[1830-1907] [1907-1948] [1949-1963] [1964-1981]
Also in 1907, another loop was then authorised, this being the Woodhead - Crowden down loop. The rebuilt station Crowden station, with its island platform, was re-opened on 2nd August 1908, and the loop was brought into use on 5th October. Another event in 1908 was the opening of the new frontage and subway at Sheffield Victoria, needed because of the construction of new down loop through the station, which opened on 1st January 1909.
The GCR were obviously impressed with the pneumatic signalling of Woodhead tunnel as, in 1909, the same company was awarded the £17,000 contract for the signalling of Wath yard. At the time there were 80 signals and 58 turn outs and facing lock bars, and the signals controlling admission to the reception roads were single arm with mechanical route indicators. The result was one of the first power operated yards in the country.
The conditions in the tunnels at Woodhead, particularly the up line, was appalling. Consequently, in 1912, engineers began work to double the diameter of one of the ventilation shafts. The work took three years and cost £12,000. It is not recorded if it was successful or not.
In 1913 J.G.Robinson visited the United States and saw the 1500 volt d.c. railways in use there. He came back to England with the idea of electrifying Worsboro bank to reduce the expensive squad of banking locomotives needed. However, the plan was abandoned due to the high cost of locomotives and plant. The North Eastern Railway had also seen the merits of electrification but they had the foresight to pursue the vision, leading to the electrification of the Newport - Shildon line. But that's another story....
By now the 1894 improvements to Etherow viaduct were proving inadequate, due to the ever increasing weight of the trains crossing it. In 1917 one proposal put to the board of the GCR was the construction of a new viaduct alongside to carry the fast lines and the old one, again suitably strengthened, would carry the slow lines. However, an alternative plan was authorised which involved the construction of three additional piers. In January 1918 the contract was awarded to John Moffat of Manchester who completed the work in 1919 at a cost of £16,266. Similar problems were being encountered at the larger Dinting Vale viaduct so the same solution was adopted. John Price & Son built seven additional piers to strengthen the structure at a cost of £41,600, starting work in October 1918 and completing the following year. In one fell swoop two elegant and graceful viaducts were transformed into structures of supreme ugliness.
During the Great War the railway companies had been operated as a single unit. The economies of scale led to the decision to amalgamate the multitude of separate railway companies into just four large companies. As such the Great Central was to merge with the Great Northern Railway, North Eastern Railway and others to become the London and North Eastern Railway. By way of a permanent(!) reminder of its existence the Great Central decided to erect a war memorial in the forecourt of Sheffield Victoria. The official opening took place on 9th August 1922 and was unveiled by Field Marshall Earl Haig.
In 1925 the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LNER, Nigel Gresley, turned his attention to the problem of banking trains on the Worsboro incline. This led to the design of a unique locomotive - number 2395, a 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt, built at Darlington works, which tipped the scales at 178 tons, and with a tractive effort of 72,940 lbs was the most powerful steam locomotive built in Britain. The locomotive was designed to be operational 20 out of 24 hours a day and was originally provided with respirators for the crew - it was normally the last of four locomotives to work through the two Silkstone tunnels and speeds rarely in excess of 10 m.p.h.
The economies demonstrated by the use of electric traction on the Newport - Shildon lines led to the idea of electrification again in 1926 but the cost was still prohibitive.
Mottram marshalling yard was opened in 1935.
In 1936 the plans for electrification were reconsidered and this time it was decided to proceed. This plan was for the electrification, at 1500 volts d.c. overhead contact, of the lines from Wath & Sheffield to Manchester London Road (now Piccadilly) with a line round to Manchester Central (now G-Mex) and Trafford Park. The cost was anticipated at £2½ million which included the refurbishment of Woodhead tunnels, the construction of 70 Bo+Bo locomotives to be built at Gorton and the refurbishment of the 10 now redundant Newport - Shildon locomotives for banking. The plan came to an abrupt halt in September 1939 with the declaration of war, and all work ceased except for the completion of the first of the Bo+Bo's, number 6701, which emerged from Doncaster works in 1941 and was put to work on the jointly owned Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham line.
A war time measure that was never reversed was the closure of Neepsend station on 28th October 1940.
Hostilities ceased in 1945 and work resumed in 1946. 6701, by now renumbered 6000, was lent to the Dutch railways to help with their locomotive shortage and also to give it a thorough testing. Thurgoland tunnel was discovered to have insufficient clearance for the overhead wires, so it was decided to open it out. Unfortunately the geological structure of the land made this impossible so a new 350 yard tunnel was constructed alongside the old one. Another addition to the plan was the construction of a specialised motive depot, to be built at Reddish on the loop to Manchester Central.
Work was continuing on the renovation of the Woodhead tunnels but the conditions were so bad that one week possessions became 9 month occupations. It was also announced that if the work could be finished then it would be necessary to repeat in ten years time. The stage was thus set for the next announcement which was made on 15th November 1948. Due to the age, condition high maintenance costs and restricted profile prohibiting the erection of overhead wires, a new Woodhead tunnel would be constructed. The anticipated cost was £2.8 million and work started in February 1949.