THE FUTURE - CORTONWOOD EXTENSION

Please use the numbered thumbnails above the map to view the extension trackbed and the work required. For the latest news on the project, please click here.

Please donate online using the link below and help us to complete the extension!

The Elsecar Heritage Railway plan to relay a further mile of track on the Elsecar branch to a new terminus adjacent to the retail park at Cortonwood. Please use the numbered links on the map above to view the task that lies ahead. The Cortonwood Retail Park was constructed on the site of the former colliery, at the same time as the construction of the new A6195 Dearne Valley Parkway. Cortonwood Colliery was famous for being the starting place for the 1984 National Miners Strike. As part of the expansion plans of the railway, it is hoped to remember the history of the site by means of a suitable memorial at the station. Currently, the major obstacle to the Cortonwood expansion plans is raising the funds to install a level crossing at Tingle Bridge Lane, the current terminus of the line. The remainder of the trackbed is still relatively intact, with just another small level crossing at Smithy Bridge lane to reinstate, although the original rails are still in place here. Once complete the extension to Cortonwood will provide an exciting new link for shoppers from Elsecar and Hemingfield to the retail park and an extended ride on a heritage railway for tourists.

In addition to the extension of the line to Cortonwood, it is also intended to improve other facilities on the line. At the current terminus of Hemingfield, a run round loop and small station halt is planned, to give both greater operational flexibility and to serve the village of Hemingfield & the Elephant & Castle Public House. 

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Elsecar Railway 2011