Queensbury
A view of the former viaduct at the former site of Queensbury station.
General information
Location	Queensbury,City of Bradford England
Coordinates	53°46′34″N1°50′26″W / 53.77613°N 1.84064°W /53.77613; -1.84064
Grid reference	SE105311
Platforms	3 (1879–1890) 6 (1890–1955)
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
April 1879	Opened
January 1890	Station re-sited
May 1955	Closed to passengers
1963	Closed completely
Location

Queensbury railway station was a station on theQueensbury lines serving the village ofQueensbury,West Yorkshire,England. The station was unusual due to its triangular shape, and at its opening the only other examples of this arrangement wereAmbergate station inDerbyshire andEarlestown inLancashire; since thenShipley station, also inWest Yorkshire, has gained platforms on all three sides.^[1] Of the stations on the Queensbury lines, this was the most ambitious.

v t e Queensbury railway station
Legend
ToKeighley Thornton Thornton Viaduct Queensbury Original 1879 station Queensbury Tunnel Clayton Tunnel Holmfield Clayton ToHalifax ToBradford Exchange

The station was located some distance away from the town itself, and at a considerably lower altitude; Queensbury is one of the highest settlements in England and the station was built at around 400 feet (120 m) lower than the village. Access was via a poorly lit footpath.^[2] Although the first line through Queensbury opened in 1878, it was not until April 1879 that the original station was built.^[3][4] This station had only three platforms, and was east of the junction where the lines fromBradford toHalifax andKeighley diverged.^[5] The third platform was a dead end providing a place for the Keighley trains to stop and start from.^[6] Queensbury station was 5 miles (8 km) from Halifax,4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) from Bradford Exchange, and 8 miles (13 km) from Keighley.^[7]

By 1890, a newer station slightly to the west was opened, which had six platforms, (two each on the three arms of the junction) and a new access road to connect to the town.^[8] The new road provided by theGreat Northern Railway cost £3,000 and the station cost £15,000 (both costing the equivalent to £2,502,000 in 2023).^[9][10] There were also three signal boxes at the station, one for each junction on the three station approaches (fromBradford,Keighley andHalifax respectively). However, in 1935, two of them were closed with all control worked from the East signalbox.^[11] The lack of level ground for the layout meant that some parts needed to be filled with rubble and stone before they could be developed, with the platforms on the Bradford-Keighley side, being built on a three-arch viaduct.^[9] However, some space was given over to goods workings; a small yard was behind the Halifax-bound platform from the Bradford direction, and a single line serving a tip in the middle of the station's triangle was served by a spur line from the Halifax-Keighley side of the lines.^[12] The station was listed as being able to handle general goods and livestock, but did not have its own fixed crane.^[13]

The triangular nature of the station was not unique; Ambergate railway station in Derbyshire had the same arrangement (six platforms).^[14] However, its platforms have been rationalised, as have those atForres andBishop Auckland (both triangular junctions). Bairstow argues that Earlestown and Shipley do not count, as Earlestown Manchester-bound platforms are tacked on further down, and Shipley has never had six platforms at the same time across all lines - the Leeds-bound platforms were added in 1979 and 1992, by which time, the Bradford-Skipton platforms had been reduced to one.^[15]

In 1949, the Halifax-Keighley platforms were little used. Most trains between the two towns didn't stop at Queensbury, but occasional and special services did.^[5] The arrival of trams in the town of Queensbury in 1901 affected passenger numbers. People arriving on train did not look forward to the climb out of the station along a poorly lit road, preferring to use the tram.^[16] In the 1920s, buses starting calling at the town, and Sunday services on the line were removed in December 1938.^[17] The station was closed to passengers in May 1955, and closed completely in 1963.^[18][19] Almost all of the station infrastructure has now been demolished.^[20]

The station at Queensbury has been filled in by inert landfill.^[21] The viaduct in the photograph has been demolished and nothing remains except a pile of rubble.^[22] The only real trace of the station is a little iron footbridge and the portal ofQueensbury Tunnel. Clayton tunnel west portal can be found in a large crater that has not been infilled just beyond the iron footbridge.

The station site is one of the trailheads onThe Great Northern Railway Trail that forms a path to Cullingworth along the former trackbed.^[23]

Due to the station layout (the main station footbridge and building were at the east end of the station), catching a train at Queensbury was known to be difficult at times. Martin Bairstow commented in one of his books that when his grandparents used the line, they waited to see which way the train turned when it arrived at Queensbury as to whether or not they should stay on the train, or alight at the station.^[24]

In 1882, the Bradshaw's Timetable lists 25 workings from the Bradford direction which stopped at Queensbury. Some were direct trains from Leeds Central, others started at Bradford Exchange, and some of the trains were destined to terminate atThornton railway station, the passenger service beyond Thornton not starting until 1884.^[25][6] In 1906, around 20 trains called at Queensbury en-route from Bradford, to Halifax and Keighley. The timetable blends all three services, so as is mentioned above, it is hard to see which trains are direct and which ones are the connections.^[26] In 1910, services from Queensbury per day amounted to 17 to Keighley, 18 to Halifax and 20 to Bradford. Timetabling connectivity meant that most services had a frequency which saw three trains arrive at the station within minutes of each, and allow passengers to interchange in any direction.^[27]

By 1944, and with theLNER running services, trains from Bradford to Halifax numbered twelve, Bradford to Keighley six, and a similar number for Keighley to Halifax.^[28] In July 1947, the pattern was still twelve services to Halifax from Bradford, seven from Bradford to Keighley, and five from Keighley to Halifax.^[29]

• Bairstow, Martin (2015).The Queensbury Lines. Farsley: Bairstow.ISBN 978-1-871944-44-0.
• Joy, David (1984).South and West Yorkshire : (the industrial West Riding) (2 ed.). Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas.ISBN 0946537119.
• Neale, Mark (2008).Along familiar lines : the human story of railways in the Bradford area. Bradford: City Gent Publications.ISBN 9780952079934.
• Young, Alan (2015).Lost stations of Yorkshire; the West Riding. Kettering: Silver Link. p. 92.ISBN 978-1-85794-438-9.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toQueensbury railway station.

• Subterranea Britannica
• The Queensbury WebsiteArchived 21 December 2007 at theWayback Machine
• Forgotten RelicsArchived 9 May 2008 at theWayback Machine
• Lost Railways West Yorkshire
• Queensbury station on navigable 1947 O. S. map

• Former railway stations in Bradford
• Former Great Northern Railway stations
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1890
• Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963

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