The Keighley-Halifax and Bradford line closes after years of declining passenger numbers. Final train ran May 23, 1955.
Many train fans filled the coaches, some even had to stand in the corridors. Daily use had declined and only a few trains ran each day, carrying very few passengers.
Albert Surman, age 61, drove the train, pulled by Engine No. 69487, a Class N 1.0-6-2. Doncaster built the engine in 1912 for the Great Northern Railway Company.
The service’s end closed eight stations: Ingrow East, Cullingworth, Wilsden, Denholme, and Thornton. Lastly, Queensbury, Holmfield, and Ovenden ceased operation.
The GNR built this line, one of the priciest per mile in the country, straining the company’s finances a lot. Planners created ideas in the 1860s while work began in 1872 and Keighley traffic started by 1884.
Rail staff soon called it the “Alpine Route” because of steep slopes and many tunnels. The route from Keighley to Halifax was under 16 miles, yet it featured eight tunnels and four viaducts.
Lees Moor Tunnel connected Keighley and Cullingworth, its builders spending six years on it boring it through solid rock. Almost a mile long, it lacked ventilation, making smoke a danger where crews lay down for better air.
Well Heads Tunnel near Denholme was short, measuring about a third of a mile. This tunnel cut through shale, which broke apart easily, so brick lining reinforced the entire tunnel’s length, keeping debris from falling onto the track.
Queensbury Tunnel was the route’s longest, nearly one and a half miles in length, also going through solid rock. Air shafts helped give fresh air inside and this tunnel took four years to build while ten men died in its construction.
Cullingworth Viaduct was the shortest, its nine arches were each 45 feet wide. Most arches curved 18 feet, but one arch, over Manywells Road, curved only four feet, making it one of the flattest railway arches.
Hewenden Viaduct was the tallest, with 17 arches, each spanning 50 feet. The tallest rose 120 feet high and deep glacial sands needed support. Foundations reached 62 feet deep, supporting the central arches, and workers finished it in 1884.
Thornton had the longest viaduct of all, featuring 20 arches. The viaduct sloped slowly into Thornton Station.
The fourth viaduct stood at Dean Clough in Halifax, but they later tore it down to widen the road.