Clayton railway station (England)

For the station of the same name in Melbourne, Australia, see Clayton railway station, Melbourne. For the station Clayton West in Kirklees, see Clayton West railway station.

Clayton
General information
LocationClayton, City of Bradford
England
Coordinates53°46′51″N 1°48′58″W / 53.780950°N 1.816030°W / 53.780950; -1.816030
Grid referenceSE122316
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyBradford and Thornton Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Northern Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
14 October 1878 (1878-10-14)Station opened
23 May 1955 (1955-05-23)Station closed for passengers
10 April 1961closed for goods

Clayton railway station was on the Great Northern Railway lines to Bradford, Keighley and Halifax via Queensbury, collectively known as the Queensbury Lines.

History

Former station master's house

The station served the village of Clayton in West Yorkshire, England. The station had an island platform and a reasonable goods yard. The station opened for passengers in 1878 and closed in 1955, but the goods yard and tunnel remained open as a through route to Thornton Station up until the early 1961 when it closed completely and the tracks were torn up.[1] The cutting and station site have been infilled and houses erected on the site. The Bradford portal of Clayton Tunnel has also been infilled.

Clayton tunnel

Clayton tunnel lay immediately west of Clayton railway station. During the construction of the 1,057 yd (967 m) tunnel in 1874, two workers were killed when their lift fell down No1 shaft. The man operating the lift was found to be drunk at the time of the accident.[2][3] The tunnel's eastern approach cutting has been infilled and built on since the railway's closure and, in 2012, cannabis was found being cultivated inside after a routine inspection by Carillion on behalf of British Railways Board (Residuary).

References

  1. ^ Armour, Chris (October 2005). "Clayton railway station". Disused Stations. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Clayton Tunnel". Forgotten relics of an enterprising age. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ^ Priestley, Mike (16 September 2006). "Double deaths in the tunnel depths". Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 24 November 2015.


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Queensbury   Great Northern Railway
Queensbury lines 		  Great Horton