Deltics

The Harrogate Sunday Pullman passes Water Haigh colliery. The signals protected the junction of the branch from the pit onto the main line. The bridge in the middle distance was constructed in 1909 just before the pit opened in 1910. The contractors were John Butler and Company of the Stanningley Iron Works in Leeds. They charged the Midland Railway £270 and 1 shilling. The line which runs under it connected Armitage’s quarry and brickworks to the railway and the Aire and Calder Navigation canal.

A “Deltic” was a rare sight running through Woodlesford. The powerful diesel locomotives were introduced in the early 1960s to be the workhorses of the East Coast Main Line passenger service. During the working week they normally hauled trains between Leeds Central and London Kings Cross on the Great Northern route via Wakefield Westgate. However on Sundays, if there was engineering work on that line, they were diverted to the Midland Main Line and could reach Doncaster, either via Knottingley and Askern, or be routed back onto the Great Northern at Hare Park Junction just south of Wakefield.

The photographs on this page were taken Derek Rayner during the winter of 1962 when there were timetabled diversions for Kings Cross trains taking them through the Woodlesford area. The photos, taken on different Sundays, show the Harrogate Sunday Pullman. With train reporting number or headcode  1N07, the northbound train departed Kings Cross at 0945 and was routed to run via Hare Park Junction and Turner’s Lane Junction near Wakefield Kirkgate. It then passed through Normanton, Methley and Woodlesford about 1325 before arriving at at Leeds City station at 1334. There it was divided with one portion running to Bradford Forster Square and the other to Harrogate.

After combining the portions from Bradford and Harrogate the southbound train, 1E14,  departed from Leeds at 1603 and passed through Woodlesford at about ten past four.

The unnamed D9019 with Bentley’s brewery tower in the background.
D9012 Crepello passes Woodlesford station.
When Deltics passed by the distinctive throaty roar of their Napier diesel engines would often disturb services at Woodlesford All Saints church. This is D9020 Nimbus.
A southbound Harrogate Sunday Pullman approaches Waterloo sidings.
This image of the southbound Harrogate Sunday Pullman passing Waterloo sidings was captured by Derek Rayner from the top of a signal post.