Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway

The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and the line's engineer constructed Woodhead Tunnel, over three miles (4.8 km) long.

[1] In the twentieth century the line carried an exceptionally heavy freight traffic, and it was electrified in 1954; at that time a new Woodhead Tunnel was driven.

At the end of the 18th century, the need for improved transport links between Manchester and Sheffield, only 35 miles (56 km) apart but separated by the upland Peak District, was increasing.

He suggested an alternative route, via Penistone, that would involve less tunnelling, and have gentler gradients which could be worked by locomotives, but this scheme too failed to attract support.

[2] In 1835 Charles Vignoles was asked to examine another route, again via Woodhead and Penistone; and a new provisional company, the "Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway" was formed.

Vignoles and Joseph Locke were asked to make independent surveys, and in October met to reconcile any differences, at which time they decided that a longer tunnel at a lower level would reduce the approach gradients involved.

The following year the line had been marked out, land purchase was proceeding well, and construction had begun with Thomas Brassey as contractor.

In late 1841 the line was ready as far as Godley Toll Bar, a distance of eight miles (13 km), and the directors made an experimental trip over it on 11 November 1841.

The Board of Trade inspecting officer, Sir Frederick Smith, passed the line as safe, and it was opened to the public on 17 November 1841.

[11] The arrangements for safe working at the junction seem to have been lax, and the Manchester Guardian observed that Some caution will be requisite here to prevent two trains... coming into contact at this point.

The initial opening of a single line only proved impossibly constraining, and installation of double track was ordered early in 1842, together with construction on from Godley to Glossop.

By November 1842 the stations were Manchester (Store Street), Ardwick, Gorton, Fairfield, Ashton, Dukinfield, Newton & Hyde, Broadbottom and Glossop.

This seemed to be going well, and an authorising Act was passed, but the proposal was voted down in May 1845 by shareholders, who were persuaded that their line would be merely a remote satellite of the Midland Railway.

[17] On 9 June 1845 a short single line branch to Glossop was opened; powers were obtained in the 1846 parliamentary session to take it over from the Duke of Norfolk, who had caused it to be built.

The branch joined the main line facing Manchester some distance to the east of the original Glossop station, now renamed Dinting.

The outcome was agreement to amalgamate the three concerns, forming a single railway connecting Manchester to Grimsby on the North Sea coast.

[26] An express passenger train service was run from Manchester to London, from 1857, in association with the Great Northern Railway.

The formal opening of the Woodhead tunnel and of the whole line between Manchester and Sheffield took place on 22 December 1845, more than seven years after the first ground had been broken.

On the front of the engine was fixed an argand lamp, with a large polished metal disc for reflection, so that a powerful beam of light was thrown forward on the track ahead.

The single line through the Woodhead tunnel soon proved to be an acute bottleneck and in 1847 (after the formation of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway) work upon a second bore was begun.

In 1936 the LNER approved a scheme for electrifying the whole line from Manchester via Sheffield to Darnall, together with the branches from Guide Bridge to Ashton-under-Lyne, from Dinting to Glossop and from Penistone to Wombwell and Wath upon Dearne – a total of 74 miles (119 km).

For many years about 80 trains travelled through the tunnel each way, each day, of which 90% were loaded or empty coal workings and ventilation was a major problem.

However, following the nationalisation of railways in 1948, it was decided to close them permanently and bore a new double-track tunnel alongside, with enough clearance for the overhead electrification catenary.