Tinsley Marshalling Yard
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Sheffield_Railways_2005.png/350px-Sheffield_Railways_2005.png)
Tinsley was a
As of 2011, an intermodal road-rail freight terminal Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal (SIRFT) is located on part of the site; it was built c2008. A set of sidings is operated by
History
In 1961, a tenth of the rail-borne freight in Britain originated in the Sheffield district.[2] However, as with many areas, the provision of freight facilities had grown through cramped, piecemeal developments associated with the various operating companies that built Britain's rail system. With the region being one of the main heavy industry heartlands of Britain, government money was made available to remedy this situation. Central economic planning and economic self-sufficiency were government policy; the situation was seen as a major limit on Britain's economic growth.[citation needed]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Tinsley_Marshalling_Yard_from_the_control_tower%2C_Nigel_Tout%2C_6.8.74.jpg/220px-Tinsley_Marshalling_Yard_from_the_control_tower%2C_Nigel_Tout%2C_6.8.74.jpg)
The Sheffield district rail rationalisation plan of the 1960s called for the replacement of the majority of the marshalling yards in the Sheffield area with one large yard. A location on the Sheffield District line was chosen and work started in 1963 with new connections being built at Treeton, Broughton Lane and Tinsley South. The 80 yard Tinsley Wood Tunnel and approach cuttings were filled with some of the material excavated from the new yard, the remaining material being transported to a tip at Orgreave. The location allowed easy access to the brand new central Sheffield Freight Terminal at Grimesthorpe, and the new Freightliner terminal on the site of the Masborough Sorting Sidings in Rotherham, one of the many yards that Tinsley replaced.[3]
The locomotive depot opened in 1964, with diesel locomotives moving in from a temporary home in the old Grimesthorpe steam locomotive depot and Darnall diesel (former electric locomotive) depot, Darnall steam locomotive depot being closed to become a wagon-repair depot. Other steam locomotive depots at Millhouses and Canklow were closed and the last steam locomotives based in the Sheffield area were scrapped, along with many redundant sidings dotted about the area.
The Tinsley complex was opened by Dr Richard Beeching, former Chairman of the British Railways Board, on 29 October 1965.[4]
The yard
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Tinsley_Marshalling_Yard%2C_Sheffield%2C_1981_%28geograph_6888732%29.jpg/220px-Tinsley_Marshalling_Yard%2C_Sheffield%2C_1981_%28geograph_6888732%29.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Tinsley_Yard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_863066.jpg/220px-Tinsley_Yard_-_geograph.org.uk_-_863066.jpg)
From its outset, Tinsley was to be a "network yard": a major railfreight node where
At the time of opening, the yard was handling 3,000 wagons a day. Incoming trains were split in the 11 reception sidings, propelled over the hump in the yard, from where the individual wagons rolled down a slope and were automatically sorted into new trains on the yard's 50 main sorting
The
Decline
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Tinsley_Yard_01-10-05.jpg/220px-Tinsley_Yard_01-10-05.jpg)
From an early stage the yard was not used at capacity: by the late 1960s road competition was biting hard into the railways' goods traffic, and in particular the wagon-load freight that required
In 1981 the electrification was removed with the closure of the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath system.
On 17 December 1984
A few years later only the main sorting sidings remained: a part of these were to be used to stable steel trains destined for the Sheffield area; the rest of the remaining sidings were used to store surplus-to-requirements rolling stock in a poor state of repair. However, in 2007 the remaining sidings were lifted and a new, much smaller yard laid, additionally a new rail-linked distribution and goods transshipment centre – Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal (SIRFT) was constructed.
Post hump yard, 2000–
In 2006 the sidings at Tinsley reached the national news when Daniel Matthews, an engineering apprentice, took to the site and joyrode a Class 08 shunting engine up and down the tracks.[9]
In 2008 EWS operated the sidings at Tinsley.[10][11] As of 2011 the DB Cargo UK yard handles steel for Avesta Sheffield (now part of Outokumpu).[12]
Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal
In the mid-2000s, land adjacent to the northwestern area of the former yard was used for the construction of the Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal (SIRFT). The terminal consists of two warehouses of approximately 30,000 m2 (320,000 sq ft).[13] SIRFT is rail connected with through connections southwards and northwards, and is equipped to deal with conventional and containerised wagon loads.[10]
A third rail connected warehousing unit (of up to approximately 25,000 m2 (270,000 sq ft)) has approval for construction (as of 2011).[14] In 2017 it was reported that the loading gauge had been increased to the W10 standard to allow the facility to handle 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in) Hi-Cube containers.[15]
In 2021 Newell & Wright, a British road haulage company, opened an intermodal terminal on the site of the former marshalling yard. A new freight service between Felixstowe and the yard began in July 2021.[16] The service is a partnership between GB Railfreight and Maersk.[17]
See also
- Sheffield City Airport – former airport located just south of the marshalling yard
References
- ^ ISSN 1362-234X.
- ^ Third Rail Report, Sheffield Freight (Motion picture). British Transport Films. 1961.[dead YouTube link]
- ISBN 978-0-7110-3697-0.
- ISBN 0-85206-553-1.
- ^ "From The Railway Magazine Archives – 50 Years Ago". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 161, no. 1370. May 2015. p. 108.
- ^ "Tinsley Yard nearing completion". Railway Magazine. Vol. 111, no. 769. London: Tothill Press. May 1965. p. 295.
- ISSN 0033-8923.
- ISSN 0033-8923.
- ^ "Train buff in locomotive joyride". BBC News. BBC. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
- ^ a b "SIRFT – First for road & rail – Rail freight access & operations" (PDF). www.heliosproperties.com. November 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "The 2008 Network Statement – Connected Facilities Details" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ Cleland, Ian (November 2011). "Rail Served Metal Products Handling Locations (Version 1)". Network Rail. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "Sheffield International Rail Freight Terminal, SIRFT, Sheffield, S1". www.novaloca.com. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "SIRFT3 – A joint venture scheme between Peveril Securities and Sladen Estates". portal.cbre.eu. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
- ^ "SIRFT Sheffield – Distribution Facilities for the Logistics Market, Sheffield | Rail". www.sirftsheffield.com. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "New daily freight service from Felixstowe to Tinsley for Freightliner". Railpage. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ Zasiadko, Mykola (11 May 2021). "GB Railfreight delivers Maersk containers from Port of Felixstowe to hinterland | IntermodalNews EU". Intermodal News. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- Baker, Stuart K. (May 2001) [1977]. Rail Atlas Great Britain & Ireland (9th ed.). Hersham: Oxford Publishing Co. p. 56, section B2. ISBN 0-86093-553-1. 0105/H.
- Pixton, Bob (2001). North Midland, Portrait of a Famous Route: Part Two: Chesterfield-Sheffield-Rotherham. Cheltenham: Runpast. ISBN 1-870754-51-4.
Further reading
- Rhodes, Dr. Michael (January 1986). "Tinsley - All change for the future". OCLC 49957965.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Official 1960s film showing shunting procedures at Tinsley Yard
- "SIRFT Sheffield – Distribution Facilities for the Logistics Market, Sheffield – SIRFT". www.sirftsheffield.com. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- "Our Developments :: Helios Properties – SIRFT". www.heliosproperties.com. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- "Sirft3 – Video brochure". www.sirft3.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2012.