Trivia: Any lines that were built but never used?

[778]

If we are including railways from other countries, then a good example would be the Muaro–Pekanbaru railway in Summatra, that was built in WW2 by allied prisoners of war, but was never opened. It must have been an awful experience for those poor men.

 

[Taunton]

When the railway was built across the USA in 1869, two separate companies, Union Pacific and Central Pacific, worked from opposite ends along the agreed route, but there was no stipulation of the meeting point. The contract with each just referred to payment for what was constructed. They passed one another and continued. Apparently 250 miles of duplicate, (roughly) parallel line was constructed, to a greater or lesser extent, until it was sorted out. You can still see elements of the earthworks of the two side by side in Utah.

 

[4COR]

For about a mile to the west of Uckfield there are sections of abandoned embankments and cuttings including the only completed bridge which is still in situ.

Though, the Ouse Valley Railway was perhaps doomed to fail before it was started - it was never going to profit, and was built as slowly as possible (until abandonment) to dissuade other companies (the SER/LCDR?) from building lines on their patch.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Though, the Ouse Valley Railway was perhaps doomed to fail before it was started - it was never going to profit, and was built as slowly as possible (until abandonment) to dissuade other companies (the SER/LCDR?) from building lines on their patch.

Undoubtedly there was an element of sabre-rattling involved. Would it be fair to say that once a train company got authorisation to build a new line in Victorian times, they were then expected to go ahead and get that line built (or go bust?!)

 

[4069]

Not mentioned so far is Denham East Junction to Denham South Junction, built by the GWR as part of the "Uxbridge loop" project, but never used because the connection from Uxbridge (High Street) to Vine Street was never built, mainly because the Metropolitan's line was likely to be more than sufficient for the traffic offering in the area. The vestigial service from Uxbridge High Street to Gerrards Cross was of little use, and was withdrawn temporarily in WW1 and permanently on the outbreak of WW2.

 

[satisnek]

One that I've never been sure about is the south-to-east chord between the Havant and Redhill lines south of Guildford. The earthworks remain to this day but I don't know if track was ever laid or even if the bridge over the River Wey was built?

 

[WesternBiker]

One that I've never been sure about is the south-to-east chord between the Havant and Redhill lines south of Guildford. The earthworks remain to this day but I don't know if track was ever laid or even if the bridge over the River Wey was built?

A substantial timber bridge was built. There's an interesting piece on it in the second section (p147) of the article on the Portsmouth Direct Railway written in 1947 in The Railway Magazine. This is on the Southern Railway E-mail Group’s Internet Site. This states that track was laid over [at least part of] the route, but that the South Eastern Railway declined to operate trains over it. (Others dispute if track was laid.)

I have a six-inch map of the area from 1900 which shows the bridge over the Wey, and the earthworks without track, and the label "(Dismantled)". It shows the symbols for trees along the route, so clearly it was overgrown by then.

 

[Gloster]

One that I've never been sure about is the south-to-east chord between the Havant and Redhill lines south of Guildford. The earthworks remain to this day but I don't know if track was ever laid or even if the bridge over the River Wey was built?

I have a vague feeling of reading (or even hearing from local hearsay) that the track was laid on the curve but never connected up at the Peasmarsh Junction end, or possibly both ends. However, there is an article on the sremg.org.uk site (Special features, Articles from the Railway Magazine) that says it was completed but never used. (But note: the article is by G.A.Sekon.)

 

[Iskra]

On the termini sub-question: Leeds Hunslet Lane opened in July 1840 and closed to passengers in January 1849 (they were using Wellington by this point).

If we're allowed to cheat a bit, Leeds Marsh Lane opened in September 1834 and closed in November 1840 when the line was bought out and all trains diverted. All the stations reopened in 1850; Marsh Lane eventually closed for good in September 1958.

Of course, much more recently Leeds Whitehall lasted 3 years (but was only ever intended to be temporary).

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Manchester (Liverpool Road), the original terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, opened September 1830 and was closed to passengers relatively shortly thereafter, in April 1844, so I make that just thirteen-and-a-half years.

The same applies to Manchester Oldham Road, original terminus of the Manchester & Leeds Railway.
The same 1844 date relates to when the L&M and M&L were linked via the new Manchester Victoria station, leading to the downgrading of the original termini to goods stations.
Oldham Road had a passenger service lifetime of just 5 years.

 

[satisnek]

A substantial timber bridge was built. There's an interesting piece on it in the second section (p147) of the article on the Portsmouth Direct Railway written in 1947 in The Railway Magazine. This is on the Southern Railway E-mail Group’s Internet Site. This states that track was laid over [at least part of] the route, but that the South Eastern Railway declined to operate trains over it. (Others dispute if track was laid.)

I have a six-inch map of the area from 1900 which shows the bridge over the Wey, and the earthworks without track, and the label "(Dismantled)". It shows the symbols for trees along the route, so clearly it was overgrown by then.

I have a vague feeling of reading (or even hearing from local hearsay) that the track was laid on the curve but never connected up at the Peasmarsh Junction end, or possibly both ends. However, there is an article on the sremg.org.uk site (Special features, Articles from the Railway Magazine) that says it was completed but never used. (But note: the article is by G.A.Sekon.)

Thanks for that, I never knew that it dated from the construction of the Portsmouth Direct Line (I should have looked more closely when I had access to the Old-Maps website!). Something at the back of my mind told me that it was constructed during the First World War (I know about the WW2 sidings east of Shalford - that's something completely unrelated).

 

[Rob F]

Did the south to east chord of the junction to Cotgrave colliery ever see a train?

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Did the south to east chord of the junction to Cotgrave colliery ever see a train?

This following website implies that it did:

Cotgrave Viaduct

www.forgottenrelics.co.uk

"Most of the traffic headed west, via Colwick, to the power station at Radcliffe-on-Soar. This prompted closure of the east-facing chord in May 1976, having been last used three years earlier."

 

[deepblueN96]

At times it can take ages from planning to completion of a route or branch off. Are there any cases where a line was planned for a particular flow, was built and before completion the reason for the flow was withdrawn?

Otherwise what was the shortest a line was in use?

James

I think there was a built, but never used link line between the Somerset &Dorset and the GWR near Cole, close to where they crossed

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I think there was a built, but never used link line between the Somerset &Dorset and the GWR near Cole, close to where they crossed

Certainly looks like (from old OS mapping) that some earthworks were once there.

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

maps.nls.uk

 

[WesternBiker]

I think there was a built, but never used link line between the Somerset &Dorset and the GWR near Cole, close to where they crossed

According to David St John Thomas in the West Country Volume of A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: "...for though the earthworks were made the junction was probably not finished, and certainly never used".

This was less to do with flows than the politics around the (broad gauge) Somerset Central Railway when it decided to join up with (standard gauge) Dorset Central, rather than the (broad gauge) Wilts, Somerset & Weymouth. The Bristol & Exeter - which worked the Somerset Central - insisted on the broad gauge being laid as far as Cole and the junction being put in place, despite the fact the aim was clearly to develop coast to coast traffic. Hence the fact it was never used.

 

[Pigeon]

A possible candidate which I'm not entirely sure about is the south to east curve which is the third side of the triangle at Droitwich. The one thing you will easily discover about the construction of the railway through Droitwich is that they discovered some Roman remains while they were at it. It is that south to east curve where the Roman site was found, but it appears that rarely or never - it seems indeterminate which - were any trains found to be using it. It has to be said it's a bit hard to imagine why one would want to. It may have been used to turn something once or twice, possibly; I'm reasonably sure it was at least built all the way and connected at both ends. But the earliest map I've managed to find that shows it shows that it had already been truncated to a siding connected only at the Bromsgrove end, so they obviously didn't take all that long to change their minds about having it. The next-dated map shows a shorter siding, and after that it's just the trackbed.

Would it be fair to say that once a train company got authorisation to build a new line in Victorian times, they were then expected to go ahead and get that line built (or go bust?!)

There were sometimes clauses in the authorising acts which gave people who were put out by it not being built (such as other railways who had altered their own construction proposals in anticipation) the power to "compel" the company to construct it. I'm not entirely clear how this was supposed to be achieved, though. People to follow all the company officers around with whips and make sure they got on with it?

I believe also the acts for some of the early railways contained wording along the lines of "the company shall build..." which were then interpreted to mean they weren't allowed not to, until the government came up with some kind of standard template for railway acts which told you what wordings to use to avoid traps like that.

 

[Pinza-C55]

Clifton Carriage Sidings at York were completely rebuilt in 1982 or 3 complete with brand new sheds , track and control tower and probably only lasted a year before being closed.

There was a double track curve built a short distance south of Temple Hirst station on the ECML in 1877 to connect southbound trains to the Knottingley - Goole line but it seems likely it was never used. It is still clearly visible with the remains of a bridge.

 

[satisnek]

A possible candidate which I'm not entirely sure about is the south to east curve which is the third side of the triangle at Droitwich. The one thing you will easily discover about the construction of the railway through Droitwich is that they discovered some Roman remains while they were at it. It is that south to east curve where the Roman site was found, but it appears that rarely or never - it seems indeterminate which - were any trains found to be using it. It has to be said it's a bit hard to imagine why one would want to. It may have been used to turn something once or twice, possibly; I'm reasonably sure it was at least built all the way and connected at both ends. But the earliest map I've managed to find that shows it shows that it had already been truncated to a siding connected only at the Bromsgrove end, so they obviously didn't take all that long to change their minds about having it. The next-dated map shows a shorter siding, and after that it's just the trackbed.

Wow - I never knew that existed. Every day you know more.

 

[WesternBiker]

A possible candidate which I'm not entirely sure about is the south to east curve which is the third side of the triangle at Droitwich. The one thing you will easily discover about the construction of the railway through Droitwich is that they discovered some Roman remains while they were at it. It is that south to east curve where the Roman site was found, but it appears that rarely or never - it seems indeterminate which - were any trains found to be using it. It has to be said it's a bit hard to imagine why one would want to. It may have been used to turn something once or twice, possibly; I'm reasonably sure it was at least built all the way and connected at both ends. But the earliest map I've managed to find that shows it shows that it had already been truncated to a siding connected only at the Bromsgrove end, so they obviously didn't take all that long to change their minds about having it. The next-dated map shows a shorter siding, and after that it's just the trackbed.

Fascinating. My earliest map similarly shows the line as truncated, as you describe: I imagine it may have been intended to provide access to some of the salt works to the east of Droitwich, from the Stourbridge direction.

 

[M-Train]

Did the South Marston freight terminal near Swindon ever see any traffic?

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[Western Sunset]

Ramsline Halt usually gets an honourable mention in threads like this...

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Ramsline Halt usually gets an honourable mention in threads like this...

Indeed. But the halt was actually used, wasn't it, albeit not that often?!

 

[Pinza-C55]

The Northallerton wartime avoiding line was built in WW2 and connected the Leeds Northern low level line at Romanby level crossing to Castle Hills Junction so that in the event of the main station being hit ECML trains could use the Leeds Northern line. It included a possibly unique retractable bridge on the curve to the Wensleydale branch, but was never used.

Wensleydale Railway Rail Link Photos

 

[Taunton]

I suppose we can include a couple of DLR items.

Most blatant was the initial Canary Wharf station. Between starting to build the initial DLR and its completion the vast Canada Square development was agreed, for which the wayside station was no longer relevant. On opening day it was already half demolished again. Due to a feature of the automatic control system trains still stopped at that position on the viaduct without opening the doors, although the canopies and access steps had been part-removed. Eventually it was completely removed, and the core of the current station built around it.

The initial system also had a triangle junction between its three arms. Public trains never ran between Tower Gateway and Stratford so that side of the triangle was never used apart from ECS workings. Eventually the tracks were removed, although the viaduct structure remains.

For a system which only first opened in 1987, 35 years ago, it's amazing how little of the original station structures on that initial system remain, the vast majority have been rebuilt, often more than once, to be unrecognisable now.

 

[32475]

Not an awful lot to see, but I do vaguely recall once passing by some overgrown "Ouse Valley Railway" embankments / bridge abutments on a linear walk from Balcombe to Haywards Heath well over a decade ago.

Mrs 32475 and I have just had a few days in Sussex which gave us the chance to explore this and I found the abutments you are referring to north of Haywards Heath. The brickwork on both sides is in pretty good condition and the embankments are overgrown but very obvious. It’s just half a mile south of the Ardingly spur and excellent countryside to walk in including the Ouse Valley Viaduct which is nearby. I can’t seem to upload a photo just now but I’ll try again later.

 

[Taunton]

Mrs 32475 and I have just had a few days in Sussex which gave us the chance to explore this and I found the abutments you are referring to north of Haywards Heath. The brickwork on both sides is in pretty good condition and the embankments are overgrown but very obvious. It’s just half a mile south of the Ardingly spur and excellent countryside to walk in including the Ouse Valley Viaduct which is nearby. I can’t seem to upload a photo just now but I’ll try again later.

There's a onetime Railway Magazine (from 1951) full article on the projected Ouse Valley line, which is on line here :

https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/OuseValleyRly.pdf

 

[32475]

There's a onetime Railway Magazine (from 1951) full article on the projected Ouse Valley line, which is on line here :

https://sremg.org.uk/RlyMag/OuseValleyRly.pdf

Many thanks for posting that Taunton

 

[Gloster]

There was also an article in Railway World in the 1970s or 1980s. I think it is in one of the odd copies I have in a crate in the garage. Next time I have time I will see if I can find it. (There is an index to Railway World on steamindex.com .)

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Spotted a book in the National Railway Museum shop in York earlier today, which may be of interest with respect to this particular thread. If you shop around, it should be possible to obtain a copy of same for just under the £20 mark. (RRP is £30).



Pic of "Unfinished Lines - Rediscovering the remains of railways never completed" (2021 book) by Mark Yonge.