Junction with Bowling connection branch line, Laisterdyke, Bradford December 2017

            HISTORY:
The Windhill line was the original railway route between Shipley and Bradford.  Opened in the mid 1870s, it carried passenger and goods services  over a  roughly clockwise 6.5  mile  journey  from Shipley Windhill station,   to Laisterdyke ,where it  joined with the LYR  corridor into Bradford  Exchange.  The line left Windhill along  a n inclined hillside embankment before turning south, through suburban stops at  Thackley, Idle and  Eccleshill .  Several cuttings and a couple of short tunnels  were included along the way in addition to the unrelenting 1 in 50  climb out of Shipley.
The line sadly didn't last as long as hoped. Shortfall in passenger use saw the intermediate  stations close in 1931 and the line  reduced to single track although  Laisterdyke station  which also  serving trains between  Leeds - Bradford &  Manchester on the LYR  route  remained open until the 1950s. 
 Goods operations lasted for almost  four decades further before the  Windhill line was shut  altogether in 1968 and  eventually lifted.  After  Shipley Windhill shut, the line itself was connected to the town's central station on the Midland Railway Airedale route,  serving Bradford Forster Square from  Skipton and Ilkley.

The line  today is  used  as an unofficial  path route between  Shipley and Thackley  and   cycleway /public path  between Idle and Eccleshill.  Remains of Thackley station  still survive  in a cutting alongside Leeds Rd, including the brick wall of the stairway  to the Shipley  bound platform. Shipley Windhill station building remains  in use as a  business office , with  the remains of the  connecting spur  from the current Shipley line discernible.

(BOWLING BRANCH)
The railways south of Bradford Exchange were a spider web of mainlines , branch lines and goods routes, serving Leeds, Lancashire and also the suburbs of Queensbury and Laisterdyke. A spur existed, connecting the GNR line from Leeds/York to the Manchester LYR route, between Laisterdyke and Bowling junction, bypassing the city altogether. The line was closed in the 1970s, severed at the eastern end - only overgrown sidings now survive. Though mostly since developed across, the south-westerly segment remains intact atop a high embankment as do the remains of a level crossing at Hall Lane, close to the Bowling junction end. Bowling station, an intermediate passenger stop was closed in the 1890s, has long since been demolished.
   

Taken on: December 2, 2017

Tags:

Bowling connection

Shipley

railway

line

disused

Bradford

West

Yorkshire

Thackley

Idle

closed

passenger

1931

goods

1968

trackbed

footpath

Bradford Exchange

Interchange

Station

Bridge

GNR

LYR

Laisterdyke

Bowling

Junction

Hall

Lane

Ripley

Road

Manchester

Leeds

York

Spur « less

Sets appears in: • BRADFORD (LOST STATIONS AND SMALL LINES)

Groups appears in: • Abandoned in Yorkshire • Anything Railway

Camera: Panasonic DMC-SZ10, f/3.1, 1/125 sec, 4.3mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Panasonic DMC-SZ10
Aperture:	f/3.1
Exposure Time:	0.008 sec (1/125)
Focal Length:	4.3mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	+1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Color Space:	sRGB
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