Trivia - UK constituency with no railway

[unlevel42]

Sheffield Heeley does not have a railway through it now.
Part of the boundary is a railway and a tiny bit of railway under it.

Considering the mile of railway in Sheffield Hallam a bit along the boundary, Sheffield really does not have much railway

 

[Carlisle]

I think I have found the answer, but as I cheated by using the internet and reference books I won’t reveal. I will say that it is a little bit surprising, although not very surprising if you think laterally (and that isn’t a subtle clue).

Are you implying it’s any constituency that only has railways terminating rather than passing right through?

 

[Gloster]

No. I was taking it that as the line to the colliery was only an industrial line it did not count for the purposes of the question. By a little bit surprising I meant that at first thought the rural constituencies in Scotland and Wales might seem the obvious possibilities, but some of these cover an enormous area. An urban constituency can be much smaller, but could easily squeeze in between the lines.

 

[norbitonflyer]

I must admit I had Coventry North West, presuming that the line to the old Keresley Colliery didn’t count as a railway for the purposes of the question. I reckoned that the old Wetherby line just clipped Leeds North East.

This map shows constituencies overlain on modern maps. the nearest the Wetherby line came to the present Leeds NE constituency was near Scholes station, about a mile from the closest point of the constituency at Roundhay.

Where was the Low Moor Colliery Railway? The only one I can find of that name is near Bradford

 

[thenorthern]

Orkney and Shetland as well as Na h-Eileanan an Iar don't have any open stations and never have done

One problem is do you do it by since the constituency was created or do you also include previous constituencies covering the area.

West Tyrone, Upper Bann and Strangford in Northern Ireland don't have an open station and haven't since they were created.

Before the Reform Act there were many Rotten Borough constituencies such as Old Sarum which have never had a station before or since.

 

[waverley47]

Where was the Low Moor Colliery Railway? The only one I can find of that name is near Bradford

National Library of Scotland on the 12 inch maps has a coillery railway about 100m from the junction of Harehills rd and what is now the A58.

Would be interesting to see if North East Leeds, being an older constituency (1918) has ever had a railway in the boundaries. I would guess so, but happy to be corrected.

 

[paul1609]

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) hasn't ever had a railway, has it?

OP specified mainland but there was a construction railway with a steam loco built from Stornoway to Branahuie on Lewis so I suppose it depends on your definition of Railway.

 

[YorksLad12]

I'm fairly sure it's Leeds NE. It doesn't reach as far souith as L:eeds city centre, the line to Harrogate is further west and the former line from Cross Gates to Wetherby further east. My 1923 rail atlas shows no other lines running north of Leeds between those two.

Leeds North East gets my vote. All of the lines and former lines seem to be east and north of it.

 

[Carlisle]

No. I was taking it that as the line to the colliery was only an industrial line it did not count for the purposes of the question.

Ok, thanks very much, I’ll bin my eggheads application form

 

[backontrack]

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) hasn't ever had a railway, has it?

There were proposals (Stornoway-Breasclete-Carloway and Stornoway-Tarbert) but they never came to fruition.

Skye has also had railway proposals in the past.

 

[Sheridan]

Orkney and Shetland as well as Na h-Eileanan an Iar don't have any open stations and never have done

We’ve established the OP is referring to mainland Britain but I do know of at least one quarry railway in Shetland, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there have been others.

 

[ASharpe]

I wonder if the dismantled miniature railway at Golden Acre Park made it into Leeds North East at any point. Gets my vote though.

 

[hst43102]

I wonder if the dismantled miniature railway at Golden Acre Park made it into Leeds North East at any point. Gets my vote though.

If miniature railways count, surely model railways must also count?

 

[norbitonflyer]

National Library of Scotland on the 12 inch maps has a coillery railway about 100m from the junction of Harehills rd and what is now the A58.

Would be interesting to see if North East Leeds, being an older constituency (1918) has ever had a railway in the boundaries. I would guess so, but happy to be corrected.

The colliery line appears on the 1909 6 inch map, and traces of it on the 1933 edition, where the then-new A58 (which is the modern constituency boundary) appears to have obliterated part of it, but I don't think it crossed the boundary line.

The Leeds tram network ran to Roundhay Park, which is definitely in the Leeds NE constituency, but doesn't really count as "main line"

A constituency with the name Leeds North East has existed since 1918, but its boundaries have shifted considerably over time, particularly in 1955 when the number of constituencies in Leeds was reduced from seven to six. The 1918 constituency included the ward of Cross Gates, which of course had (and still has) a railway station. That ward, along with Seacroft, through which the Wetherby line passed, went to Leeds East in 1950 so that is probably the last time the constituency had a British Railways line within its borders. (the Wetherby route closed in 1964)

 

[quantinghome]

Leeds North East was the one I'd thought of. It's odd for a built up area with a lot of pre-car era housing.

 

[D841 Roebuck]

For past constituencies, as well as Rotten Boroughs like Old Sarum (which were abolished just as railways were starting to be built in quantity), how about the University seats for Oxford, Cambridge and (I think) London universities, which lasted well into the 20th century?

 

[etr221]

My interpretation of the original question was that current constituencies (and current boundaries) were what were relevant. I suspect determining a full set of historic boundaries would be exceedingly different. (As an aside, a parliamentary, but not railway, trivia question: which town returned members to the English parliament in Westminster, but has never done so to the British (or UK) Parliament.)

Looking at the OS Election map, and the old maps on the NLS site, the Low Moor Colliery Railway (ran SE322356 to 331355), is all in Leeds East.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

My interpretation of the original question was that current constituencies (and current boundaries) were what were relevant. I suspect determining a full set of historic boundaries would be exceedingly different.

Agreed, the original question is clearly about which CURRENT constituencies cover geographical areas that have NEVER had railways in them.

If you interpret the question as referring to historical constituencies that happened at some time during their existence not to have a railway in them, then - well, almost any constituency that existed prior to about 1840 would have been a valid answer! So that wouldn't have been a very interesting question