Lees Moor Tunnel - 1,533yds.
Lees Moor Tunnel is a long abandoned railway tunnel on the former Great Northern Railway line between Queensbury and Keighley in West Yorkshire, The former dual track Tunnel is just north of the Cullingworth, Reports suggest the due to the pitch black darkness inside and the deafening squealing from the wheels on the 1 in 50 radius curve that drivers and traincrew nicknamed it the “Hell Hole” after closure to passenger traffic the tunnels saw brief use in various experiments involving the effects of smoke inhalation and cancer. The railway line was promoted under the Halifax, Thornton & Keighley Railway act from 1873, despite objections form the Midland Railway and the Lanarkshire and Yorkshire Railways the Great Northern bid was successful and the line opened to goods traffic in April 1884, Lees Moor Tunnel took almost 6 years to finish with work starting at the Cullingworth end in 1878 and full completion in 1884, The ground through which the tunnel was bored was almost solid rock and had a radius of 1 in 50 with a decline of 1 in 78 towards Keighley. This meant that a train leaving Cullingworth going to Keighley actually entered the tunnel heading west and when leaving the tunnel at its northern portal it was heading north east. The tunnel was built without ventilation shafts and so became hazardous for crews on slower trains due to greasy rails on the line going up from Ingrow East railway station, a train could take almost ten minutes to clear Lees Moor Tunnel even experienced crews told how they used to lie flat on the cab of the steam engine to try and get more air to breathe. In 1887, it was suggested that the northern portal would be useful as the position of a junction for a new railway over the moors to Colne, The projected railway would head westwards past cross roads and would use overbridges and viaducts to cross the Worth Valley Railway line a 90 degree angle before going on through Stanbury and Trawden and down into Colne. The Great Northern were favoured for this project as their railway climbed so high out of the Worth Valley as opposed to the Midland line which stayed on the valley floor. The entire line from Queensbury to Keighley was closed to passengers in May 1955 with closure to goods traffic in May 1956. After closure, After closure the eastern portal was bricked up and the northern portal was gated so that the tunnel could be used for caravan and motorhome storage. The roof of the tunnel had to be lined with polythene sheeting as no ventilation shafts were present in the construction resulting in a heavy moisture atmosphere…After two failed attempts to gain access we finally secured a set of ladders long enough to safely gain entry ladders had the be extended to nearly 20ft...One of my most memorable tunnels from the West Yorkshire set although once the stored caravans are reached its very repetitive, we had a mooch right up to the northern portal, lots of decaying caravans not sure I’d pay to store one in those conditions, this tunnels is riddled with moisture ingress and spalling brick and stone work lots of missing mortar in the crown no doubt from years of water ingress and little maintenance work, Cable hangers / pulley wheels line the walls throughout and regular brick refuges are present cut into the stone walls. Once we reached the caravans the first dozen or so were in poor condition one had even collapsed its probable that they break redundant caravans within the tunnel, the debris littering the trackbed would more than likely confirm this theory, I stopped photographing at this point as there’s little of interest plus it’s probably not wise to display such things, We tried to photograph the northern portal but access was denied although the portal has been disguised to look more like a factory unit. The amount of water falling from the roof was biblical as can be seen from the photos.
Thanks All.
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Lees Moor Tunnel is a long abandoned railway tunnel on the former Great Northern Railway line between Queensbury and Keighley in West Yorkshire, The former dual track Tunnel is just north of the Cullingworth, Reports suggest the due to the pitch black darkness inside and the deafening squealing from the wheels on the 1 in 50 radius curve that drivers and traincrew nicknamed it the “Hell Hole” after closure to passenger traffic the tunnels saw brief use in various experiments involving the effects of smoke inhalation and cancer. The railway line was promoted under the Halifax, Thornton & Keighley Railway act from 1873, despite objections form the Midland Railway and the Lanarkshire and Yorkshire Railways the Great Northern bid was successful and the line opened to goods traffic in April 1884, Lees Moor Tunnel took almost 6 years to finish with work starting at the Cullingworth end in 1878 and full completion in 1884, The ground through which the tunnel was bored was almost solid rock and had a radius of 1 in 50 with a decline of 1 in 78 towards Keighley. This meant that a train leaving Cullingworth going to Keighley actually entered the tunnel heading west and when leaving the tunnel at its northern portal it was heading north east. The tunnel was built without ventilation shafts and so became hazardous for crews on slower trains due to greasy rails on the line going up from Ingrow East railway station, a train could take almost ten minutes to clear Lees Moor Tunnel even experienced crews told how they used to lie flat on the cab of the steam engine to try and get more air to breathe. In 1887, it was suggested that the northern portal would be useful as the position of a junction for a new railway over the moors to Colne, The projected railway would head westwards past cross roads and would use overbridges and viaducts to cross the Worth Valley Railway line a 90 degree angle before going on through Stanbury and Trawden and down into Colne. The Great Northern were favoured for this project as their railway climbed so high out of the Worth Valley as opposed to the Midland line which stayed on the valley floor. The entire line from Queensbury to Keighley was closed to passengers in May 1955 with closure to goods traffic in May 1956. After closure, After closure the eastern portal was bricked up and the northern portal was gated so that the tunnel could be used for caravan and motorhome storage. The roof of the tunnel had to be lined with polythene sheeting as no ventilation shafts were present in the construction resulting in a heavy moisture atmosphere…After two failed attempts to gain access we finally secured a set of ladders long enough to safely gain entry ladders had the be extended to nearly 20ft...One of my most memorable tunnels from the West Yorkshire set although once the stored caravans are reached its very repetitive, we had a mooch right up to the northern portal, lots of decaying caravans not sure I’d pay to store one in those conditions, this tunnels is riddled with moisture ingress and spalling brick and stone work lots of missing mortar in the crown no doubt from years of water ingress and little maintenance work, Cable hangers / pulley wheels line the walls throughout and regular brick refuges are present cut into the stone walls. Once we reached the caravans the first dozen or so were in poor condition one had even collapsed its probable that they break redundant caravans within the tunnel, the debris littering the trackbed would more than likely confirm this theory, I stopped photographing at this point as there’s little of interest plus it’s probably not wise to display such things, We tried to photograph the northern portal but access was denied although the portal has been disguised to look more like a factory unit. The amount of water falling from the roof was biblical as can be seen from the photos.
Thanks All.
View attachment
View attachment 922749
Thanks for looking, See you next time...
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