Misplaced Pages

Rishworth branch
Overview
Status	Disused
Owner	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Locale	West Yorkshire, England
Termini	Sowerby Bridge Rishworth
History
Opened	1 July 1878 (goods)
Closed	8 July 1929 (passenger) 1 September 1958 (goods)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e Rishworth branch
Legend
Calder Valley line Sowerby Bridge Scar Head tunnel Watson's Crossing Halt Triangle Ripponden and Barkisland Rishworth

The Rishworth branch was built in the Ryburn valley by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and linked Sowerby Bridge with Rishworth and served the villages of Triangle, Ripponden, Barkisland and Rishworth.

History

A branch from Sowerby Bridge to Ripponden was authorised in 1865, with an extension to Rishworth authorised in 1871. The line opened as far as Ripponden in 1878 and to Rishworth in 1881. It was intended to extend the line to Littleborough to shorten the Calder Valley main line by 5 miles (8 km), but this never took place. The branch line was closed to passengers on 8 July 1929. The section between Rishworth and Ripponden closed for freight in 1953 and Ripponden to Sowerby Bridge closed completely on 1 September 1958.

Route

The line left Sowerby Bridge a little to the east of the station, diverging south. It passed through the 593 yd (542 m) Scar Head tunnel, rising on a 1 in 107 gradient to Triangle. From Triangle to Rishworth the gradient increased to 1 in 60.

Present day

A section of the line south west from Ripponden village is a permissive footpath.

References

1. Joy, David (1984). A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain Volume VIII South and West Yorkshire. David St John Thomas. ISBN 0-946537-11-9.
2. "Railway Ramblers Calderdale - L&YR SOWERBY BRIDGE - RISHWORTH (3½ miles)". Retrieved 15 May 2009.

Further reading

• Fisher, Jeffrey N. (1990). The Rishworth Branch. Headington: The Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-391-6. LP 174.

v t e Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
Primary	To London East Coast Main Line Midland Main Line To Exeter Cross Country Route
Others	Inter-regional Hallam Line Hope Valley line Leeds–Morecambe line Doncaster–Lincoln line Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line Sheffield–Lincoln line Settle–Carlisle line Intra-regional Airedale line Askern branch line Barton line Calder Valley line Dearne Valley line Esk Valley line Harrogate line Huddersfield line Hull–Scarborough Leeds–Bradford lines Leeds–Northallerton railway Penistone Line Pontefract line Selby Diversion Selby Line South Humberside Main Line Stocksbridge Railway Swinton–Doncaster Wakefield line Wharfedale line York–Scarborough
Defunct	Barnsley–Doncaster Beeston Junction–Hunslet Goods railway Bradford–Leeds & Wakefield Brockholes–Holmfirth Clayton West branch Dearne Valley Railway Gilling and Pickering Harrogate–Church Fenton Harrogate Gasworks Railway Huddersfield–Kirkburton Hull–Barnsley (Cudworth) Hull and Holderness Hull and Hornsea Knaresborough–York Leeds–Harrogate Low Moor–Mirfield Malton–Driffield Middlesbrough–Guisborough Middlesbrough–Guisborough–Normanby Huddersfield–Bradford Lockwood–Meltham Nunthorpe–Battersby Otley–Ilkley Pilmoor–Knaresborough Queensbury lines Rosedale Railway Royston to Thornhill Scarborough–Whitby Seamer–Pickering Selby–Driffield Selby–Goole Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line Sowerby Bridge–Rishworth Skipton–Grassington Skipton–Ilkley Spurn railway Thirsk and Malton line Wetherby–Cross Gates (Leeds) Whitby–Loftus Woodhead line York–Market Weighton–Beverley York–York (Foss Island)
Heritage	Derwent Valley Light Railway Elsecar Heritage Railway Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Middleton Railway North Bay Railway North Yorkshire Moors Railway Wensleydale Railway
Light railways	Colsterdale Light Railway Nidd Valley Light Railway North Holderness Light Railway Sand Hutton Light Railway Whistlestop Valley

• Railway lines opened in 1881
• Closed railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
• 1881 establishments in England
• Transport in Calderdale