The Hull & Barnsley Railway (H&BR) was built in the 1880s to provide an
additional trading route inland from the busy port of Hull. At the time the
North Eastern Railway Company had a monopoly of transporting goods out of the port
and local traders wanted a means of breaking that monopoly. To this end a
new port, the Alexandra Dock, was built for the sole purpose as a freight terminal
for the H&BR. The railway was gradually closed in stages from as early
as the 1930s onwards, until only a short section remained in Hull serving the local
chemical works. A stretch of the line just south of Selby was reopened in
the 1970s to deliver coal to the newly built Drax Power Station, the largest coal
fired power station in Europe. Below are a few photographs of the remains
of the railway around the Carlton and Drax areas.
Links of Interest:
The Hull & Barnsley Railway Stock
Fund - Helping to preserve rolling stock from the H&BR
The Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire
Transport Review - Has a section with some excellent photos of the H&BR
References of Interest:
Hull and Barnsley Railway, B Hinchcliffe
Locomotives of the Hull and Barnsley Railway, Ron Prattley
The Train Now Standing: Life and Times of the Hull and Barnsley Railway v. 1, Ted
Dodsworth |