History (from the honourable @Doug Judy)
The 321 yard long Keele Tunnel in Staffordshire was located on the North Staffordshire Railway’s Stoke to Market Drayton Line, Built in 1859 from red brick following a completely straight course with some masonry coping on each portal, it has several refuges on either side, the lining face exhibits six rings of brick, originally bored for twin track it’s now single with the line being slewed into the central position in October 1934, In 1962 a new chord was constructed at Madeley which provided a connection to the West Coast Mainline, this was used during the Harecastle realignment project due to the closure of Harecastle Tunnel! It continued to see use from freight traffic until 1966 when the Creamery at Pipe Gate closed, Passenger services finished during the Beeching Axe in 1964, Freight traffic kept the line open with traffic from Apedale & Sliverdale Collieries, However in 1998 once the collieries had ceased trading the line was finally closed. A lot of track lifting was carried out in 2009 although some still remains, there is plans to reopen this branch line although it is deemed low priority.
Explore
After sliding down the hill from the hill above (to much fun!) we arrived at the Half pallisaded fence of the northern portal. It's awesome to see a train tunnel with track still remaining, some awesome graff aswell. If you want to see a man whos far better at lighting up tunnels than me, Have a look at his report.
northern portal
and southern portal.
The 321 yard long Keele Tunnel in Staffordshire was located on the North Staffordshire Railway’s Stoke to Market Drayton Line, Built in 1859 from red brick following a completely straight course with some masonry coping on each portal, it has several refuges on either side, the lining face exhibits six rings of brick, originally bored for twin track it’s now single with the line being slewed into the central position in October 1934, In 1962 a new chord was constructed at Madeley which provided a connection to the West Coast Mainline, this was used during the Harecastle realignment project due to the closure of Harecastle Tunnel! It continued to see use from freight traffic until 1966 when the Creamery at Pipe Gate closed, Passenger services finished during the Beeching Axe in 1964, Freight traffic kept the line open with traffic from Apedale & Sliverdale Collieries, However in 1998 once the collieries had ceased trading the line was finally closed. A lot of track lifting was carried out in 2009 although some still remains, there is plans to reopen this branch line although it is deemed low priority.
Explore
After sliding down the hill from the hill above (to much fun!) we arrived at the Half pallisaded fence of the northern portal. It's awesome to see a train tunnel with track still remaining, some awesome graff aswell. If you want to see a man whos far better at lighting up tunnels than me, Have a look at his report.
northern portal
and southern portal.
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