Rodley/Calverley Station

LS13 · Post by **LS13** » Fri 04 Jan, 2008 8:34 pm

I've found these pictures of Calverley/Rodley station on another thread but they've really confused me! The Sandoz building is clearly visible on the colour one, but I can't work out wear the cooling tower style structure was. ie as far as i can work out, thats just fields now and the river must also be in that vicinity.The station building on the right is obviously what was the Stanhope pub and then Paris restaurant, but the buildings on the bridge are also confusing--I can't work out where they would be on the current bridge so am guessing that's a new structure?I'm also surprised by how many lines there are present. I'm sure now theres just one in each direction?

stevief · Post by **stevief** » Fri 04 Jan, 2008 9:44 pm

Hello LS13.The station building is still there.I thought the Stansfield or the Paris restaurant were set back slightly from the railway.There are no buildings on the bridge,it's all down to perspective.Both pictures were taken from roughly the same place and behind the bridge the line curves to the right,hence the impression of a building on the bridge.I don't know which cooling tower you refer to.Both pictures feature gasometers which used to stand beside the canal.It's incredible the amount of rail traffic in both pictures compared to the two lines in use today.

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Fri 04 Jan, 2008 9:51 pm

I think it is the gas storage tanks LS13 is referring to.It would appear the string of carriages on the right hand side was a permanent fixture as it appears to be the same on both photos

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 3:27 am

LS13 - the first piccy was taken just after the Sandoz factory was opened, the number of lines visible is down to the fact that the 4 running lines were flanked by sidings on either side.The ones on the right of the piccy were carridege sidings, built especially for that purpose - it was not uncommon for stock to be stabled so far away from a large city (in this case Leeds).The lines on the left were part of the goods yard.in the second shot, the stock is of a later vintage but will be there under the same situation as the first shot, spare stock awaiting its call to duty.As for the buildings on the bridge, well you are correct in saying they are the original station buildings, long since gone I'm afraid - as has the bridge itself - the buildings were on a seperate structure from the road that ran parallel to the road - both have been demolished.If you want, I will let you know when the Leeds Model Railway societys model of this station is next out at a show - you can look at a scale model of how it used to be in real life.

LS13 · Post by **LS13** » Sun 06 Jan, 2008 6:13 pm

Thanks for the responses--sorry, I do mean Gasometers rather than cooling towers...not very technically savvy in that respect! Big N's response seems more likely to be correct than StevieF's--the buildings do certainly look to be on the bridge rather than just appearing that way due to the angle the picture was taken. I still find it hard to correspond the pictures with how things are now--can't work out where the gasometers would be now for instance. The fact that the bridge thats there now isnt the same as the one in the picture makes sense though...

stevief · Post by **stevief** » Sat 26 Jan, 2008 9:42 pm

I'm sure this is the same station house as shown in the photo above.

chamusdarrach · Post by **chamusdarrach** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 5:38 pm

With regards to the location of the gasometer's, if you take a walk down the canal towpath towards Apperley Bridge, there is an area of land that is surrounded by high brick walls and some metal gates, both of which have seen better days, this is where the gasometer's used to be.

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Fri 08 Feb, 2008 8:44 pm

stevief wrote: I'm sure this is the same station house as shown in the photo above. It is indeed the same building that is visible standing on the up platform in the top pictures Stevie.LS13 was referring to the buildings on the bridge though, the one on the platform was the station masters house, the ones on the bridge being the ticket and enquiery offices.I have not been down the road that crosses the line at the station site but it is quite possible that the abutments for the structure these buildings stood on are still in situ - might be worth a look sometime.

chamusdarrach · Post by **chamusdarrach** » Fri 08 Feb, 2008 10:11 pm

With regards to the bridge abutments, yes, they are still there, if you look over the side of the bridge looking towards Shipley, you can still make out where the old bridge for the buildings was.

GlennDun · Post by **GlennDun** » Thu 14 Feb, 2008 12:55 am

I had a walk down Calverley lane today and had a look at where the station was.The stone engine shed/workshop on the right of the of the original two photo's is still there. If you stand at the side of the bridge at the spot where Stevief took his photo of the station masters house and pan round to the right there is a stone workshop in amongst the newer steel clad buildings of the factory that is there. This also means that the factory is built on what was railway land and on top of where the signal box stood.