Peak Rail Presents - Doug Copley's Lineside Images #15.1 Train 7Y40 Kiveton Colliery -Bolsover 1994

Doug gave annual shows to Peak Rail Sheffield Branch. When he died in 2008 his films were kindly made available to the Peak Railway Association by his family. Before following the loaded journey proper, the first 5 minutes introduce the Coalite plant at Bolsover with its Rolls Royce powered 0-6-0 Sentinel shunter, then Kiveton Colliery where the concrete loading-pad has a pair of JCB front-bucket-loaders busily filling an mgr rake. Finally to Worksop where the loco and wagons for 7Y40 originate. The road entrance to the depot is at the foot of the southern side of the rail overbridge where the vintage Worksop West signalbox stands above on.the northern side. Briefly move east to see the handsome station and Worksop East signalbox and level crossing, with a passing oil train and Class 153 on the local stopping service Lincoln-Gainsborough-Retford-Worksop-Sheffield. At Worksop West the Class 58 and mgr empties wait impatiently for the Class 153 to pass, so they can get under way to Kiveton Colliery to load. Chronology of 7Y40: fine arrays of semaphores as 7Y40 departs Worksop West and passes Shireoaks East Jct signalbox where the 'Robin Hood' line diverges for Mansfield and Nottingham. pass Shireoaks level crossing, signalbox and station, immediately behind which runs the Chesterfield Canal and towpath. Brancliffe East Jct signalbox, isolated and remote, originally one side of a triangular junction where the Midland & GC 'Shireoaks, Laughton & Maltby Railway' diverges northwards for Dinnington. Two years later this was absorbed into the 'South Yorkshire Joint Railway' - Midland, GC, GN, NER and L&YR - and stretched to Kirk Sandall Jct on the GC Doncaster-Stainforth line. At peak, the South Yorkshire Joint served 8 collieries. next pass Kiveton Park station with level crossing and signalbox which controls access into Kiveron Park colliery where.... 58032 runs forward into the grass at the end of the shunting neck so that the rear wagons are alongside the coal loading-pad. Progressively the train is reversed for loading the middle and then the front wagons, and thus clearing the points for accessing the exit road. after waiting for a Sheffield 'Paytrain' to call, 58032 makes a spirited exit from the colliery and through Kiveton Bridge station with 7Y40. pursuing the Class 153 past the site of the former Brookhouse Colliery, then being ripped apart by open-cast mining. on high embankment crossing the Chesterfield - Rotherham Masborough 'Old Road' which is below at right angles. crossing the River Rother on a six-arch brick viaduct. Bedgreave Viaduct was to be 36 arches but after flooding during construction many piers collapsed, probably like dominoes, and were replaced by embankment. Woodhouse Junction run-around sidings, formerly wagon reception roads for the branch serving Birley Colliery. after run-around, pass Beighton Station signalbox and level crossing and the (then) recently closed extensive Beighton Junction Permanent Way Engineers Depot and sidings alongside the River Rother. This site was once mooted for re-use as a track maintenance depot for now postponed eastern leg of HS2. waiting at Beighton Junction to join the 'Old Road' whilst a Class 56 bowls south on bogie bolster empties, and a Class 37 moves a p.w. engineer's train off the remains of the Westhorpe Colliery Branch and heads northwards for Rotherham. continuing south on the 'Old Road' past the site of former Renishaw Park Colliery, and Slitting Mill to reach Foxlow Junction, north of Barrow Hill. 'Slittingmill Farm' name derives from the site of a slitting mill constructed by George Sitwell in the 1650s, used to split iron bars from his furnaces at nearby Renishaw Ironworks into thin strips for the production of nails. from the southbound 'Old Road' at Foxlow Junction, diverge east onto the spur to Hall Lane Junction to join onto the line which branches from the northbound 'Old Road' at Barrow Hill. through Staveley Town (closed 1952) to the 'modern' Seymour Junction signalbox at the site of former sidings where the line now splits into 2 single-track branches, LEFT for Oxcroft Colliery. Clowne, & 'Robin Hood' line at Elmton & Cresswell, or RIGHT for Markham Colliery and Bolsover. the Annetts key for the groundframe at Bolsover Coalite is collected from Seymour Junction signalman. pass closed Markham Colliery which was then being dismembered. at Coalite, pass then set-back splitting 7Y40 into the 2 reception sidings. merge 2 sidings of empties, then proceed forward through the remains of Bolsover Colliery to the run-around loop. after run-around the empties depart under new identity 6K01 and re-trace steps to Seymour Junction to hand back the Annetts key. This was all filmed in 1994. Kiveton Colliery closed on friday 30.9.1994 and the last train to Bolsover Coalite ran two days earlier on wednesday 28.9.1994. For more information on the Peak Railway Association please visit our website https://peakrailwayassociation.co.uk/