The story
Founded by Gerard Smith in 1880.1
Background
By the 19th century the coalfields of southern Yorkshire were producing large amounts of coal, the industrialised midland region was making manufactured goods, and the new industrial towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire and of Lancashire were producing cloth and other goods. Thus opportunities for trade, export and profit existed along the east coast of England as well as along the Humber and the tributary rivers feeding it.
Goole had risen from nothing as a port on the Ouse with the creation of the Knottingley to Goole Canal in 1826 by the Aire and Calder Canal Company; the port, built to generous specifications rapidly gained inward and outward trade – much to the chagrin of Hull, and spurred the development of the extension of the Leeds and Selby Railway to Hull which opened in 1840. Additionally the North Eastern Railway – which had a monopoly on rail transport to Hull – prevented other rail companies investing there, and so Goole gained its own railway by the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway (later part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) in 1848. A custom-built railway dock and the use of specialised coal barges and unloading facilities, as well as the backing of the Aire and Calder Canal company, made it a very viable competitor to Hull for trade.
Additionally, as a competitor to the port of Hull (and equally well placed for European trade), Grimsby began to grow after the 1840s when the Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway Company built a rail connection, and the Royal Dock was completed in 1852.
Hull had expanded rapidly during the 18th century with shipping tonnages increasing over ten times in that period, and numerous docks supplementing and connecting Old Dock (Queen's Dock) being built by the Dock company in the 19th: Humber Dock 1809, Junction Dock (Prince's Dock) 1829, by 1846 Railway Dock connected to the Hull and Selby Railway (later part of the NER), as well as Victoria Dock (1850), Albert Dock (1869) and St Andrews Dock (1883). Despite all this activity, the Dock company was criticised for lack of action – specifically with regard to construction of facilities that would make Hull a foremost coal-exporting port. Additionally, the NER – whose interests in the north-east of England were in competition with Hull, and which held a monopoly on rail transport to Hull – was viewed with mistrust, suspicion, dissatisfaction and even hate, so much that schemes for independent railways or a company other than the NER were proposed that would build a line to Hull, including a bridge over, and tunnels under, the Humber were being actively promoted by Hull merchants.
The situation became untenable when, in 1872, with the NER refusing or unable to transport shipments from the port, deliveries of fish were delayed, and there was a general traffic jam on the rails:
"..the traffic overwhelmed the powers of the Railway Company; orders for supplies of goods could not be executed, vessels could not receive or discharge cargoes, and the general trade of the port was almost paralysed."
The plans finally found fruition in 1880 in the charge of Col. Gerald Smith (a Hull banker) and through the cooperation of the Hull Corporation (including the sale of land to the railway, and an investment of £100,000). As part of the Hull Corporation's involvement with the scheme came the power to veto any joint workings with other railway companies or selling or leasing of land, and despite the opposition of the NER (which had been instrumental in blocking previous plans), the parliamentary bill was passed with minor alterations as the Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Act 1880 (43 & 44 Vict. c. cxcix) on 26 August 1880. The Hull, Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company (formed 1879) began work on the new line and associated deep-water dock which was completed by 1885.
Construction (1880–1885)
For construction of the line Parliament authorised a share issue of £3,000,0000 and loans of £1,000,000. The engineer for the main line was William Shelford, whilst Stephen Best was responsible for the Hull section, and Benjamin Baker designed the Alexandra Dock. The contractors were Messrs. Lucas and Aird.
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The line was one of the earlier built with the aid of steam navvies. The spoil excavated by men and machines from tunnels and cuttings was used to build embankments elsewhere Around 8,000 navvies, including both Scots and Irish as well as English, were employed in the constructions, the largest concentration of which was to be found at Riplingham (near to the Drewton tunnel). The average wage was 15 shillings for a 58-hour week.
The Weedley Tunnel was not originally planned; the track was to skirt the hill to the south. However unstable ground meant that the line tunnelled through the hill instead. The South Kirkby tunnel passed through Magnesian Limestone to reach the lower beds of sandstone, and clay. Excavation of tunnels and cuttings included the practice of tunnelling into the rock, placing charges, then moving up the contractors wagons and detonating the charges so that the blasted rock would fall into the wagons.
One of the notable features of the line was the number of bridges it required, a result of the elevated nature of the Hull section where it crossed roads, waterways, and the line of the NER. Additionally, being built after the Railway Mania of the 1840s it had to cross numerous already existent lines in southern Yorkshire. Over one hundred bridges were required, with over 20 within the urban area of Hull alone.
The majority (eighty eight) of the bridges were of plate girder construction with usually three plate sides (one central) supporting cross-beams on which the track was supported. For longer spans a girder "N" truss design was used These larger bridges incorporate rollers on one end to allow for the thermal expansion of the bridge. For other long spans, and for the two swing bridges on the line (Ouse and Hull bridges), open girder truss of approximately parabolic shape (open truss bowstring) were used. Both swing bridges were manufactured by Messrs. Handyside of Derby.
In addition to wrought iron bridges, brick arches were also used, both for crossing small dykes and country lanes, as well as the abutments to bridges and in place of embankments on short sections between bridges.
At Beverley Road, Willerby & Kirk Ella, North Cave and Wallingfen were two-storey buildings with the upper storey accessing the embanked track. Stations were built in the English Queen Anne revival style – with decorative external brick courses between floors and brick lintels; minor embellishments on other brick structures such as bridge buttresses roughly echoed the same style.
In July 1884 work stopped for five months, through a failure to raise funds through a share issue to pay the workers. Parliament allowed the additional debts to be taken for the work to continue, by completion the total share issue was £6,000,000 and the loans £3,500,000. At this point the line was almost complete but the subsequent cost cutting meant that the planned grand terminus close to the centre of Hull was never built.
Operation and events (1885–1922)
The HB&WRJR&DCo. began business with large amounts of debt, and within a year of its opening a price war had begun between the Hull Dock Company and the Hull and Barnsley on dock charges, and between the Hull and Barnsley and the NER on transit charges. Neither of the two Hull-based companies could expect to win against the much larger North Eastern Railway. By 1887 the HB&WRJR&DCo. was seeking a way out of debt and approached the Midland Railway for a possible merger. Reasonable terms were made, but the proposal was rejected by the shareholders of the Hull company. An amalgamation by the NER itself was then proposed, which would have included the NER paying off the HB&WRJR&DCo.'s debts; this scheme too was rejected.
The Hull and Barnsley, unable to pay its debts, went into receivership for two years until 1889. The Hull Dock Company amalgamated with the NER in the early 1893 – requiring another act of Parliament, the North Eastern Railway (Hull Docks) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict. c. cxcviii) – one condition of which was that in the event of the NER building another dock in Hull (which had already been planned in 1891 as part of an unsuccessful merger attempt between the HB&WRJ and the NER) the Hull and Barnsley should give its consent, and be able to make the new dock a joint operation between the two railway companies. Additionally an agreement was reached that there would be no reduction in dock duties without prior agreement or discussion.
In 1894 the South Yorkshire Junction Railway opened. Though independent, it was worked by Hull and Barnsley engines, and connected the company to more collieries.
In the following years of the 1890s various proposals, including another to merge the NER and HB&WRJR&DCo., and others for expansion of the Hull docks came, but were blocked by one party's interests or another's. Finally in 1899 both railway companies had agreed to the construction of a new dock, to the east of Alexandra Dock, access to which was from the HB&WRJ's elevated line via an extension from Alexandra Dock, and from a joint line branching off the H&BR at Bridges Junction.
In 1902 an extension from Wrangbrook junction opened, connecting to Wath and further collieries. From 1905 cooperation with the Midland allowed trains to run all the way to Sheffield via Cudworth; the same year Edward Watkin, nephew of Sir Edward Watkin, became general manager of the company. For these express trains bogie coaches were purchased and M. Stirling's 4-4-0 tender locomotives used. From 1907 at Sandholme there were marshalling yards and a turntable, enabling freight trains to be split in two for the steep section towards Hull into the Wolds hills.
After exiting receivership, the fortunes of the Hull and Barnsley recovered and it began to pay reasonable dividends on ordinary stock. In 1905 the Hull Barnsley and West Riding Junction Railway and Dock Company officially changed its name by the Hull and Barnsley Railway Act 1905 (5 Edw. 7. c. xli) to the shorter Hull and Barnsley Railway. The same year running powers were obtained and a junction made with the Dearne Valley Railway. Also in that year the National Radiator Company opened in Hull. The site was served by a siding from Ella Street on the H&BR line, as well as being accessed by a siding from the NER on the Hull to Bridlington line, forming a non-official line link between the networks of H&BR and NER.
Construction of the new dock – "King George V Dock" – was completed by 1914.
In 1916 the Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway opened, adding to the number of collieries from which the company could transport coal.
Engine sheds
The following engine sheds were operated by the H&BR:
Cudworth
Hensall
Springhead engine shed, Hull
Alexandra Dock engine shed (Hull)
Bullcroft
Denaby
Millhouses
Doncaster York Road
Wrangbrook
History 1922–present
As part of the NER (1922–1923)
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. Due to duplication a number of stations were renamed.
Incorporation into the NER was just part of a larger scale of consolidation throughout the British railway system, and on 1 January 1923 the NER along with the Hull and Barnsley Line became part of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).
As part of the LNER (1923–1948)
Cannon Street station in Hull ceased to be used a passenger station in 1924, 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). The NER Class P1 0-6-0, NER Class Y 4-6-2T, NER Class T and NER Class T2 0-8-0 locomotives inherited from the NER also replaced Hull and Barnsley types on other freight work.
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. Many similar basic stations were built on the early railways for the convenience of staff and passengers. On the Stainland Line from Halifax a small halt was made at the north end of West Vale viaduct to save passengers from having to walk about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from the station at West Vale high on the hill above the viaduct.
Passenger services between South Howden and Cudworth ceased in 1932.
As part of British Railways (1948–1994)
Mainline freight continued to be worked by 2-8-0 locomotives, with WD Austerity 2-8-0 being ubiquitous. 8F type 2-8-0 locomotives also became common on the southern sections of the line, after through working ended (1958). (A large number of the class were purchased by the LNER from the war department after the Second World War, and in 1948 by the British Transport Commission.)
In 1951 a single sided station halt (Boothferry Park Halt railway station) was built on the branch in Hull between Springhead south junction and Neptune Street to serve the Hull City Football club (directly situated next to the line), the service ended in 1986.
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.
In Hull the bridge over the NER main line at Hessle Road was removed in 1962 and the elevated H&BR dock branch section became connected to the Hull to Selby Line at Hessle Road junction as part of a scheme to reduce the number of level crossings in Hull by routing all rail traffic to east Hull via the elevated Hull and Barnsley Line.
All traffic from Cudworth to Wrangbrook junction ended in 1967. The branch to Cannon Street closed completely in 1968. By 1970 the only parts of the line still with traffic were the Hull elevated section, and a few short sections with industrial uses. Alexandra Dock closed in the 1980s and the rail connection was removed, subsequently the dock re-opened but without a rail connection.
Part of the elevated line to King George Dock was converted to a single line in 1988 and one train working introduced, four years later increased amounts of imports; specifically coal; meant that staffed (tokenised) working was reintroduced in 1992.
Part of the path of the line between Hensall and Drax was opened for Merry Go Round trains to Drax Power Station in 1972, the Long Drax swing bridge on the Ouse to the north-east offered a link for future developments and was maintained until 1968, but was dismantled in 1976.
Hull Docks Branch
In 2007 over £10 million was allocated to a project to increase capacity on the former Hull and Barnsley Railway branch to the Hull docks. Network Rail, Associated British Ports, Yorkshire Forward, Hull City Council and The Northern Way were involved in funding or supporting the scheme. 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 30 mph (48 km/h) 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 2013 two bridges were replaced on the docks branch: a minor bridge, over James Reckitt Avenue, replaced at a cost of about £1 million, and a major bridge replacement, over Spring Bank West, costing £3.2 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".
Historical
"Images Of The Hull & Barnsley Railway". www.leytransport.i12.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2007.
"Track map of the Hull and Barnsley Railway". d240vprofozpi.cloudfront.net (source unknown). Retrieved 3 March 2013.
Buckingham, Phillip. "The Hull & Barnsley Railway". www.jekyll.info. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
From Wikipedia’s article on Hull and Barnsley Railway, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4