Featherstone Down the Years
A trip down Memory Lane
by Alan Walker
This section of the Yorks' Rail website is dedicated to my father's lifetime work of recording the passing of trains through the coal mining town of Featherstone,Wakefield. Featherstone is well known in Rugby League circles thanks to the historic successes of Semi-Pro' outfit Featherstone Rovers,who have a rich history for a small time team,even winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley on 3 separate occasions. Featherstone had a large colliery named Ackton Hall,which closed in 1985,in turn bringing about a downturn in the town's fortune.
In railway terms,Featherstone is located on the former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway main line from Manchester Victoria to Hull and had a station which closed on 31st December 1966,before reopening on 12th May 1992. Featherstone is located between Wakefield and Knottingley,with easy connections to both Leeds and Doncaster,which brought about many a great ECML diversion and saw London Kings Cross-Leeds trains pass virtually every day,but more commonly on Sunday's,indeed Featherstone still sees East Coast services pass,to keep driver's route knowledge.
The main traffic noted in the periods studied is coal,and the changes in the coal mining industry can be clearly tracked as the drop off in traffic comes about,on busy days 30 plus "Merry Go Round" trains could be witnessed passing through,more than most places in Britain. Featherstone saw a phenomenal variety in traction for what was strictly speaking,a freight-only route,with Classes 25,31,37,40,45,46,47,55 and 56 all making appearances in the late 70's. In recent years Class 91's have been dragged through on a number of occasions,whilst Class 66's dominate on freight workings,though not until the Class 56's were finally withdrawn by EWS in March 2004.
Not only did Alan take notes,but he also has a huge photography collection,that ties in perfectly with his observations over the years,some of which have also featured in the pages of The Railway Observer,as he has been the local RCTS correspondent for over 50 years.
We hope that you can enjoy this collection,which will grow in stature over time.
In railway terms,Featherstone is located on the former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway main line from Manchester Victoria to Hull and had a station which closed on 31st December 1966,before reopening on 12th May 1992. Featherstone is located between Wakefield and Knottingley,with easy connections to both Leeds and Doncaster,which brought about many a great ECML diversion and saw London Kings Cross-Leeds trains pass virtually every day,but more commonly on Sunday's,indeed Featherstone still sees East Coast services pass,to keep driver's route knowledge.
The main traffic noted in the periods studied is coal,and the changes in the coal mining industry can be clearly tracked as the drop off in traffic comes about,on busy days 30 plus "Merry Go Round" trains could be witnessed passing through,more than most places in Britain. Featherstone saw a phenomenal variety in traction for what was strictly speaking,a freight-only route,with Classes 25,31,37,40,45,46,47,55 and 56 all making appearances in the late 70's. In recent years Class 91's have been dragged through on a number of occasions,whilst Class 66's dominate on freight workings,though not until the Class 56's were finally withdrawn by EWS in March 2004.
Not only did Alan take notes,but he also has a huge photography collection,that ties in perfectly with his observations over the years,some of which have also featured in the pages of The Railway Observer,as he has been the local RCTS correspondent for over 50 years.
We hope that you can enjoy this collection,which will grow in stature over time.
Further information about the "Glory Days" of Featherstone:
Alan Walker's recollections
During the mid fifties there was a mixture of venerable former Lancashire and Yorkshire locomotives supplementing the more modern former LMS and Austerity locomotives but there was also a fair sprinkling of LNER types as well,the highlights always being when the GN main line was closed for engineering work or due to derailments which caused main line services to and from Leeds,Doncaster and London King’s Cross to be diverted this way to run via Knottingley and Askern to rejoin the main east coast route at Shaftholme Junction.
The weekday passenger services during the 1950's included the local and semi fast trains which were hauled by a variety of Stanier and Fowler tank engines along with 4F’s Black Fives and a selection of more modern BR standard types prior to them being taken over by diesel multiple units in 1958.
There were a lot of L & Y 0.6.0’s about and for a time LNER J25’s such as 65655 and 65693 and J10’s such as 65142 from the former MS&LR supplemented these veterans,Alan remembers particularly the distinctive clanking of the Q6 locomotives from Selby depot which used to appear on a freight working nicknamed “The Geordie”which ran from Gascoigne Wood to Ackton Hall and Sharlston collieries,63382 and 63450 being amongst these.
The ungainly Fowler 7F’s (AKA Austin 7's) also made appearances on freight workings,locos such as 49555. There were also appearances by Crab 2.6.0’s on passenger and freight workings together with LNER 04’s J6’s and J39’s.
The K3 2.6.0’s based at Hull Dairycoates used to work through with the fast freights from Hull supplementing the B1’s and B16’s,they also appeared on additional passenger and excursion trains prior to the appearance of the English Electric Type 3’s in 1962.
On the diverted services, 60103 Flying Scotsman made several appearances both in single and double chimney form,as did 60022 Mallard,once being noted on a Leeds-King’s Cross train on Easter Sunday around 1960.
The A2’s rebuilt from LNER P2 2.8.2’s such as 60501 Cock o’ the North, 60502 Earl Marischal and 60504 Mons Meg are also recalled as well as 60508 Duke of Rothesay, 60520 Owen Tudor and 60533 Happy Knight.
One memorable event involved the passage of 60055 Woolwinder which passed the gatehouse at Halfpenny lane just as Mrs Marham was tidying up her knitting,we all looked up hearing the noise of the approaching train and, as the bay window was set low beside the track, all we could see were the huge driving wheels and the splasher bearing the nameplate!
On the Sunday diversions the first regular train of the day used to be a newspaper and van train from Doncaster which used to appear about 08.15 and was often hauled by a A2 or V2 locomotive,60533 is remembered as a frequent visitor.
The A4’s were more frequently seen after they began to be replaced on the Edinburgh and Newcastle services in 1961 by the Deltics but there were often appearances on the first train out of Leeds and 60003 is remembered as being involved on one occasion.
During summer 1962 60006 Sir Ralph Wedgwood hauling a King’s Cross-Leeds train halted at Featherstone Station signal box for the crew to pass on a message to the signalman and on restarting the train the pacific slipped and shook the crossing almost to pieces,Alan well remembers standing near the gates looking up at the giant 6ft 8in driving wheels thrashing along until the locomotive regained its’ feet.
This was to be the last full year of East Coast Pacific power with the Deltics and Brush Type 4’s coming more and more into the picture.
The weekday passenger services during the 1950's included the local and semi fast trains which were hauled by a variety of Stanier and Fowler tank engines along with 4F’s Black Fives and a selection of more modern BR standard types prior to them being taken over by diesel multiple units in 1958.
There were a lot of L & Y 0.6.0’s about and for a time LNER J25’s such as 65655 and 65693 and J10’s such as 65142 from the former MS&LR supplemented these veterans,Alan remembers particularly the distinctive clanking of the Q6 locomotives from Selby depot which used to appear on a freight working nicknamed “The Geordie”which ran from Gascoigne Wood to Ackton Hall and Sharlston collieries,63382 and 63450 being amongst these.
The ungainly Fowler 7F’s (AKA Austin 7's) also made appearances on freight workings,locos such as 49555. There were also appearances by Crab 2.6.0’s on passenger and freight workings together with LNER 04’s J6’s and J39’s.
The K3 2.6.0’s based at Hull Dairycoates used to work through with the fast freights from Hull supplementing the B1’s and B16’s,they also appeared on additional passenger and excursion trains prior to the appearance of the English Electric Type 3’s in 1962.
On the diverted services, 60103 Flying Scotsman made several appearances both in single and double chimney form,as did 60022 Mallard,once being noted on a Leeds-King’s Cross train on Easter Sunday around 1960.
The A2’s rebuilt from LNER P2 2.8.2’s such as 60501 Cock o’ the North, 60502 Earl Marischal and 60504 Mons Meg are also recalled as well as 60508 Duke of Rothesay, 60520 Owen Tudor and 60533 Happy Knight.
One memorable event involved the passage of 60055 Woolwinder which passed the gatehouse at Halfpenny lane just as Mrs Marham was tidying up her knitting,we all looked up hearing the noise of the approaching train and, as the bay window was set low beside the track, all we could see were the huge driving wheels and the splasher bearing the nameplate!
On the Sunday diversions the first regular train of the day used to be a newspaper and van train from Doncaster which used to appear about 08.15 and was often hauled by a A2 or V2 locomotive,60533 is remembered as a frequent visitor.
The A4’s were more frequently seen after they began to be replaced on the Edinburgh and Newcastle services in 1961 by the Deltics but there were often appearances on the first train out of Leeds and 60003 is remembered as being involved on one occasion.
During summer 1962 60006 Sir Ralph Wedgwood hauling a King’s Cross-Leeds train halted at Featherstone Station signal box for the crew to pass on a message to the signalman and on restarting the train the pacific slipped and shook the crossing almost to pieces,Alan well remembers standing near the gates looking up at the giant 6ft 8in driving wheels thrashing along until the locomotive regained its’ feet.
This was to be the last full year of East Coast Pacific power with the Deltics and Brush Type 4’s coming more and more into the picture.
47373 is flat out as it hauls it's loaded 6K84 MGR up the gradient away from Featherstone at 11:43 on Sunday 16th March 1975.
47373 remained a Yorkshire loco throughout it's relatively short career,being scrapped in 1994. It was one of the first locomotives fitted with the slow speed control function for working MGR trains,as it is doing in this shot. This became largely redundant once the class 56's arrived in the area.