Milford Sidings Explained

Milford Sidings
Image Alt:A diesel locomotive hauling empty coal wagons on a four-track railway with sidings in the distance
Location:South Milford, North Yorkshire, England
Grid Ref Uk:SE504308
Owner:Network Rail
Type:Wagon storage sidings
Roads:11 dead end sidings, 9 through sidings
Opened:1983
Br Region:Eastern

Milford Sidings are a set of railway sidings in South Milford, North Yorkshire, England. The railways through the site were initially opened in 1834 and 1840, when transfer and marshalling yards opened too, which handled mostly coal. However, the current sidings were developed in the 1980s to function as layover (staging in railway parlance)[1] sidings for coal trains to and from the Aire Valley power stations. The sidings have access to several railway lines radiating in almost all directions.

With the drawdown of coal-fired power stations in line with UK government directives, the sidings have been used less due to the loss of coal trains. However, they are still used to stage other freight trains.

History

The first railway through the area was opened in September 1834 as the Leeds and Selby Railway, which ran on an east/west formation north of the Milford Sidings site, and this line is the present Leeds to Hull (via Selby) line.[2] The second line ran in a north/south direction under the Leeds and Selby at Milford connecting with as the York and North Midland Railway. This second line, with a south to east facing connection to the Leeds and Selby railway, was completed in 1840. This allowed passengers to and from Hull, to change trains at station, when previously, they had to change at station.

A large hump marshalling yard covering, was built at Gascoigne Wood on the Leeds to Selby line, which had access to the former York and North Midland Line, both to the north and south.[3] [4] This yard was one of several hump yards built by the North Eastern Railway (NER) (others being at Stockton, York and Hull), and consisted of at least 28 lines grouped on either side of the main line.[5] Sidings were also present at the site of Milford Junction station, in the same place as the re-laid sidings of the 1980s, however, these later sidings have taken up the area formerly used by station.[6] With the opening of the Selby 'Super Pit' complex, which had a loading terminal at Gascoigne Wood, the need for some sidings to stage and store coal wagons nearby was needed, and these were installed at Milford Junction between 1980 and 1983.[7] To enable the new sidings to have access to the running lines to Gascoigne Wood and to the north via York, the curve from Gascoigne Wood to Milford Junction was slewed outwards (towards the east) to accommodate the new sidings. These twelve new sidings, the associated sidings, and loading area at Gascoigne Wood cost £47 million, £1.5 million of which was provided by the EEC. Six through sidings and six dead-end sidings were built between the lines going north to York, and the curve to Gascoigne Wood as part of the Selby Diversion programme.[8] The sidings are used as a staging point for freight trains transiting across Great Britain. When the Aire Valley power stations were receiving deliveries of coal, loaded and empty coal wagons were stored in the sidings until they were needed for their next task.[9] The sidings provide access to lines through, Pontefract,, Swinton, and to the south, to, in the east, and to the north.[10] The Selby Coalfield complex was estimated to be produced over of coal by the late 1980s, resulting in a loaded coal train leaving Gascoigne Wood every 30 minutes during Monday to Friday. This necessitated the expansive sidings at Milford.[11]

Wagon maintenance was undertaken at the sidings in a limited capacity, however, wagons were taken from Milford Sidings to the traction maintenance depot at Knottingley some 5miles south for more in-depth work.[12] The shunter allocated to Knottingley would undertake this duty moving wagons between the two sites.[13]

With the downturn in the electricity supply industry (ESI) coal trains due to power station closures,[14] many redundant coal hopper wagons have been stored at both sets of sidings either side of the main north/south lines.[15] The site has also been used to store redundant Mk 3 coaches from displaced Intercity 125 sets which have been superseded by newer trains on the East Coast Main Line.[16] Milford Down yard was used as a temporary offloading point for desulphogypsum from Drax Power Station bound for the gypsum plant at nearby Sherburn-in-Elmet in 2007. However, this was deemed unsuitable because of the need to move the desulphogypsum on public roads to the plant. The former rail terminal at Gascoigne Wood was utilised instead.[17] [18]

References

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Butcher . Louise . Rail Freight . researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk . House of Commons . 21 March 2022 . 12 . 12 December 2016.
  2. Book: Mitchell . Vic . Smith . Keith . Leeds to Selby and Goole . 2020 . Middleton Press . Midhurst . 978-1-910356-47-0. 4.
  3. Web site: Sherburn-in-Elmet Parish (1950s) . maps.nls.uk . 10 November 2021.
  4. News: Kershaw . Ronald . Coal Board aims to use railway site as focal point for Selby operations . The Times . 59122 . 24 June 1974 . 13. 0140-0460.
  5. Book: Rhodes . Michael . From gridiron to grassland. . 2016 . Platform 5 . Sheffield . 978-1-909431-25-6 . 53, 55.
  6. Web site: Milford Junction . maps.nls.uk . 22 February 2022 . Use the slider to toggle between mapping from older mapping and modern day satellite imagery.
  7. Book: Monk-Steel . David . Merry-go-round : on the rails . 2011 . Historical Model Railway Society . Ripley . 978-0-902835-30-6 . 74.
  8. Skoyles . James . Aire Valley Coal . Railways Illustrated . May 2021. 19. 5 . 53 . Mortons Media . Horncastle . 1479-2230.
  9. Book: Shannon . Paul . EWS : from privatisation to DB . 2012 . Ian Allan . Hersham . 978-0-7110-3520-1 . 39.
  10. Book: Kelman . Leanne . Railway track diagrams, books 2 - eastern . 2020 . Trackmaps . Frome . 978-1-9996271-3-3 . 5. Introduction page.
  11. Sill . David . The Selby Coalfield Project: progress to 1984 . Geography . 1985 . 70 . 1 . 71 . Geographical Association . Sheffield . 0016-7487 . 983211363.
  12. Book: Kelman . Leanne . Railway track diagrams, books 2 - eastern . 2020 . Trackmaps . Frome . 978-1-9996271-3-3 . 5. 40A.
  13. Bendell . Simon . Shunter Spot . Rail Express . May 2013 . 204 . 50 . Mortons Media . Peterborough . 1362-234X.
  14. News: Thomas . Nathalie . Hook . Leslie . Tighe . Chris . How Britain ended its coal addiction . 21 March 2022 . Financial Times . 1 October 2019. subscription.
  15. Bickerdyke . Paul . Storage space created at Worksop with clearout of redundant wagons . Rail Express . January 2021 . 296 . 13 . Mortons Media . Horncastle . 1362-234X.
  16. Bickerdyke . Paul . Coaches - shed talk . Rail Express . July 2020 . 290 . 29 . Mortons Media . Horncastle . 1362-234X.
  17. News: Opposition to gypsum move . 29 January 2022 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 18 October 2007. subscription.
  18. News: Rail deal will reduce roads' load . 29 January 2022 . infoweb.newsbank.com . 29 December 2007. subscription.