Harrogate to Church Fenton Line
| Harrogate–Church Fenton line | |
|---|---|
Prospect Tunnel
|
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Heavy rail |
| Status | Closed from Pannal junction to Church Fenton junction |
| Locale | West Yorkshire |
| Termini |
Harrogate Church Fenton North Junction |
| Stations | 8 |
| Operation | |
| Opened | 10 August 1847 |
| Closed | 6 January 1964 (passengers), 30 November 1966 (goods) |
| Operator(s) |
York and North Midland Railway to 1854 North Eastern Railway 1854–1923 London and North Eastern Railway 1923–1948 British Railways (N.E region) 1948 to closure |
| Depot(s) | Harrogate Low (Brunswick, closed 1862) |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 18.5 miles (29.8 km) |
| Number of tracks | double |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Highest elevation | 393 ft (120 m) |
York • Burton Salmon 
The Harrogate–Church Fenton line was a railway line opened by the York and North Midland Railway between 1847 and 1848 linking Harrogate and Church Fenton.
The Harrogate–Church Fenton line is a former railway line in West Yorkshire, which ran from Harrogate to Church Fenton. It was staked out by York and North Midland Railway in September 1845 and the line opened from Church Fenton to Spofforth on 10 August 1847. The line from Spofforth and Harrogate was opened on 20 July 1848 after the major engineering structures on the line (the 31-arch, 624 yards (571 m) Crimple Viaduct and the 825-yard (754 m) Prospect Tunnel) were completed.
In 1901, a new south-to-west curve was built at Wetherby to enable trains from Harrogate to Wetherby to use the Cross Gates–Wetherby line without reversal. Following this, a new passenger station serving Wetherby was opened on the Cross Gates–Wetherby line and the Wetherby station on the Harrogate–Church Fenton line became goods-only.
In April 1942, the Thorp Arch circular railway was opened to serve Thorp Arch Royal Ordnance Factory, which produced munitions. Trains accessed this single-track railway from the Harrogate–Church Fenton line near Thorp Arch station. The ROF at Thorp Arch closed in 1958 and the circular railway was closed and lifted in the same year.
Stutton station closed to passengers on 1 July 1905 but remained open for goods until the end of July 1964.
The whole of the line was closed to passengers in January 1964 (one of the first of Dr Beeching's casualties) and closed entirely in 1966.
The original terminus of the line was at Harrogate Brunswick. This left the present line just north of Hornbeam Park railway station and headed westwards through a 400-yard (370 m) tunnel (known as Brunswick Tunnel) and exited at the site of the Leeds Road and Park Drive Roundabout. It then went through a cutting before terminating at Brunswick Station.
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Wikipedia