Clayton West branch line

Clayton West branch line
Clayton West railway station
Overview
Locale	Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England
Coordinates	53°35′38″N 1°38′06″W / 53.594°N 1.635°W / 53.594; -1.635
Termini	Clayton West Junction Clayton West railway station
Stations	2
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (1879–1922) London and North Western Railway (1922–1923) London, Midland and Scottish Railway (1923–1948) British Railways (1948–1983)
Daily ridership	50 (average per day in 1982)
History
Opened	1 September 1879 (1879-09-01)
Closed	(To passengers) 24 January 1983 (1983-01-24) (To freight) October 1983
Technical
Line length	3.5 mi (5.6 km)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

v t e Clayton West branch line
Legend
Penistone line to Huddersfield Shepley railway station Down sidings Up sidings Clayton West Junction Penistone line to Penistone Shelley Woodhouse Tunnel Skelmanthorpe Emley Moor Colliery Goods Shed Colliery sidings Clayton West Proposed extension to Darton

The Clayton West branch line was a standard gauge passenger and freight railway near Huddersfield, in West Yorkshire, England. The line was built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, opening to traffic in September 1879. Many proposals were considered to extending the line eastwards towards Darton, and then connecting to Barnsley, but these never came to fruition. In 1963, both stations on the line, (Clayton West and Skelmanthorpe), were listed for closure under the Beeching cuts, but the branch survived as a passenger carrying railway until 1983. The branch also forwarded coal from two collieries adjacent to the line, which maintained a freight service on the branch up until closure.