| Gascoigne Wood Junction | |
| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 53.779°N -1.215°W |
| Grid Name: | Grid reference |
| Line: | Selby Line |
| Platforms: | 2 (1839–1901) 1 (1902–1959) |
| Status: | Closed |
| Original: | York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) |
| Pregroup: | North Eastern Railway (NER) |
| Postgroup: | London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) |
| Years: | 1839–1959 |
| Events: | See chronology |
| Mapframe: | yes |
Gascoigne Wood Junction railway station was a railway station near Sherburn-in-Elmet in North Yorkshire, England. It was originally opened as a junction station, enabling transfers for passengers between trains. It was later a private halt station for the staff who worked at the Gascoigne Wood marshalling yard. It opened in 1839, and was closed, renamed and re-opened several times before closing completely in 1959. The station was from Leeds New Station, and from .
The station, called York Junction, was originally opened in 1839 at a point near to where the Leeds and Selby Railway (L&S) crossed over the York & North Midland Railway (Y&NMR).[1] [2] A north to east curve was built linking the two railways with a station at the east end of the junction. This was closed in 1840 when the L&S became part of the Y&NMR, and traffic for Leeds was diverted to run via and Methley into Leeds Hunslet Lane. Whilst Hunslet Lane was nearer to the centre of Leeds than the Marsh Lane terminus of the L&S, the route to Hunslet Lane from Gascoigne Wood Junction was longer. In December 1850, the station was re-opened as Old Milford Junction (or Old Junction), to allow services to work from the station to Leeds, which was three times per day. The locomotive had no access to a turntable, and rather than turn it on the triangle, it simply worked tender backwards towards Leeds.[3] Until the line between and opened in 1869, services between York and Leeds that were not going through Burton Salmon, were required to reverse at Old Junction. As the line westwards towards Micklefield from Old Junction was on an uphill gradient of 1-in-130, often trains would be split, then reformed between Micklefield and stations (which was on a level section).[4] [5] [6]
In April 1867, it was renamed from Old Junction to Milford Old Junction, and on 1 November 1879, the station was renamed again, this time to Gascoigne Wood Junction. Gascoigne Wood was 14chain5chain east of Leeds New Station, 6miles west of and to Milford Junction to the south, and the same distance to Sherburn-in-Elmet in the North.[7] [8] The station was located at the western end of the marshalling yard built at Gascoigne Wood for the transfer of coal trains. Land had been bought up surrounding the station, and the yard was built around 1907,[9] when the station was re-opened as a private staff halt, though permission was granted for the families of railway persons working at Gascoigne Wood to use the station.[10] A map from the 1890s shows the station having two platforms with access to all three lines west, south and north, however, the map of 1950 shows a single platform accessible only from the Leeds line.[11] [12]
The yard at Gascoigne Wood was the largest on the NER when it opened, with over of sidings.[13] One signal box was adjacent to the west end of the station, whilst at the eastern end, another signal box was located at Hagg Lane crossing. Combined, along with relief signaller for, the signallers in the two boxes numbered six.[14] In 1897, the NER determined that the station goods yard and the mineral yard (a term for the marshalling yard), each needed a shunter driver.[15] Trip workings of coal from collieries local to the yard were worked from Gascoigne Wood, with engines sourced from Selby.
Whilst the Gascoigne Wood yard was closed in 1959 at the same time as the staff halt station, it was later used to build the pit head for the Selby Coalfield on the site of the former coal sidings.[16]
| 1839 | Opened as York Junction | [17] | |
| 1840 | Closed | ||
| 1850 | Re-opened as Old Junction | ||
| 1867 | Renamed to Milford Old Junction | ||
| 1879 | Renamed to Gascoigne Wood Junction | [18] | |
| 1902 | Closed for passengers | ||
| 1907 | Re-opened as a private staff halt with one platform | ||
| 1959 | Closed permanently |
The principal reason behind the station was to enable passengers to transfer between trains on the different lines. Apart from the goods yard, no freight was handled at the station, being listed in the Clearing House Handbook for 1894 as having no freight facilities.[19] In 1862, two Hull to York services worked to Old Junction and then proceeded north, whilst most trains from Hull to Leeds did not stop at Old Junction, going south to and proceeding to Leeds via Methley. Also at this time, the local services on the line from Leeds Marsh Lane terminus arrived at Old Junction and then worked to Milford Junction to terminate.[20] In June 1877, services amounted to six through workings per day between Hull and Leeds. At this point, in the Bradshaw's Timetable, the station is referred to as Old Junction, with Milford Junction being on the old Y&NMR line which ran on a north–south axis. In the 1880s, a connecting service between Old Junction/Gascoigne Wood Junction and Milford Junction (to the south), operated to allow the transfer of passengers between trains.[21]
In 1885, services were listed as being six through the week, and two services on a Sunday, all running between Leeds and Hull.[22]