IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Swinton Meadows Industrial Estate, Meadow Way, MEXBOROUGH, S64 8AB

The Great Central Railway's route from Sheffield northwards is paralleled by the Sheffield & South Yorkshire navigation at the former Swinton station in 1979. In the background is the signalbox controlling the junction between the routes to Barnsley (left) and Mexborough (right). The train is heading from Sheffield to Doncaster along what was in 1979 the only passenger route between the two, having used the ex-Midland route via Rotherham Masborough, before switching to the ex-GC line at Aldwarke.

Looking upstream. Low Meadow to the left.

Opened in 1872 by the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway, which later changed its name to the Great Central Railway, on the line from Rotherham Central to Doncaster, this station closed to passengers in 1958. View north east towards Mexborough and Doncaster. The north end of the 2 parallel platforms would have been immediately below the camera position (the line was later singled) but the modern Talbot Road bridge has been built right over the top of where the station building would have been.

Overgrown steps leading down from Talbot Road bridge to . . . well, nowhere in particular

The canal and railway from Swinton Bridge, looking towards Mexborough.

Looking downstream. Low Meadow to the right.

The railway is now normally freight only, passenger trains generally using the former Midland Railway route to the west.

A head-on view of ex-NE D20 4-4-0 No. 2369 in the yard at Mexborough Locomotive Depot, probably having worked in from York. Mexborough was a large ex-Great Central Depot providing motive power mainly for the heavy coal traffic through the nearby Wath Yard from the many large collieries in the area. It was situated on the south side of the Sheffield line at Mexborough No. 2 Junction, where the ex-South Yorkshire line from Sheffield to Doncaster joined the line from Wath, Barnsley and Manchester via Woodhead. Coded 36B in the Eastern Region (Doncaster Division), in 1950 it had an allocation of 121 locomotives:- 7 4-6-0, 86 2-8-0 (27 LNE, 59 ex-WD), 16 0-6-0, 4 0-8-4T, 4 0-6-2T, 4 0-6-0T.

Atmospheric eastward view in the yard to the 12-road Shed on a Sunday. This great Depot, serving Wath Yard and the enormous coal traffic of the South Yorkshire District had an allocation of 121 locomotives in 1950, 2-8-0's predominating.