Dunford Bridge railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dunford Bridge station was a railway station on the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway situated immediately east of the Woodhead Tunnel, five miles west of Penistone, within the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

When the line over Woodhead was opened in 1845 the tunnels were incomplete and a stagecoach service operated from here over the hills to the station at Woodhead. Because the turning space at Hazelhead was inadequate services the stagecoach links in the Huddersfield direction via Holmfirth were also operated from here.

The station consisted of two flanking platforms, the main, stone built structure, with booking office and staff accommodation was on the Manchester-bound (Down) platform, whilst the Sheffield-bound platform (Up) had a large water tower alongside a stone built waiting shelter. Immediately east of the station was access to sidings which served stone quarries.

The area was controlled from a signal box positioned near the road bridge at the west end of the station but this was replaced by a larger cabin, of the late M.S.& L.R. design, immediately east of the station buildings, on the up platform.

This station was replaced by a modern structure with the electrification of the line in the early 1950s. Still with flanking platforms but now realigned with the line through the "new" Woodhead Tunnel the main building was still on the down platform with a simple waiting shelter on the up.

The station was closed with the passenger services on the line on 5 January 1970.