Aldwarke Junction - The Location

The Location

The junction is northeast of the site of the former Parkgate and Rawmarsh station, which closed in 1968.

At this point the double track former Great Central Railway line from Sheffield Victoria to Mexborough (where it joined the South Yorkshire line to Doncaster) came within 50 yards of the four-track former North Midland Railway line from Leeds to Derby. The original junction was a double track cross-over (scissors crossing) taking traffic to and from the GC lines to the two "slow" lines of the North Midland in the direction of Leeds and to and from the "slow" lines of the North Midland to the GC, in the direction of Mexborough. Further cross-overs were installed to make possible a move from the "slow" to the "fast" lines ( and v.v.) on the North Midland at each end of the junction.

This gave access and egress via the GC to the northern end of the newly built Tinsley Marshalling Yard at Sheffield and to its southern end via a connection from the North Midland line at Treeton, south of Rotherham.

Operation of the junction and the immediate vicinity through new multiple aspect colour light signalling, four aspect on the Midland "fast" lines and three aspect on the Midland "slow" and G.C. lines, was installed controlled from a new power-operated signal box set just to the north of the scissors crossing. The signal box closed in the late 1970s when the new Sheffield power box took over responsibilities for the area, however the building remained, firstly as an emergency facility due to its strategic location, and later as a staff building.