The Dearne Valley Railway
"The Dearne Valley Railway (DVR) was a railway line which ran through the valley of the River Dearne in South Yorkshire. It was incorporated by an Act of Parliament on 6 August 1897 to build a line between Brierley Junction, on the main line of the Hull and Barnsley Railway, to junctions with the Great Northern Railway and the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway south east of Doncaster.
Although the line was considered an independent company it was worked by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR). It opened in sections over 7 years from 1902.
Construction was complete by 1908-9 the work being carried out by contractors Naylor Bros., Gates and Hogg, Henry Lovatt, and Whittaker Bros. At first, only goods traffic was carried. Passenger trains came to the line on 3 June 1912 running between Wakefield Kirkgate and Edlington with intermediate halts serving Ryhill, Grimethorpe, Great Houghton, Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe, Harlington and Denaby.
The LYR amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922; the combined organisation (also known as the London and North Western Railway) absorbed the DVR on the same day. It duly passed to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923.
Passenger services ceased on 10 September 1951, the last trains having run on 9 September.
Goods traffic continued but several changes were made to the track layout. The lines between (near) Grimethorpe Colliery and Brierley Junction and from Grimethorpe Colliery and Edlington were closed on the opening of a new connection from the Midland Railway's main line near Houghton in 1966. The Dearne Valley connection to Yorkshire Main Colliery at Edlington was removed in May 1972, the colliery being served by a connection to St. Catherine's Junction on the South Yorkshire Joint Railway, the junctions here being rebuilt in connection with the Doncaster area re-signalling in early May 1977.
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Conisbrough Viaduct
A wonderful webpage has details of the construction of the viaduct as it was actually being built.
The main details of the viaduct are as follows...
"It is the great and most distinctly engineering feature of the number four section of the new railway, the final portion of the line from Conisbrough Cliff to Cadeby, at a point locally known as “Coddy Holes,” and in the centre it will be 115 feet above the river Don. It is to consist of 21 arches, 14 in the Western or Cadeby bank of the river, and seven on the eastern or Conisbrough bank, which will be connected by an iron girder bridge spanning the historical river Don itself.
Each of the arches will ever span of 55 feet, varying in height from 40 feet at the eastern and western extremities to 115 feet in the centre. The girder bridge across the river will have a span of 150 feet. The total length of the viaduct will be 528 yards, or a quarter of a mile and 88 yards."
Further details of the construction can be found
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Current Use of the viaduct
The viaduct remained in the hands of British Rail and then BRB (Residuary) until 2001 when agreement was reached for its transfer to Railway Paths Ltd. Although the deck was unofficially used as a footpath for several years, Sustrans laid a tarmac path across it in 2010, forming a link to the Trans Pennine Trail at its north-western end.
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The Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) is an exciting route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders linking the North and Irish seas, passing through the Pennines, alongside rivers and canals and through some of the most historic towns and cities in the North of England.
The Trail from coast-to-coast between Southport and Hornsea is 215 miles (346Km) long."
A north-south route connecting Leeds and Chesterfield, a spur to York and a spur to Kirkburton means there are approximately 370 miles (595 km) of Trans Pennine Trail available to explore."
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This viaduct is on the north-south section of the route. At this point the trail has a low route, opened before the bridge was converted for use as a high level route. The low level route largely follows the River Don,but has a diversion away from the river between here and Mexborough.