Elsecar Mining Memorial(Cortonwood Station)

Well folks.... The crossing is in at Tingle Bridge Lane and vegetation clearance has begun at Cortonwood Station, and along the trackbed.
A Memorial Park and Gardens are planned at the 3 acre site to commemorate 300 years of Coal mining in South Yorkshire, at the place where the 1984 strike began.
Watch this space!
Meanwhile, does anyone know where there is a spare water crane?
Del T.

 

Elsecar Heritage Railway announce major funding boost..........with a little help from our friends.
That means YOU! We are South Yorkshire finalists in the Peoples Millions £50,000 Lottery competition.
If we receive most votes on 25th November we will receive the money for our Cortonwood Colliery site, where the mining memorial park is planned next to the station. Please help by voting on the day by phone (10p). The number is only released on voting day, and will appear here.

 

Heritage Railway Magazine champion Cortonwood project.
Vote for coal in the peoples poll.

 

Voting Day Monday.
Enough votes will mean £50 000.
You can vote 10 times from a mobile and a further 10 times from a landline.
Please help make Cortonwood a reality, and help us double the length of our line to two miles.
Yours could be the wining call.
The number will be in the Daily Mirror, and on our website, and on the peoples millions we page.
Del T

 

On behalf of everyone here at Elsecar I would like to thank everyone who voted for our project.
We Won!!!

 

Cortonwood Station vegetation clearance complete, and 300m trackbed ready for ballast.

 

View towards Smithy Bridge Lane level crossing. 20th December 2013.
The old trackbed is remarkably solid with plenty of ballast in evidence.
A cold turkey and mince pie working party is being planned for Saturday 28thDeecember to start tidying after the digger.
Text 07738231639 if you want to come along.

 

Here is a belated update.
We now have continuous metals from Elsecar to the buffer stops at Cortonwood.
Just 1000 tons more ballast needed.........Below :Cortonwood Station picnic lawn

 

Well done great to see!

 

What is the latest progress at Elsecar? The Railways website is quiet on developments.

 

The project remains abandoned since October 2014. More info on Elsecar Heritage Railway Archive facebook page.

 

5 minuites on Face ache shows that work is still in progress - 170 tonnes of ballest delivered 31/10/16

it this a case of Alternative Facts -

 

It seems a bit like WSRA history on a much smaller scale.

 

It would appear that 'tilling' was removed as Chairman by the board in 2014.
The archive site referred to above seems to be a personal record of his achievements, whereas the main Elsecar Railway Facebook site shows the current state of play.

Looks like a falling out has occurred...


Keith

 

Glad to see its progressing again now. It's a railway with so much potential. Heritage centre and newcomer engine at one end. Preserved colliery in the middle and development site at the other. Best of luck to them.

 

Very bad news from this little railway...
https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/local-news/elsecar-heritage-railways-future-doubt-18820835

Hopefully we will soon hear something more positively about its future.

 

It doesn’t make good reading.
Does anyone know where Peckett 2150 ( Maerdy Monster) has gone? It just seems to have disappeared.

 

An important survivor reflecting the industrial historical context of the Yorkshire coalfield but there are perhaps greater priorities.

 

I know it was up for sale in May 2020, but have not heard anything since.

 

Last time I was at Elsecar just before Lockdown it was sat in the shed still, looking 85% complete, boiler on etc but with no motion fitted.

Its a shame, but the site does/did seem to have stagnated so I'm not massively suprised that this has happened.

Chris