The Flickr Samuelfoxsteelworks Image Generatr

* The first in a series of 'look-back' mosaics using pictures recently made available to me from Adrian Wynn's archive.
Regarding Adrian Wynn's picture collection.
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22/2/23
Note: I am currently seeking the higher resolution material from Adrian's photographic collection, both negative and digital. His partner, Annie, has offered to let me use them as I wish, and I hope she is able to find this material in Adrian's extensive collection.
26/2/23
This has now occured and I have both her permission to use original PSD files and negatives and so I have therefore up-dated the mosaic material here, with the higher resolution originals. Our meeting also resulted in my both getting some of Adrian's collected negatives and his digital camera files, from over the last 10 years or more, and agreement to use them with due credit to him, which is what I always do here of course.
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This first mosaic looks south-east along the old M.S.L. line at Wardsend, with shots from the early 1980s by Adrian Wynn and 2023, from me. I have been considering what might be the next option for using some of the pictures Adrian sent me in the year or so before he died in August, 2019. There were around two dozen in all, unseen, some of which I have already used here, see-
at Sheringham, from 2022-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/52010559885/
at Shirecliffe Pigeon Lofts, from 2022-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/52138731674/
at Beighton & Holbrook, from 2021-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/50981873633/
at Deepcar, from 2020-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49869694933/
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49869695063/
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49870230106/
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49870535957/
and the earliest, at Killamarsh Junctions, from 2013-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/52388709154/

As I now have access to both his digital and negative material, there are images which will be well-worth including here, from Maltby, Chesterfield, Ickles/Templeborough, Smithywood, Beighton, Tinsley, Wicker, Masbrough, Parkgate, Riverside, Oughtibridge & Stocksbridge Works.

The present offering was one which arose from a recent visit back to Wardsend, which I last visited very briefly in early June last year, passing through, to photograph the material for the 'Shirecliffe Pigeon Lofts' piece, see above, and then, before that, 3 years earlier on 6th June, 2019. That visit was prompted by seeing two of Adrian's almost 40 year's old shots taken in the same location, and shown here at left, at top, a DMU heading to Leeds along what is now the 'Stocksbridge Branch Line' and beneath that, a view from one of the prominent gravestones in the Cemetery, looking up to the M.S.L. line on the right. I subsequently found a copy of these, and several others, which were to be published in his blog, in Part 4, 'Fire and Water: An Upper Don Walk in 2019', see-
www.adrianwynn.tightfitz.com/
but due to his untimely death, in August 2019, never got included in the blog. Fortunately by September of that year I had a copy of the whole blog, and scanning through it, noticed a couple of years ago, there were more pictures in what I had down-loaded in part 4, than there were in the on-line version; subsequently forgetting all about it, until last week! After searching all through the material I had and not finding the shot, it dawned on me the recollection of noticing more pictures in the 'Fire & Water' material I had, than were in the on-line version, and so with surreptitious scanning through the 135 shots I had, I found the 7 which weren't on-line. Two were pretty mundane shots and 2 were potential material from the area around Neepsend and a further 3 were of interest, the two shots of interest were the ones on the left shown here. Unfortunately, as none of the 7 shots had appeared in the blog, there were no higher resolution versions, only the low resolution, 50-90k, versions, solved as indicated above) which were potentially, to be used in the blog. As I don't feel able to add to the blog, not having the background information available which Adrian would have included I am, instead, using his material, much of which were not taken by him personally, but obtained on-line without credits being available as to their source. As mentioned earlier, there are also now ample other opportunities to create additional material, which not included in his 5 blog posts, nevertheless will be worth working on in an attempt to present them here.
The upper two shots show the same scene, first in the early 1980s and to the right, on the 6th February, 2023, just 3 weeks ago. The two lower shots show, at left, somewhat later I think, the scene now looking along the line in the other direction; the picture taken from another of the prominent Wardsend gravestones. The reason for thinking this was taken later is that the M.S.L. overhead wiring looks now to have been removed, this would have been removed quite quickly after the line closed in July 1981, as the wiring material was made of almost one-inch thick copper conductor; I understand it was sold to a company in Germany. The season in both the upper and lower shots appears to be the same and this matches very well Adrian's preference fort taking his shots in 'flat-light' and when there was little or no greenery on the vegetation.

In this instance, the two b/w shots shown here, and the other 5 I am sure, were taken by him and are not purchased negatives off eBay, they were scanned off his film camera negatives so, unlike digital images, there is no actual data relating to the time and date of the shots. They were however, taken during the period when the Woodhead line was finally being closed from and after, July, 1981, the electrification gantries being removed piecemeal after that date. The line had closed to passengers on 5th, January 1970 and the last traction to run over the complete line was on the 18th July 1981 when, in the early hours of Saturday morning, the final train to traverse the line, was a Harwich to Trafford Park ‘Speedlink’ working, which passed through Woodhead Tunnel at 5am.
The track on the Sheffield–Penistone–Hadfield section of the route was left in place for five years but 1986 saw much of the remaining track lifted, except for the sections in the vicinity of Penistone station (which remained open for Sheffield–Huddersfield trains), and east of Deepcar, which remained for both freight and passenger traffic in the Sheffield area. Here, on the left, we see a British Rail Class 110 3-car DMU, Diesel Multiple Unit, heading up-grade passed the Victorian gravestones in Wardsend Cemetery, closed to new burials since 1968. The line then went on towards Wadsley, Deepcar and on through Wortley & OXspring to Penistone and then Leeds. I wonder who the driver was, visible in the window at the front (this wasn't the case with the original low-res JPGs I had to use, but this situation was remedied by having access to the original scanned files) ... The electrification overheads appear to be intact, the up line, on the left, has a different type of conductor supply hanger to the one on the right, maybe due to the slightly different levels of the lines, and between them is the 'Y' shaped support for the 1500VDC overhead wires for both lines, so at this stage, all still present and correct; the current after full closure in July 1981 though would presumably have been turned off... Some information about the class 110, British Rail, 'Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company' in conjunction with the 'Drewry Car Co.', D.M.U.-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_110
In the background on the left, the ground rises in the Shirecliffe area of Sheffield and a part of that, a little further south at Parkwood Springs, will one day be used for the 'Sheffield Ski Slope', who's longevity turned out to be short-lived, 1988-2012, see-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Ski_Village
In those days, before the, in some respects, madness of HS&E, the lineside was protected by very non-intrusive concrete post-and-wire fencing, this one looks to be a 4 or 5-wire variety and visible, just at the other side of the fence, at almost, but not quite, ground level, is the 33kVAC feed to the the Rectifier buildings, one of which is just 5km north of here in Wharncliffe Wood and, miraculously, the heavily built concrete building survives, albeit now graffiti'd; an extensive mosaic piece with details about all this can be seen here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/15155858905/
when D.R.S. class 66, 66427 passed up and down the line on route learning duties from York, presumably for the R.H.T.T. season, on 6th September, 2014. Its hard to comprehend now how such an electrical system could have survived in such a place, the length of the cabling ran to almost 58miles between London Road & Orgreave, then Wath & Elsecar, each section being 555yards long, between the various feeds and sub-stations. At 33kVAC, this was not something to be 'trifled' with and, it wasn't, though the junctions of these 'wrist-thick' cables, which ran currents of 20 or more amps along the whole length, were constant headaches for the M.S'L. engineers; the junction boxes, 'coffins' as they were called, being subject to frequent connection failures; at this voltage and current, I'm not surprised.
The surrounding landscape at this time in the early 1980s, when Sheffield and its locality was undergoing rapid changes due to the downturn in heavy industry, can be easily seen in these early shots. Wardsend Cemetery is now run as a Heritage Park, see-
wardsendcemetery.wordpress.com/
and its well worth a visit as much work has, and is, being done by volunteers, the 'Friends of Wardsend Cemetery', see-
www.facebook.com/groups/wardsendcemeteryproject
to maintain its y, but sadly, the interesting traction on the railway line has long gone.
My own picture at upper right shows the scene in the recent weeks and apart from the addition of the awful palisade fence, all along the line in this area, the track, bridge and its electrification hangers , are still present. There used to be a nightly steel train which ran up here from Aldwarke U.E.S. in Rotherham, conveying billets to the Samuel Fox Steelworks at Stocksbridge, for rolling, but that ended around Xmas last and there has been nothing of these moves since. There was a 'season end' run of the R.H.T.T., with 2 D.R.S. class 37s, on the 8th of December last year which came up here but which, unfortunately, I just missed on this part of the line, I did manage to grab some shots after it reversed at Barrow Hill later on the in the day, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/52563396679/
and
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/52563409689/
The shrubbery in the 2023 picture, compared to Adrian's early 80s shot is plain to see and is a reflection of how 'greened-up' the Sheffield area has become since the removal of much of its heavy industry.

In the lower 2 sho6ts, at left, again take by Adrian probably in mid-1980, shows the copper cable and its ancillary equipment has gone, the distinctive M.S.L. supports remain, but not for much longer.. The 'Super-grid' pylon line is also evident, this running from the site of the Neepsend Power Station, see-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neepsend_power_station
further south along the line which closed in 1976 and took quite a while after that before the demolition process started, taking around 10 years to complete; so, probably close to the time this picture was taken; the electricity supply was, and is, maintained of course. In the right-hand lower picture, and further south along the line, in Beeley Wood close to Wadsley Bridge is another footbridge and this one is on the level. it also still retains a good example of 2 of the old 'Y' shaped cable-hangers, for both of the original tracks, along with the 1500VDC cable supports in between. The track here, and elsewhere, has been slewed over to the middle of the formation with the up line, on the left, now full of weeds, and on the right a little bit clearer. Its now 4 months, I just checked my email for sighting reports and it was 3rd November, since a train came up here to Stocksbridge for what, we assumed, were 2 materials recovery moves from the Steelworks, since then, nothing. The view under the well-built M.S.L./L.N.E.R. bridge shows the single line curving around through the area where the Bachelors Food Processing building was located on the north side and on the south-side other industries all of whose buildings are still extant. The line then fanned out into sidings before entering the local 'Sheffield Wednesday Football Station', Wadsley Bridge, the down grade through Owlerton, Parkwood, Neepsend and Bridgehouses before finally entering Sheffield Victoria Station... Another line of that ubiquitous Palisade fence is just visible under the bridge, at the top of the bank on the left, it extends through open fields, 1.3km all the way to Wadsley Bridge.. what prompted the erection of this I wonder..

A look back to almost 10 years ago and two of the workings in April & May 2013, of the nightly Stocksbridge Steel train, conveying billets from Aldwarke U.E.S. to the old Samuel Fox Steelworks for rolling down into bar and collection the next day. The, usually, around 1500 tonnes of material was deposited in the Ellen Wood sidings just this side of where the River Don passes underneath the track, the material was then taken into the Steelworks by the resident diesel shunter, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569271056/
and
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569271126/
and
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48363095012/
for processing, the processed material is brought back out for collection the following day. In recent times, the Samuel Fox Steelworks came into the ownership of, first, Corus, then Tata, 'Greybull Capital', Liberty House Steel, & finally, an Indian Industrialist, Sanjeev Gupta. At Aldwarke U.E.S., this was TATA Steel, and before that, Corus-Steel, before that 'Tube Investments'(1956) and, finally, before that from its inception, 1823, the 'Park Gate Iron & Steel Co. Ltd.'

More on all this...
'...The early 1990s saw reduced demand and it was not until 1993 that growth in the UK economy gradually gathered pace and was reflected in a partial recovery in steel demand and price levels. The trend continued into 1994 and, helped by continuing efficiency and productivity gains, British Steel returned to profit.
The ownership of the business continued to change and in October 1999 a merger with Koninklijke Hoogovens to form Corus came into effect. While on 31 January 2007 Tata Steel bought Corus, which became Tata Steel in Europe. The company re-branded to Tata Steel in 2010.
In 2016, family investment office Greybull Capital purchased Tata Steel’s Long Products Europe business. This new business, comprised sections, special profiles and wire rod manufacturing across the UK and rail manufacturing across the UK and France. It was named British Steel and in 2017 acquired FN Steel – a respected manufacturer and supplier of premium wire rod and wire.
In 2020, British Steel’s UK assets, along with FN Steel, was bought by Jingye Group. Together we’re building stronger futures...
...By 1999 the former Company had been split in to three separate concerns, Bridon Wire had taken over the Fox Wire facility at Sheephouse wood, Corus Special Steels operated to the west of the Main Entrance on Smithy Hill and Avesta-Polarit operated its Stainless producing facility to the east of Smithy Hill in the Low Yard....'
...In 2006 Corus was bought by the Indian Company Tata and now trades as part of their TATA European Operations...
...At the beginning of 2011, the wire making facility at Sheephouse Wood is still in production as part of the Bridon Wire group. The Avesta-Polarit facility, which had previously amalgamated with Outokumpu of Finland, moved its operations and the site has since been cleared. The Corus facility was purchased by Tata Company, with the facility continuing to operate as part of their European operations. There are plans in place for the land east of Smithy Hill to be turned into commercial outlets. Having gained employment at 'Sammys' many people tended to stay for a life time of employment, each one having their own reasons for doing so. There is no doubt that this was considered to be a “family firm” not just for the Fox family but for lots of other families from the area...'

So a very colourful and diverse history and, this now all appears to be over as during the week of 22nd September information (via Marcus S.) was forthcoming that no more steel would be moved out of Stocksbridge by rail.. the last move out of the works by Liberty, bringing out old wagon stock, being in the last week in September; though we hold our breath that there may yet be another move or two to bring similar redundant materials out in the coming weeks..

So this set of three shots show the view of the steel coming up-grade along the last section of the Woodhead line. The upper picture, shows an E.W.S. class 66, 66067 hauling what was estimated to be about 1800 tons up the incline to Stocksbridge yard on the 6J57 working from Aldwarke U.E.S. The train is seen having just passed the old M.S.L. (G.C.R., L.N.E.R.) station at Deepcar which was sold off a long time ago and is now in private hands, and in recent years, for the 1st time, changed hands again. The Network Rail guy is out switching the trap points over, this is used to derail any runaway wagons but as someone pointed put, and as can be see in the top picture, the trap points would direct the runaways to the old Deepcar Station itself, if they got that far! After this the set will take the Stocksbridge Branch Line, owned by the steelworks, which will take the set into the Ellen Wood Sidings for decoupling and run-around of the loco. The end of the line for the Woodhead Route is just a little further on in what is now a walking track, the line ending abruptly in rampant vegetation; the weather speaks for itself and at one point it was thundering and fork lightning was seen off to the left of the scene!
(taken 16th May, 2013).

In the lower picture at left, but now changed out of all recognition, since the clearing of the land over to the left and the construction of the Fox Valley Shopping area, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49538374276/
and, at this end, a large housing development extending all the way to the far corner beyond the lit lamp standard, where where the River Don passes under a bridge, crossing from the north to the south side of the line. The rail building on the right, now a private residence, is still extant and looks a bit out-of-place, amongst all the new housing, a heavy concrete flood defence wall with large metal gate, interestingly running alongside the track on the left, leaving the housing estate open to the flood-waters of the River Don, if it ever floods again! The track from the housing estate passes through the metal gate, usually open, and then up the hill to the centre of Deepcar, and since the completion of the redevelopment, there is also a walking/cycling path along the track to the right all the way along to the main road intersection in Deepcar in the distance. Behind the camera all the area once occupied by the Steelworks has been cleared for the shopping area leaving only a small sidings space alongside the flood wall, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569271126/
and more pictures of the wider area, here-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569271056/
the materials which were stored in the large derelict space, which Adrian Wynn and I used to amble and walk through in the early years of the 2010s, have been moved onto the Samuel Fox site, so releasing the land for the redevelopment which took place thereafter, as seen in the link above. The track shown here is that which passes through the Ellen Wood sidings, with red DBS class 60, 60054, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/31251091157/
and here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/45466216714/
in the distance and where the billets brought up from Aldwarke, reside until the local diesel shunter brings them across the River Don bridge and into the works for rolling. Just one charter has been up here in recent years, the B.L.S Charter, 'The Luca Pezzulo Express', with W.C.R.C. 37669 & Colas Rail, 37521, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48363095012/
and
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48362959316/
and a video, here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48362959151/
Here is some of the text which accompanied one of the pictures at that time regarding the lead loco making a foray over the river bridge and into the Fox Valley area-
'... All done and parked up and the cameras are out with lots of admiring glances as the decision by the driver is apparently being taken about whether or not to attempt the crossing of the River Don bridge and on into Fox Valley; I have to thank the guys I spoke to at the track-side for their help and information with all this stuff, 'nosey-parkers' seem to win out occasionally! ...
...The report came back after a while that the drivers had taken a look at the bridge, in fact walked over it, but considered on this occasion, prudence would rule and the move over to Fox Valley would not happen this time, but having inspected the area, they would consider it a possibility that the B.L.S. may well organise another trip with more appropriate traction/carriages... whatever that may mean...'. (Those taken on 20th July, 2019).
(taken 11th April, 2013).

In the lower right picture, taken against glaring sunlight, shows EWS class 66, 66151, arriving with the evening's Aldwarke U.E.S consist, 6J57, each wagon carrying around 75 tons of steel ingots, the train is running into the north section of line where it will divest itself of the inward bound material and then move off head to reverse and wait for the night's return material to be backed onto the loco, by the diesel shunter, for the south-bound move, 6J58, back to Aldwarke. At this time and direction the sun was just out-of-shot and a bit of a pain to get the exposure un-saturated .. gradient filtering has helped but the highlights in the sky at top left are blown. At the time and for a few years after, until quite recent times, this operation went on almost every week-day evening, leaving Aldwarke at 18:17 and arriving into here about 18:50, with the return timed for around 21:00 back to Aldwarke; almost invariably the workings utilised EWS and latterly DBS class 66s with, on occasion, particularly in winter, a DBS red class 60 deployed instead; as seen in the link above.
(taken 16th, April, 2013).

Since this date and the redevelopment of the Fox Valley area, much has changed here now, with all the old lineside structures now removed with a new pedestrian/cycleway installed, new green wire-mesh fencing erected with new lighting, see the last three links above, the latter making it more difficult to take photographs, the 'friendliness' of the area has also deteriorated to some extent as well..

Finally...
The parlous state of the U.E.S. and the Steelworks here is well known, a clip from the local 'Star' newspaper-
'...Some 762 people work in the High Value Manufacturing Division of Speciality Steels in Stocksbridge It supplies the aerospace, energy and industrial engineering markets. Speciality Steels also employs 865 across three businesses in Rotherham. Earlier this week G.F.G. boss Sanjeev Gupta said that while the group was in a strong position, some parts of Liberty Steel were loss-making. Now, he is in a race to find new financing...'

I am not sure what the current state is, one steel train every few weeks does not bode all that well... the business over the last 10 years has had a rather chequered history of stops and starts with new financiers coming to the fore.. this time it does look like the end has come.

Finally, the set has paused and the crew are in action and finally I take the plunge to have a very brief chat with one of the crew, a woman as it turned out, who was most informative and told me the problem had been due, as she put it, 'with 'Carl'', which I had instantly thought was one of the crew! but then asking what the problem was, she said 'it was a lack of power with the rear loco 'Carl Haviland' and a 'fitter' had to be called out to minister medical assistance to the stricken loco(my words). It must have been successful as 37419, ex-D6991, 'Carl Haviland 1954-2012', then brought the set from Barrow Hill to Woodburn Junction and the up the 1-in-100 grade from there up to the 'STOP' board at Deepcar Station; it all sound fine to me as will be seen in the video which follows. There appeared to be some to-and-fro moves between 'Carl' at the back and 'Mary' now at the front, several walks back and forth taking place before 37401 was revved up and the set was ready for the off.. I was really glad to have waited the extra 2 hours so I didn't miss all this and thanks to the DRS driver who answered my questions about the delay; I don't suppose it was all that much of a surprise to find there had been a 'fitter' available in the Barros Hill area, given that the country's last remaining loco roundhouse is there, along with much more, see-
barrowhill.org/
for much, much, more...

The following evening, 15th December, after the tracks had been cleaned by the pair of 37s hauling an RHTT set, one of the now very sporadic Steelworks trains, 6J57, which had been coming up almost every weekday evening at 18:17, miraculously it seems, one came up last night on the usual diagrams up and back, 6J57 and 6J58, with DBS 66177 heading the heavy, 1500 tonnes, billet set, to deposit the material in the Ellen Wood Sidings for late collection by the local steelworks shunter. The parlous state of the U.E.S. and the Steelworks here is well known, a clip from the local 'Star' newspaper-
'...Some 762 people work in the High Value Manufacturing Division of Speciality Steels in Stocksbridge It supplies the aerospace, energy and industrial engineering markets. Speciality Steels also employs 865 across three businesses in Rotherham. Earlier this week GFG boss Sanjeev Gupta said that while the group was in a strong position, some parts of Liberty Steel were loss-making. Now, he is in a race to find new financing...'

I am not sure what the current state is, one steel train every few weeks does not bode all that well... the business over the last 10 years has had a rather chequered history of stops and starts with new financiers coming to the fore.. its not clear if this is going to work this time though.. I hope so, there's a lot at stake.

Rising up-grade to a halt at the N.R. 'STOP' board just south of Deepcar Station is D.R.S., Direct Rail Services, 'Electro-Diesel Locomotive' class 37, 37419, ex-D6991, 'Carl Haviland 1954-2012' hauling a rake of very dirty, as they always are at this stage in the season, blue, 'FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagon' with 37401, ex-D6968, 'Mary Queen of Scots' on the back on the VSTP, 3J37, York Thrall Europa via a lengthy reversal at Barrow Hill to Stocksbridge Works working. The sprays are on and I guess this is for the benefit of the now very sporadic Steelworks trains, 6J57, which come up here at 18:17 in the evening, in fact, miraculously it seems, one came up last night on the usual diagrams up and back, 6J57 and 6J58, with DBS 66177 heading the heavy, 1500 tonnes, billet set, to deposit the material in the Ellen Wood Sidings for late collection by the local steelworks shunter. A new, green, palisade fence has been erected since I was last here and this installation seems a bit more 'serious' than before, it extending a good way south and then all the way up to the station building, unlike the old one which had gaps in it for 'convenient photography'. To review the past... Some shots of the moves going back from last August, 2020 to October, 2016, which came up here to Deepcar to be photographed, some rather interesting stuff has made its way up here during those years, thankfully, enlightening what is at present a very grotty, wet, muddy, tyre -track infested place. 'Bloor Homes' are supposed to be building prestigious housing at the top here and all the way down the hill to the River Don, a new access bridge over the river was installed some time ago, it can be seen in the pair of shots including the 'Sandrover' rail cleaner; to date, nothing seems to be happening... now a coming along to Deepcar Station-

Image 7020 on 7/8/20, a light engine move by 37612-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/50210826512/
Image 2543 on 20/7/19, the B.L.S., 'Branch Line Society' came up with the 'Luca Pezzulo Charter', with 37669 & 37521-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48356032656/
and Image 2538, the B.L.S. 'Luca Pezzulo Charter', again with 37669 & 37521-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48356164212/
Adrian Wynn's old image of the area with the Image 8574/575 on the 5/10/18, and the 'SandRover-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49870535957/
Image 3126 on 14/6/17, another tour, the 'Great Central Lament Charter' with top-and-tail, D.B.S. 66074 & 66182-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/35275365041/
And finally the last R.H.T.T. photographed here, Image 9889+893 on 29/10/16, with D.R.S. classes 37 and 68, 37716 & 68003-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49568767768/

* A 48Mby MP4 phone Video, taken in 3 parts, it is 2min 58secs long, so can be watched within the Flickr interface.

D.R.S., Direct Rail Services, 'Electro-Diesel Locomotive' class 37, 37419, ex-D6991, 'Carl Haviland 1954-2012' hauling a rake of very dirty, as they always are at this stage in the season, blue, 'FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagon' with 37401, ex-D6968, 'Mary Queen of Scots' on the back on the VSTP, 3J37, York Thrall Europa via a lengthy reversal at Barrow Hill to Stocksbridge Works working. From here, the set takes off on the next leg, 3J50, Stocksbridge Works to Selby and it looks like a part of the diagram was missed out between Mexborough and Gilberdyke as having set off from Deepcar, 95 late, not 2 hours, it arrived at Selby only 19 minutes late at 15:22. From there it set off at 15:22 on the 3J88, and managed to arrive back at York Thrall Europa at 20:21, 13 minutes early!

* Wardsend Cemetery
Getting towards the end of the season now, Tuesday the 8th December and all indications are is that this year, the diagrams will finish on Saturday, with 37402 and 37716 as it turned out this morning, ending a more successful run of the DRS RHTT this year in the in the last 2 or 3; the class 37s probably helped a lot. With a blue rake of FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagons, the bits of colour contrasting with the now winter browns in this cutting at Owlerton and not to the south of here, Parkwood Springs. The hills rise in the background to the area over on the far right, which was once the home of the Sheffield Ski Village and which saw fires destroy it finally in 2012 after only a 14 year history; the land having been derelict since then. Rumour has it, that the space is now to be used for the Sheffield Snowsports Centre and possibly a Mountain Bike Centre, the history of the area reads fairly bleakly, see-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Ski_Village
To the left of the cutting, a vast area of Victorian burials can be found with some rather austere and at night, spooky looking mausoleums and other grave monuments which reflected in part, some of the wealth of the Victorians who are buried here. Having come under one of the well constructed M.S.L.R bridges along this line, the set now heads on down towards Hillfoot, Neepsend and Woodburn Junction with D.R.S. class 37, 37402, ex-D974, 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2013' with 'B.R. Large Intercity Logo', though its hard to see under the grime at the front, with 37423, ex-D6996, 'Spirit of the Lakes' at the back now, on the 3S14, Stocksbridge Works via Woodburn and Rotherham Central to Hull, on the Rail Head Treatment Train working. The line and ballast look in good order here which is a surprise as apart from the two runs up here this year by the RHTT, and the Sandrover, 3 days a week during the same period, this is the only regular care it gets.

* Wardsend Cemetery
Looking south now towards Parkwood Springs, the scene at this time of the year is relatively open with almost all the leaves on the tress having fallen and their gunk just cleaned away by the application of 'Sandite' and steam from the RHTT. The view along the cutting is very restricted and not wishing to get the awful palisade fence in the shots too much, this is about as good as it gets, pictures from the other side of the tracks being blocked by the tree growth extending almost all the way up the hill at this end of Parkwood Springs. Interestingly, two nights after passage of the RHTT leaf-gunk clearing train, the Stocksbridge Steel train came up as usual from the Aldwarke U.E.S. on the normal 6J57 working at 17:58, 19 minutes early and went to deposit its load of billets for rolling in the Steelworks, in the Ellen Wood sidings. The return working, 6J58, bringing rolled material back, also left early, 17 minutes, at 20:16, and this is the only working which has taken place for a few weeks; the last was a working up but with a light engine back down to Belmont Yard in Doncaster. As Xmas is upon us, can't see that this situation will change for the better until well into the new year. In the right picture, the rear class 37, 37423, ex-D6996, 'Spirit of the Lakes', shame the livery doesn't reflect the name, and the set is now bound for Hull on the next to the last working of the day, this one being 3S14 and the last, 3S15, will see the set head of back to York Thrall Europa for a remaining week of changeable schedules.
Not sure what happened after the set went by me here at Wardsend, but the time-table shows it was delayed somewhere and did not set off on the final leg from Woodburn Junction for 60 minutes. I suspect the set got back down to the Woodburn/Blast Lane area but then was halted for some reason before it set out to Hull but from the timetable, it looks to have missed out the whole section from Bolton-on-Dearne to Hambleton, popping up again at Selby, now 9 minutes earl and heading off to Hull from where it set off at 15:19 on the 3S15 working and arriving back at York Thrall at 19:19, 6 minutes early. What happened in the gap between Bolton-on-Dearne and Hambleton, I have no idea, re-routed to male up the delay possibly directly through Doncaster maybe...

* 51Mby MP4 phone Video, it is 28s long, so video can be watched within the Flickr interface.
* Wardsend Cemetery

Finally a video of the brief action as the set whizzes by down-grade, around 1-in-100 on average, towards Woodburn Junction. Having come under one of the well constructed M.S.L.R bridges along this line, the set now heads on down towards Hillfoot, Neepsend and Woodburn Junction with D.R.S. class 37, 37402, ex-D974, 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2013' with 'B.R. Large Intercity Logo', though its hard to see under the grime at the front, with 37423, ex-D6996, 'Spirit of the Lakes' at the back now, on the 3S14, Stocksbridge Works via Woodburn and Rotherham Central to Hull, on the Rail Head Treatment Train working.

Not sure what happened after the set went by me here at Wardsend, but the time-table shows it was delayed somewhere and did not set off on the final leg from Woodburn Junction for 60 minutes. I suspect the set got back down to the Woodburn/Blast Lane area but then was halted for some reason before it set out to Hull but from the timetable, it looks to have missed out the whole section from Bolton-on-Dearne to Hambleton, popping up again at Selby, now 9 minutes earl and heading off to Hull from where it set off at 15:19 on the 3S15 working and arriving back at York Thrall at 19:19, 6 minutes early. What happened in the gap between Bolton-on-Dearne and Hambleton, I have no idea, re-routed to male up the delay possibly directly through Doncaster maybe...

* Wardsend Cemetery
With not much time to spare, a prompt, if careful, exit was made from the area where folk think its ok to dump stuff, just about anywhere and head north along the Upper Don Valley towards Deepcar where the set would be reversing in about a half hour. And again, as it turned out, I hadn't been in this area for quite a while either, there not being much to warrant a visit other than the early-evening Aldwarke U.E.S. Steel trains which this year, die to Covid-19 had succumbed to a very sporadic schedule and after October, any trip up and back was occuring in the dark. So, the last time to photograph any traction was in December, 2014, so just over 6 years ago, remarkable, though I have been in the area for other reasons, walking and landscape photography, this is the shot which was taken on 2nd December that year to photograph a Network Rail Test Train, 1Q05, with in fact, the same loco which is on the front of the RHTT today, 37402, 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954-8.6.2013', though looking considerably cleaner. At the back on that occasion was an equally clean, 37605 and the set had a rake of the canary yellow P.L.P.R. test coaches between the two 37s, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/15929658391/
In the left picture, coming back down-grade with 37402, ex-D974, 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2013' in charge and passing under the footbridge, the gradient of the surrounding land is easy to see and what a trial it must have been to excavate this terrain with not much more than hand-tolls for the old navvies to use. The unit on the right of the loco, solar-powered by the looks of it, appears to be providing some kind of substance to the rail-head, through the white connecting hoses; not grease presumably as this is what the RHTT is meant to remove, the oily substance left by leaf-fall. The bridge span at the bottom shows remnants of where the cables for the OHL supply, at 1500VDC, would have passed underneath and so, the centres of the two lines for the double-track formation. It looks like 37402 is on the old down main, heading towards Sheffield whilst the up main track has been removed, there looks to have also been some 'slewing over' of the down track, towards the centre of the bridge. The main part of the old, now long-closed Wardsend Cemetery is on the left but it does extend at the other side of the bridge, a short way along the tack on the hill-side. In the right picture, as mentioned earlier at Kettle Bridge during the passage of the Colas Test Train yesterday, there are scattered remnants of the old Woodhead formation lying alongside the track and here, we see one of the more massive ones, a cut off OHL stanchion base, located well above the tracks, guess there wasn't all that much room in this cutting to install all the parephernalia associated with this, so it was located on the bank where the palisade fence now resides. This is what was used to take the pictures seen here and very sturdy it is too, this must have been one of the main support posts along the section here as usually they aren't as massive as this. Passing under the bridge arch heading down to Woodburn Junction is D.R.S. class 37, 37402, ex-D974, 'Stephen Middlemore 23.12.1954 - 8.6.2013' with 'B.R. Large Intercity Logo', though its hard to see under the grime, with 37423, ex-D6996, 'Spirit of the Lakes' at the back now on the 3S14, Stocksbridge Works via Woodburn and Rotherham Central, to Hull Rail Head Treatment Train working.

* Deepcar
* This is 57sec long, so video can be watched within the Flickr interface.

This isn't a very good video! The light at Deepcar at this time of year and at this time is stark across the frame, dividing it into two. In a still shot these things can be largely corrected,as can be seen from the shots already uploaded, but in a video, without a lot of hassle, the stark effect of light can not be corrected easily. The original was 2 minutes long but largely spoiled by the stark lighting at beginning and end, so this is an edited version, again with the camera shutter clicks removed, all this taking some time.. but better to upload it and have it viewable than forget about it.. This is Colas Rail operated class 37, 37612, ex-D6879 is on the 0Z66, Doncaster West Yard to Westthorpe Run Round working. Once back in Sheffield it will then embark on the afternoons jaunt, same working number, 0Z66, Westthorpe Run Round back to Doncaster West Yard, though it will use Barrow Hill to reverse and hence there will be a delay in the time-table which will be taken up by not running up to Deepcar on the two afternoon runs at 14:55 and 16:20 and in fact once it got back to Woodhouse from the reversal at Barrow Hill, it missed out all the rest of the diagram and went straight back to Doncaster West Yard, arriving 100 minutes early!

* Deepcar
This loco looks huge in these surroundings, with the diminutive driver now having climbed out of the cab to change ends ready for the trip back down-grade to Woodburn Junction, the 'STOP' board just visible in the shrubbery next to him. Deepcar Station house is now also hidden quite a bit from this viewpoint but it too looks rather imposing, poking out above the trees. The the E-W aligned Supergrid Pylon is behind in the background, and it is the almost half-million volt cables of this which now occupy the 'new' Woodhead Tunnel.. and make it impossible to use as a pedestrian/cycle way over from Dunford Bridge to the head of the Longdendale Valley at Woodhead. The cables were hidden from view in the 1960s much to everyone's relief, but it would now be good to have our Tunnel back please. Just behind the head of the driver, the old plate-layers concrete cabin can be seen and that was right behind the Deepcar signalbox on the left where now stands the N.R. 'STOP' board, for those interested in what now lies inside, and how the scene once looked here in the mid-1980s, see this picture, one of four, using material supplied to me by Adrian Wynn, a few years ago-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/49870230106/
It didn't take long to climb aboard and change the light to white and the rear to reed on 37612, and the the unit revved up and prepared to make its way back down 'the hill' to Woodburn and so through Woodhouse Junction to a reversal at Westthorpe Run Round which actually didn't happen. Instead the loco came of the old GCR section through Woodhouse and crossed over onto the 'Old Road' up line south and went off to BArrow Hill for its reversal operation. This had the effect of adding around 30 minutes delay into the schedule once it came back into the area and was the reason it did not come back up here for the diagrammed time of 11:28. Instead, having got back as far as Woodhouse Junction, it didn't do the 2nd reversal at Westthorpe either, of course, and instead continued on into Sheffield, now on time, for its time-tabled reversal there. Buddleia Halt, one of many these days, now looks resplendent with the material and is in stark contrast to how it once looked when, 6 times an hour, 1000 tonne coal trains used to be dragged up the grade from the South Yorkshire coal fields, to the power station at Fiddlers Ferry near Liverpool; now there is now more coal usage. Coals operated 37612 is on the working down grade, 0Z66, Doncaster West Yard to Westthorpe Run Round, the latter not being connected anymore, it will run to Barrow Hill instead.

* Deepcar

Introduction to the Westthorpe Run Round.
This working really did get 'the juices flowing' due to its apparent destination - the old L.D.E.C.R.'s stub of a line at Beighton, the Westthorpe Run Round, which I have seen over the last year or two in various states of dismantlement! There are three shots of it included in the 'Views in Cameras 2019' Video which can be seen here-
the pictures appearing from the 4minute point in the video. It looked fairly clear, looking along the 'Old Road' from the footbridge into the Rother Valley Country Park at Beighton Junction, that the double set of lines over into the old coal Run Round loop, had been disconnected. If there was a chance that this light engine 37, 37612, was going to reverse on the single line in the loop, the exit signal, S1033, back onto the main line still being present, and lit, I ought to make some effort to get a shot and nothing has used this for several years. I have a picture from September 2nd, 2015, showing a Freightliner class 66, 66507, heading south across the River Rother just a bit further up the line, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49548982618/
It then slows for the signal ahead, ready to turn off into the loop, the picture being taken from the Beighton Junction footbridge into Rother Valley Country Parks, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49549481871/
showing, on the left, the train passing Sheffield PSB's S0282 signal with the Amber aspect and 'feather' illuminated, for the turn-out into the loop, which is shown in the right-hand of the two shots. This two coal-wagon working had come along from Hunslet Yard in Leeds, south along the 'Old Road' to take the turn-out here onto the L.D.E.C.R's bit of line where it then ran round the two wagons, hooked up onto the other end and came out again, now crossing over the Midland lines, to take the GCR's line through Beighton Station to Woodhouse Junction Sidings, it can be seen doing this part in another picture taken just after the reversal, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49548982258/
Funny how keeping this stuff available has assisted in describing what could have happened today with the 37. I am not sure this was the last time the Run Round was used and certainly, later, a 'Sidings Nooks and Crannies' type of tour was supposed to go in there and reverse, but it didn't. There may well have been the odd coal train reversal, from N/SE/W to access various power stations, but they were few and far between and with, in the last 2-3 years, the huge down-turn in the use of coal and power stations changing over to more climate-friendly option, coal trains and their reversal, are now a thing of the past...

So, it will be appreciated that _if_ there was any chance this reversal was going to happen, it was worth being in the area for it. Unfortunately, it ultimately did not reverse in the Westthorpe Run Round loop, mainly because, as I soon discovered by looking in detail at some of my long distance shots from the footbridge, it _had_ been disconnected and second, although not diagrammed in the time-table, it _actually_ reversed at Barrow Hill! Evidence of the disconnection can be seen in these, long-distance, shots taken showing A Freightliner, a GBRf and an E.M.R. ECS move all waiting at the Run Round loop junction, for the workmen to clear out of the way so they can all pass along the main lines and, fortunately, the picture is still available to see here-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/47006898621/
Today, Colas Rail operated class 37, 37612, ex-D6879, is seen heading up the Stocksbridge branch line from Woodburn having set off from Doncaster West Yard, just under an hour ago, appearing to rattle along without too much fuss but for the last 30 minutes or so, there is no indication of its movements if it is coming along here as after Rotherham Central, the timings on the the signalling along the Lower Don Valley aren't shown. Word was passed along however that the unit had crossed the Wicker at the old Sheffield Victoria site and, on time, here it is with the light very challenging as these shots look due south. 37612 is on the 0Z66, Doncaster West Yard to Westthorpe Run Round and it was actually time-tabled to come up here 4 times, now, 10:20, then back at 11:28, following a reversal in Sheffield, back again at 14:55 and finally, at 16:20, in the event, it only did this one, Phew !!

* Deepcar
After less than 5 minutes, the 37 is all ready and the driver revves up the engine, gives a loud toot on the horn and sets off back down to Woodburn Junction. On the left, what looks like one of the old OHL stanchion posts, cut off to provide support for gate access to a yard which also doesn't exist any more. In fact it looks like work is starting on the new 'Bloor' housing development here which will see a housing estate built from the banks of the River Don all the way up here to the station site. This will undoubtedly change the whole character of the place and I expect the railway line will be severely fenced off and be unapproachable.. not like the scene at present. The right hand view looks though the new gate access to the land down to the river with, centre right, just visible, one of the two new bridges over the River Don, the other being at the old Oughtibridge Paper Mill site, now slated for yet another, 300-unit, housing estate and rights next to the River Don once more. A Small dumper truck was taking excavated hardcore down the hill to fill in large holes in the ground, the excavator unearthing long dumped material from the land south of the station off to the right. Buddleia, the quiet riverside location and the odd passing train will soon be changed beyond recognition if this all goes ahead, which it now will by the way the government is acting on it new 'house building plans bonanza' removing the burdensome planning permissions, which protect us all ... goodness knows what will start popping up all over the place once they have their way and this all gets into full swing... I guess the land has to be used for something and there is a lot of it all the way down along the riverside to Oughtibridge... I would have though another Reservoir on some of it to catch one of our much needed precious resources and provide habitat and places to walk.. What do I know.. Colas Rail" operated class 37, 37612, ex-D6879 is on the 0Z66, Doncaster West Yard to Westthorpe Run Round working. Once back in Sheffield it will then embark on the afternoons jaunt, same working number, 0Z66, Westthorpe Run Round back to Doncaster West Yard, though it will use Barrow Hill to reverse and hence there will be a delay in the time-table which will be taken up by not running up to Deepcar on the two afternoon runs at 14:55 and 16:20 and in fact once it got back to Woodhouse from the reversal at Barrow Hill, it missed out all the rest of the diagram and went straight back to Doncaster West Yard, arriving 100 minutes early!

* 23sec sec long, so video can be watched within the Flickr interface.

Finally, and right at the last moment, remembered that I had intended to take a video here and no sooner had I got the phone set up atop the Canon EOS, than a rumble could be heard and out-popped the 37 from the shrubbery on the right.. This time I have edited the video to cut out the preliminary section at the beginning but, more importantly, the camera shutter release sound which was very irksome in this rather quiet environment. I hadn't realised it was actually rather easy using Adobe Soundbooth, just cutting out the 6 clicks and pasting in the sound from an associated section of the sound-track, just basically copying and pasting as we do with images.. This is the 0F84, Doncaster West Yard to Doncaster West Yard which entails a repeat, three times, of the journey up here from Woodbourn Junction and back, taking under an hour each time, and then back on the diagram around 20:00 to arrive back, 30 minutes early, at 20:30 which is the diagram the Steel train, cancelled early on for tonight, would have normally taken.

Nicely turned out class 37, operated by Colas Rail, 47612 which also appears to have been on a similar jaunt the day before but this time along starting out at BArrow Hill and passing through this are then on to Doncaster and south along the South Yorkshire Joint three times as well as Hatfield and Stainforth before before heading to Doncaster West Yard which it has also repeated today and looks to be repeating again tomorrow, though only two runs are diagrammed. There used to be a clearer shot over to the line here as evidenced by the two shots taken in May of the Steel train passing though, shown at the links given below, now it looks like shrubs and other small tress are starting to sprout and this will clearly turn into yet another green corridor through the woods in the years to come, if workings on this line last that long! This is 37612, ex-D6879 on the repeating run up up the Stocksbridge branch, 0F84, from Doncaster West Yard, close to the main lines through the station, and back to Doncaster Wert Yard, Light Engine/Route Learner/Video Capture/GPS/Radio testing train! It is now heading for Deepcar and speedy reversal and will be back in around 15 minutes so not time yet to rush off home for dinner. Some, brief, information about the class 37-

Number: 37612
Class: 37/6
Depot: KM - Kingmoor Yard SP (Carlisle)
Pool: Unknown
Livery: DZ - Direct Rail Services - Two Tone Compass Blue
Builder: English Electric Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns
Built: 02/10/1963
Works Number: E3357/8400
Number: D6879
Subsequent Numbering: 37179, 37691, 37612

In fact it turned out to be 20 minutes and could be heard 'warbling' along, now down-grade, tooting as it passed over the accommodation crossing in Wharncliffe Wood, some 3km to the north of here, so a useful indication of when it was about to pass through once again. Moving the viewpoint over to the south, reveals the rising ground towards the Peak National Park in the distance in the background, this shot looking directly to the west towards Damflask, Agden, Dale Dyke and Strines reservoirs, just over the hill. Smart looking loco, class 37, 37612, passed by smart-looking new-build houses, the one to the right above the loco looking as if they ran out of money to finish off the property at the right end! Its 18:42 and passing back down-grade towards Wadsley and Neepsend and then reversal at Woodburn Junction, this is the 0F84, Doncaster West Yard to Doncaster West Yard which entails three journeys up and down here. The next appearance here being in about 35 minutes and after that another run which will see it back at Woodburn Junction for 20:55, 30 minutes early so it must have been cracking on the whole time up and down the branch. Still no sign of any interest from the occupants of the houses who must have a grandstand view from the upstairs windows... The River Don flows through the wood in the trees behind the houses, down at the bottom of the bank on which the M.S.L.'s Woodhead line was built, a very long time ago now.. and this is the only bit left of it, surviving as it does on what used to be a week-daily run of the Aldwarke United Engineering Steel trains up to Stocksbridge Works, carrying billets for rolling in the mill up there, currently its down to 1 or 2 workings per week; the last one being yesterday, Monday 13th, with a red DBS class 60 on the haul..

Its been a long time, back in the field at Oughtibridge just south of the station and across the line from the site of the old Silica Fire Brickworks, connected to the main line via a spur across Station Lane to a junction at the north end of Oughtibridge Station. And, by way of re-introduction... The brickworks were fed with 'Ganister', the raw material to make the Silica bricks, from small quarries spread about in Great Hollins Wood, behind the camera and transported through the woodland by Tramways. Indeed, whilst walking and ambling about the place, 4 years ago, I found part of the rail of one of the tramways, see lower picture here, taken on November 8th, 2016, during the R.H.T.T. season which, at that time, still had workings which came up here, 3 times a week, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569263016/
The DRS class 20 workings stopped after the 2016 season when this shot was taken, and have not resumed rail-head clearance since, the job now being undertaken by an On-Track, 'Sandrover', converted Range Rover vehicle, see a selection of shots taken on 31st October, 2018, in this mosaic-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/43893627790/
taken further north along the line in Wharncliffe Wood. Today, its not, what used to be a daily, early evening, run of the steel train from Aldwarke U.E.S. to the Exchange Sidings at Ellen Wood for the Stocksbridge Steelworks, but a lone class 37 on what was thought to be route learning duties but may instead be video recording and tests of the GPS and Radio Links, there being no lineside signalling beyond Woodburn Junction's signal, W0218, for moves back onto the main line, the signal post being next to Woodburn Road bridge. Here, Colas operated class 37, 37612, ex-D6879, trundles up-grade towards Deepcar on the 0F84, Doncaster West Yard via Rotherham Central and reversal at Deepcar and back to Doncaster West Yard. Before it finally returned to base, it came up here twice more, reversing at Woodburn and arriving back through here an hour and two hours later. It came up on the diagram normally reserved for the 6J57 steel train working, departing Aldwarke at 18:13 and returning back from the Exchange Sidings at 20:30 which is what this loco did after the third trip up. The hou8ses in the background are built on the brickworks site and there is plenty of spent material, cinder, from the brickwork furnaces, at the bottom of the bank, next to the River Don, which apart from myself and, in the past, Adrian Wynn, no-one else took any notice of; the passage of the loco, 'warbling' away, did not attract any attention from the houses either. Some history of the shots taken in this location, and close by at Oughtibridge Station, can be found at the following links, the last two being EWS class 66 and 60 Stael trains, from 2015, the last time steel train moves were taken here-

Network Rail M.P.V. on the branch, May 28th, 2014-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49525241671/
Class 31 heading north, 11th November, 2014-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/15580319879/
R.H.T.T. at Oughtibridge Station, October 29th, 2015-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49556186392/
Work on the line & R.H.T.T., October 6th, 2016-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569496497/
R.H.T.T., November 8th, 2016-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch2/49569263231/

Steel Train, 6J57, EWS 66004, Aldwarke U.E.S. to Stocksbridge Works, 7th May, 2015-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49533788857/
and return working, 6J58, Stocksbridge Works to Aldwarke U.E.S., with DBS 60010, 20th May, 2015-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49538206472/

*Moving around to the Station Yard and its sidings, Adrian captured this shot, looking south towards Oughtibridge, Wadsley, Neepsend & Sheffield Victoria, from the 'end of the line', as it were, in the sidings at the buffer stops. At left is the plate layer's hut, just north of the Deepcar Signalbox which at this time was still in use, the signalman's motorcycle, the registration looks to start with FR which is for Lincoln and this conforms to the White front plate and yellow reflective rear plates, introduced in 1973; the other characters are hard to make out, even in the TIF image. There's what looks like a Guard's Van sat on one of the siding roads and a large, MBA-type, scrap wagon next to it. In the distance, some of the OHL equipment is once again extant and the shape of the surrounding land hasn't changed in the intervening years as the other pictures bear testament too. At centre, looking south along the singled line and taken on 9th July, 2019, the Plate Layers Hut is at right, with the door from which the earlier photograph was taken, visible, and burgeoning undergrowth everywhere including along the rickety, battered line-side fence. The line is in good condition as at this time, the nightly steel train was consistently up and down every week-day, 18:17 from Aldwarke U.E.S. with the return departing at 20:33 for arrival back at Aldwarke at 21:21. And, at far right, taken on a very bright sunny September day, 27th, 2018, looks back north through the ponce fenced off Yard area with the substantial station building in the background. The Yard has had various uses over the years and latterly saw burnt out caravans and other detritus as folk came and went. It is now open and empty but the new Bloor Housing estate is set to grow up from the River Don, off to the left and steeply down-grade, with the more expensive houses being here at the top; a new River crossing was put in last year, but all has now gone quiet,, maybe for obvious reasons. Two blue metal containers appear to have been left behind as well as, to be seen in the last picture, a large yellow, and now derelict excavator.

* The last of Adrian's 4 pictures is the one which hasn't been seen before, in the earlier upload it got left out and now its here, albeit taken in challenging light and the shot once more looks south, past the remnant of the original line behind the station, into the Ellen Wood Sidings and the Stocksbridge Steelworks. On the left, the coal bunkers for the local coal merchants as, at this time, Deepcar was still receiving consignments of coal for distribution in the local area. There is a wealth of interest in this shot, the coal bunkers, the Yard lamp standards, the corner of the signalbox, the wagon and Goods Van which have been moved out of the Yard and onto the main line, presumably to be moved soon or to make way for a consignment which is on its way. An old height warning bar, not sure what that would be for as there are no height restrictions I can think of, ahead of it but, this is a long time ago... The line on the right, to Ellen Wood, is cut off just a few feet further on, the main line north of the station having been slewed over to take the steel traffic that way, presumably so the Yard could eventually be cleared. Telegraph posts and in the distance the wide OHL structures march away towards Wharncliffe Side, I have no certain date for when these were removed and in fact Deepcar was only in operation until around this time, 1984/85 after which it was closed and stood, boarded up until 29th September, 1994 when it was subject to an arson attack, see-
www.stocksbridgehs.co.uk/collection/archive/railways/misc...

On the right, the 'traction' type which came after the DRS RHTT services were curtailed from the Branch Line work following the lats year of operation of loco hauled workings, 2016. I quote from the piece I did for his at the time, the year after this started as I couldn't find out when the Landrover ran, in the 1st year of operation...
'...After the discussion about the operation of the unit, today not being used in 'Citrus Mode', apparently this operation does not use Sandite and spraying, but a tank of Citrus solution to spray on the rail head as, I suppose, the citric acid dissolves the leaf gunk, while the rotating brushes, seen in the top views of the pictures here, clear the rail of the sticky gunk. The 'set' is now preparing to reverse back along the line to Blast Lane and at top left, Deepcar Station can be seen in the distance on the left with the Lever Frame and line curving around to the north-west to the Ellen Wood sidings, beyond that. The Deepcar Station signalbox was on the left, in front of the station building just about where the Stop board is now located. At lower left, the guys are on-board, the rear white lights have been illuminated, I suppose meaning that this is now the 'front' and this shot and the upper right one show the unit powering back down the grade, at around 5 minutes per mile; there don't appear to be any red warning light illuminated on what is now the 'back' of the unit, as would be the case with a real locomotive. This is the second type of non-standard 'unit' which I have managed to photograph along here, the other, in November, 2014,
'...utilised the new Network Rail - 'S.R.L.G.R.T.'; instead of wasting time removing leaf-gunk on both lines at the rate of 45 or so miles per hour, a more protracted approach is used at 2-3 m.p.h which utilises the new hi-tech (time for an acronym) S.R.L.G.R.T. maybe (single rail leaf gunk removal tool!), see-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/15842678656/
This was the 0P66(light engined person) working route 66, and if that wasn't serendipitous, I don't know what is! Quoted from that picture....'

and further-
'...The two guys, one a Network Rail employee, the other on contract from Aquarius Rail are out on the side of the track and are preparing to head back down grade, through Wharncliffe Wood, Oughtibridge, Beeley Wood, Wadsley Bridge, Owlerton/Wardsend, Parkwood Springs, Neepsend, the Sheffield Victoria site and finally Blast Lane Depot near Woodburn Junction. In this 2-part pan, the state of the land can be seen, the gradient and the location of the Upper Don Valley to the right of the discarded, rusting and vandalised, yellow excavator; left, I believe, when the last 'business' to occupy some of the space here vacated, the last of their caravan habitations having been set on fire and squashed flat. All of the lands between the Stocksbridge branch line on the left, now hosting the AquariusRail 'Road to Rail to Site' and 'Making Railway Tasks Simpler & Safer' vehicle, and the excavator on the right was festooned with lines coming off the main Woodhead line and fanning out towards the camera; it has all since 'greened-up' considerably. AquariusRail, Landrover DEFENDER, AR99790 976094-1 is on the 0XXX, last Lane Depot to Deepcar Station, Line Greasing/Sandite Point, working.
My thanks go to the two guys operating the Sand/Citrus/Scrubber vehicle for their patience with my questions and taking time out to talk to me and so provide the information for these picture narratives...'

The state of the lineside fence, mentioned earlier and that of the 'Yard' are clear to see and so it has remained. The excavator at right, which must have cost a fortune when new, has been left to rot, covered for a time, but that soon changed.. it still sits there expectantly, ready for work again, once it has had some T.L.C. ... probably worth more as scrap.. which is what this area is famous for!

*Ade's third shot of his set of four, given to me in 2013 and which have lain forgotten in one of my Rail books until this week, shows his shot facing south again from the down platform at the Station, looking along the fence towards Deepcar Signalbox; the plate layer's hut, still extant, can be seen just in front of the box. This was a difficult shot to process after making the scan as the blackness of the large, impressive station building cast deep shadow across the scene; the overly bright sky didn't help either. The platform paving stones have been removed, probably unofficially but the over-hanging shape at the front can be seen, possibly to protect the signal wire cable runs along the platform. The more significant cable hangers in the background, above the platform, were those carrying the 30kVAC between the rectifier buildings, one of which, the one at Wharncliffe Wood, was just 2km away to the south from here, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/imarch1/49529126451/
showing a DRS route learner 66427, in September 2014, passing the site and with some of the still extant artifacts of the facility, including the substantial building and ancillary outside support structures. The 'arm-thick' 30kVAC cable was supplied by BICC in 1km lengths and these had to be joined throughout the whole system inside what came to be known as 'coffins', as they resemble such, standing off the ground where the cables were joined. The 30kVAC had to supply the rectifiers with enough current to generate 1500VDC and around 1000 Amps; simple arithmetic will show that the input current, carried by the cables at the side of the track, had to be around 50Amps. One can only imagine the fun, present day cable thieves would have had with this installation running 30,000VAC ant 50 Amps; in the early hours, it would have been 'frying tonight'! There are many remnants of the substantial cable hangers and the 'coffins' throughout the MSL system along here and over to Dunford Bridge and extending as far south as the area where loco exchanges took place at Rotherwood, just north of Woodhouse Station. There's no fencing, no warnings and no protection for the MSL electrified system, something which would be unheard of in present times. In the signalbox, it is just possible to discern the signaller, I think, his silhouette set against the further window in the box, which looks out to one lone buffer stop at the southern end of the sidings. At centre the shot, taken in the RHTT season, on 29th October, 2013, so the same year Ade gave me the pictures, a DRS class 20, 20302, has drawn to a halt in front of the 'STOP' board, which is the limit to which the RHTT service ran, just south of the station building. The driver and second-man are changing ends, 20312 is at the rear with a rake of still reasonably clean FEA-B RHTT A Tank Wagons full of water with the Sandite units ready to start the return clearing operation. This is the 3S14, Rail Head Treatment Train, with 20302 and 20312 on the Sheffield to Wakefield Kirkgate working and it was another 4 years, in 2017, before this operation finally ceased and the vehicle, a modified Landrover, shown in the last picture of this set, took over operations on the Stocksbridge Branch line. The station building stands once more one the right, dark and dominant, in one of the only one of this set of pictures which, accidentally, matches Adrian's shot. At far right, more traction, had to get this one in as its the one recurring and frequent working along the line the nightly, up until recent weeks due to the downturn in business die to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Aldwarke to Stocksbridge Steel train. This shot was taken, on the 16th May, 2013, at the northern end of the line above the station, with the camera on the denuded Woodhead trackbed, where the line to the Steelworks curves off to the right, to the Ellen Wood Exchange sidings. The EWS class 66, 66067 is heading a lengthy and heavy 1500 tonnes, usually, bloom/billets load up the Woodhead grade of around 1 in 100, towards the sidings and is about to pass over the safety trap-points, for the return down-hill leg. The trap has been set for the loco to run on and just ahead the line curves around heading towards the Ellen Wood sidings. The second-man next boards the loco and proceeds on to the sidings with the driver, the set crossing the main A6102 between Deepcar and the Stocksbridge bypass before drawing to a halt at the end of the line just before the River Don bridge. Here, the load will be dropped off in the siding, the loco will move off and pick up last night's rolled material, and then taken back down to Aldwarke; a diesel shunter will move the metal to be processed into the Steelworks on the following morning... and so it continues... the work which is keeping this line open.. Straight ahead of the loco, next to where I am stood, was the two-track formation of the electrified Woodhead line though Wortley, Oxbridge, Penistone, and then on to Dunford Bridge and the Woodhead Tunnel, all now long gone..