Queensbury lines

West of Bradford, the Pennine terrain rises steeply to a plateau around 1,000 feet (300 m) above sea level, with numerous steep-sided valleys: an area of exceptional difficulty for railways.[4][5][2][3][6] Construction of the line was much delayed; there was an Act of 12 August 1867, permitting a doubling of the authorised capital, some deviations of the route, and an extension of time.Nevertheless, the depressed state of the money market meant that the scheme lay dormant until a further Act was obtained on 1 August 1870, sanctioning a second extension of time, and vesting the undertaking jointly in the GNR and L&YR.Soon afterwards, construction began from a junction with the L&YR at the north end of Halifax station, for 2 miles 48 chains (4.18 km) to Holmfield.In addition there was to be a short branch to Brick Lane, on the west side of Bradford, where a goods station was to be established, named City Road.The weaving industry had flourished in this inhospitable location because of coal supplies in the immediate area; these were originally plentiful but there were now fears that the deposits were nearing the end of their life.The initial passenger service was five trains each weekday from Bradford Exchange to Thornton and two from Laisterdyke, giving Leeds connections (and avoiding the use of the L&YR station).The opening of St Dunstan's station in January 1879 meant that Leeds connections were available there, and the Laisterdyke trains were soon taken off, while the Bradford service was increased.[18] In 1864 and again in 1867 moves were made independently (seeking Midland Railway support) for a rail link between Huddersfield, Halifax and Keighley, but these were unsuccessful.[12][20] The route was to start from the almost-completed Halifax and Ovenden line at Holmfield, and join the Bradford and Thornton Railway at Queensbury, making a triangular junction there.[21][22] Between Queensbury and Holmfield the 1,033-yard-long (945 m) and 59-foot-deep (18 m) Strines cutting caused even greater difficulties with water-bearing strata than had the tunnel, and held up opening of this section to passengers until 1 December 1879.[21] Queensbury was not reached from Ovenden until late 1879, the line opening for goods traffic on 1 December and to passenger services two weeks later when temporary platforms at Holmfield were brought into use.Two temporary platforms at Queensbury had been in use for several months for Bradford-Thornton trains and completion of the long-awaited Halifax route gave the station a great deal of importance on account of its junction status.The intention had been for the line to pass through a series of cuttings, but the persistence of these earth slips forced the GNR to substitute two short tunnels.[24][21][25][22] In 1880, the GNR applied for Parliamentary sanction to reduce its financial liability for the Thornton to Keighley line on which work was about to begin.The northernmost part of the Worth Valley branch was relaid and doubled; the agreement marked the start of a more amicable relationship between the GNR and the Midland.Remarkably a railway connection to the town was considered: either a rope-worked incline at a gradient of 1 in 6, or a slightly more conventional locomotive-worked line, following a roundabout route.The Bradford trams began to eat into the traffic at stations as far as Thornton, whilst Ovenden, Holmfield and Queensbury became prey to the Halifax tramways.This saved the cost of maintaining Queensbury and Lees Moor Tunnels and divided the route into three separate branch lines which were then operated with reduced signalling.Advantages of the Bradford–Halifax section were to a considerable extent nullified by the 1882 GNR–L&YR agreement, while the Bradford–Keighley route was too steeply graded to compete with the Midland's low-lying line along the Aire Valley.At first the GNR provided the fastest service from Keighley to London in 4 hours 55 minutes by a Keighley–Bradford train, stopping only at St Dunstan's to connect with a King's Cross express.After a brief heyday the routes settled down to concentrate on purely local traffic, and even this diminished when trams started running from both Bradford and Halifax to Queensbury in 1901.Buses caused a further reduction in traffic in the late 1920s and Sunday trains were withdrawn in December 1938, but by 1946 the service was still surprisingly lavish with one through coach working to King's Cross, running from Halifax to Bradford in 22 minutes.[19][32] The line was cut back to Thornton on 11 November 1963 and the entire section west of Horton Junction closed from 28 June 1965.[32] The short section between Halifax and North Bridge closed on 1 April 1974 and the long viaduct linking the two was controversially demolished in 1980.The viaducts at Thornton and Hewenden are now listed structures and sections of the Queensbury to Keighley line are already back in use for walking and cycling.A development blocking the High Level route between Holmfield and Wheatley tunnel would seem to have ended any prospect of using that former railway at the present time.