page_title: Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Disused Railway line
context_page_description: The Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway was a joint line which ran from Aire Junction, on the main line of the Hull and Barnsley Railway, near Gowdall to the Great Central and Midland Joint Railway at Braithwell Junction.
context_section_description: The line originally was to be worked by the Hull and Barnsley Railway and the Midland Railway; later in the planning stage the North Eastern Railway was offered running powers which resulted in the opposition of the Great Central. Eventually an act of parliament was passed in 1909 with the line as a joint H&BR and GC operation. The line opened on 1 May 1916.
  The first closure came in 1939 with the south curve at York Road but the first main line closure, that from Bullcroft Junction to Aire Junction, took place in October 1958, however about one mile of this track was reopened in December 1961 and extended to Thorpe Marsh Power Station. This arrangement lasted until September 1970 when a new connection was put in from the WR&GR. Also in September 1970 the lines from Bullcroft Colliery to Skellow and Bullcroft Junction to Doncaster Junction closed. Warmsworth to Sprotborough closed in February 1969 and Warmsworth to Braithwell in March 1969 although this line had not seen through traffic for over 20 years.
  In later years the line was used for wagon storage. First in the Second World War the southern section was used for the storage of 'cripples' – wagons repairable but with no time and no facilities to do the work in the war. It continued after the war with the line south of Warmsworth Junction being unavailable for traffic.
  The development of the coalfield north of Doncaster did not, at that time, materialise and traffic was always 'light'. It was not until the line had been closed that the Selby Coalfield came on stream.
caption: Former trackbed of the Hull and Barnsley and Great Central Joint Railway north of Thorpe in Balne
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