Chesterfield Central being singled in th 1960s and lifted altogether a couple of years later I assumed (wrongly it seems) that the lifting extended north through Staveley Central station.

 

[Mickc1440]

All the track between Barrow Hill/foxlow Junction and Seymour has or is in the process of being removed. A small amount of track was moved to Barrow Hill Yard to make the new 4th reception road on the Up side.

 

[dbmbridges]

Very interesting. I take it that all the foam concrete was more than a temporary expedient and is still buried somewhere beneath Eckington road.

Yes the foam concrete was used to under fill the existing structure the girders and brick jack arch structure were buried under the embankment. I did a similar one in near Stockton (project 38) www.dbmbridges.com it shows the similar structure - being removed after it had been previously under filled.

Under filling structures without removing the old girders is a common method giving life to a structure without doing a full replacement.

I had a day trip out to Hucknall the other day - very nice bridge on Station Road now there is an idea .........