Pictures of the Cromford & High Peak Railway

[pete_mcfarlane]

38 minutes ago, Pandora said:

I retired last year, so It's about time I took a trip to the Cromford & High Peak to walk the trail.

Will the forum please recommend book titles for the C&HPR so I may  study the  history of the line?

This a good one to start with: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cromford-High-Railway-Locomotion-Papers/dp/0853613192

 

When you do go walking the route, the little shops in the loco shed at Cromford Wharf and at Middleton Top normally have a decent selection of books on the line. I've bought several books from them. You know how it is, you go in for an ice cream and a can of coke, and come out with another railway book as well. 

[sjp23480]

There is also some quite nice footage of the line in the first half of this BTF film:

 

https://youtu.be/gCfDQvrBGRw

Edited August 31, 2021 by sjp23480
Edit

[MidlandRed]

On 23/06/2020 at 15:59, montyburns56 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Superb photos in this thread. However I was amazed to see D2377 in one of the photos as I wasn’t aware diesels had been used on the CHPR. Does anyone have any details of when this occurred - was it a trial - or were there additional diesels used as well - it appears a number of D23xx was allocated to 16C along with D2377 at this time?  

[2E Sub Shed]

12 minutes ago, MidlandRed said:

Superb photos in this thread. However I was amazed to see D2377 in one of the photos as I wasn’t aware diesels had been used on the CHPR. Does anyone have any details of when this occurred - was it a trial - or were there additional diesels used as well - it appears a number of D23xx was allocated to 16C along with D2377 at this time?  

 

The Oakwood Press Book on the C&HPR (Locomotion Papers No 10) by A.Rimmer, states that D2383 was used on the Sheep Pasture Top to Middleton Bottom section from 26th August 1966 until Sheep Pasture incline was closed on 9th April 1967.  It also states similar shunters had been used at Cromford Goods from April 1965, allocated to Derby MPD. - Also notes a 350hp DE was tried on the Middleton -  Fridden section in late August 1966, but assumed not successful.

[Middlepeak]

D3778 was trialled on the line, pulling empty wagons from Friden to Middleton on 2nd August 1966, seen here at Hopton but was not deemed successful.

 

Photo - Tim Jeffcoat

 

Earlier than that, an LMS version, 12006 was trialled on 7th April 1959, seen here at Parsley Hay before the run started, but later photos show it stuck on the curve at Gotham, presumably resulting from its longer wheelbase.

 

Photo - E R Morten

 

 

Regards,

 

Geraint

[Ficksberglion]

Steam and diesel at Sheep Pasture

 

More C & HP pictures on

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/124047467@N05/albums/72157715330931872/with/15143747961/

 

including several of the last ever steam working in May 1967.

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Ficksberglion

[Gareth-Ingram]

Never heard of this railway before finding this thread today, simply fantastic!

[Reorte]

1 minute ago, Gareth-Ingram said:

Never heard of this railway before finding this thread today, simply fantastic!

It was a real oddity, more of a canal done with rails in many respects (and indeed that was its history, originally planned as a canal but the height and lack of water made that impractical), with almost flat sections joined by steep inclines worked by stationary engines, although in its later years one of the less steep went over to locomotives (at 1:14). There's a photo of a bit at the Whaley Bridge end still being worked with horses in the 1950s. I'm always amazed that it lasted as long as it did.

[MidlandRed]

22 hours ago, 2E Sub Shed said:

 

The Oakwood Press Book on the C&HPR (Locomotion Papers No 10) by A.Rimmer, states that D2383 was used on the Sheep Pasture Top to Middleton Bottom section from 26th August 1966 until Sheep Pasture incline was closed on 9th April 1967.  It also states similar shunters had been used at Cromford Goods from April 1965, allocated to Derby MPD. - Also notes a 350hp DE was tried on the Middleton -  Fridden section in late August 1966, but assumed not successful.

Thanks for the info - I’ll look out for the book - sounds good. 

[montyburns56]

6 hours ago, Ficksberglion said:

Steam and diesel at Sheep Pasture

 

More C & HP pictures on

 

 https://www.flickr.com/photos/124047467@N05/albums/72157715330931872/with/15143747961/

 

including several of the last ever steam working in May 1967.

 

 

Wow, that Is a great photo album. I especially like these ones...

 

 

 

 

 

[pete_mcfarlane]

Here's some more recent photos, showing the line as it is now (taken over the last 20 years). It's not a 'preserved' railway in the same ways as the GCR or Severn Valley, but there's a large amount of preserved infrastructure that you can see and visit. 

 

Here's some photos of High Peak Junction, showing the workshops and museum. 

 

 

There's a small model of the railway on display, but it doesn't seem operational.

 

The bottom of the first incline, including the remains of the last wagon to use the runaway pit at the bottom.

 

 

Sheep Pasture winding house - which is just an empty shell. 

 

 

Middleton Top. The winding engine here is run on compressed air a few days each year. 

 

 

Disused quarry slightly further the line, with the remains of a hand worked crane.  

 

The most remote section of the trail is at Minninglow - there's no cafe or cycle hire for about 10 miles between Middleton Top and Parsley Hay, so you tend not to get many people out here. It has some spectacular drystone embankments - I've never seen anything like these, except for the slate ones on the Ffestiniog Railway.

 

 

[pete_mcfarlane]

One last photo, showing just how bleak and remote the line was. This was May this year, and two hours previously there had been bright sunshine. 

[Tony Cane]

From 7 minutes in this film shows part of the line.

 

 

[montyburns56]

And there's also some nice footage of horse/capstan shunting from 19:58.

[Wickham Green too]

Three from the days when everything was black & white : - 

 

Sheep Pasture ; 31/8/71

 

Burbage Tunnel ; 2/9/71

[Reorte]

On 30/08/2021 at 18:55, montyburns56 said:

 

Thanks, I walked the Whaley Bridge end of the line myself a few years and I remember going across the bridge that's in the pictures. And you might like this pic from the same collection as the above.

 

 

 

A few relics there still - the track is still present inside (left-hand side), emerges from the door until it disappears under the tarmac. I expect most of it's still present under the tarmac too, some appeared in a pothole a few years back. There's a crane inside as well.

[montyburns56]

16 hours ago, Reorte said:

A few relics there still - the track is still present inside (left-hand side), emerges from the door until it disappears under the tarmac. I expect most of it's still present under the tarmac too, some appeared in a pothole a few years back. There's a crane inside as well.

 

Right, well I took some external pictures of it a few years ago, but I didn't get a chance to look inside it. I also took this pic of the track on Bingswood Avenue which is now definitely covered in tarmac...

 

[Reorte]

That had all been covered over by the time I moved to this area, so good picture there!

 

I posted some pictures of the crane a while back - here they are:

 

[APOLLO]

Just now, montyburns56 said:

 

Right, well I took some external pictures of it a few years ago, but I didn't get a chance to look inside it. I also took this pic of the track on Bingswood Avenue which is now definitely covered in tarmac...

 

 

Such a shame to cover both the track & cobbles in tarmac. A bit of history lost.

 

Brit15

[Reorte]

7 minutes ago, APOLLO said:

 

Such a shame to cover both the track & cobbles in tarmac. A bit of history lost.

As long as they're still there, underneath. It's a road that leads to an industrial estate and gets some HGV traffic (with a rather nasty doubling back on yourself turn off the main road through Whaley), which would probably end up damaging them quite significantly anyway; you can see how much the old tarmac had been worn.

[PenrithBeacon]

Enlarging the photo shows that the track  is the tramway type, which is interesting in itself. The track at the exchange siding with the canal was standard bullhead set into cobbles, but here it's tram track. I wonder when it was re-laid. 

[Reorte]

39 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Enlarging the photo shows that the track  is the tramway type, which is interesting in itself. The track at the exchange siding with the canal was standard bullhead set into cobbles, but here it's tram track. I wonder when it was re-laid. 

Looking at an old map large-scale map (https://maps.nls.uk/view/114582763) the line down there emerges from the left-hand side of the transhipment shed (and there's a bit of track still emerging there), rather than being directly connected to the rest of the sidings even though there is a connection between them; if you look on the oldest pictures of Streetview, which were before it was resurfaced, the connecting link can be seen.

[PenrithBeacon]

5 minutes ago, Reorte said:

Looking at an old map large-scale map (https://maps.nls.uk/view/114582763) the line down there emerges from the left-hand side of the transhipment shed (and there's a bit of track still emerging there), rather than being directly connected to the rest of the sidings even though there is a connection between them; if you look on the oldest pictures of Streetview, which were before it was resurfaced, the connecting link can be seen.

Yes, but the maps can't show when the track in question was re-laid to tram track

[Reorte]

1 hour ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Yes, but the maps can't show when the track in question was re-laid to tram track

Very true of course, but I'm wondering if the layout suggests that part might've always been more of a tramway than a railway. OTOH the rails emerging from the shed that are the same line aren't tramway. I'm sure I posted a picture of them on here once, I'll try to find it.

 

Here it is (don't know what it's doing on its side). Since I posted that a bit more of the rail has been cleared out.

 

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/86750-evocotive-railway-remains-what-derelect-or-abandoned-structure-stirs-your-emotions/&do=findComment&comment=2193335

 

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by Reorte

[montyburns56]

I've managed to find the rest of the pics of the line that I took a few years ago so I'll post them here...