Cowburn Tunnel

{{Short description|Railway tunnel on the Hope Valley Line in England}}

{{Infobox tunnel

| name = Cowburn Tunnel

| image = Western portal, Cowburn Tunnel.jpg

| image_size = 265px

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| caption = Western portal

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| line = Hope Valley Line

| location = Edale, Derbyshire

| coordinates = {{coord|53|21|07|N|1|52|00|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title,inline}}

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| startwork = October 1888

| opened = March 1893

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| owner = Network Rail

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| length = {{convert|3702|yd|km mi}}

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| extra = Location of the tunnel within the Peak District

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The Cowburn Tunnel is a railway tunnel at the western end of the Vale of Edale in the Derbyshire Peak District of England. The tunnel is {{Convert|3702|yd|m|0}} long. It is the deepest railway tunnel in England, at 875 feet (267 m).{{Cite tweet |user=nationalrailenq |number=946999633217245184 |title=Cowburn Tunnel is the deepest railway tunnel in England at 875ft below the surface.}}

History

=Construction=

The Midland Railway began work on the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester in 1888.{{sfn|Joy|1984|p=267}} The tunnel was engineered underneath Colborne, part of a {{Convert|1700|ft|m|0|adj=on}} moorland between Kinder Scout and Rushup Edge. The Midland awarded the tunnel contract to J.P. Edwards of Nottingham.{{cite news |author= |title=The Dore and Chinley Railway. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000228/18881020/067/0008 |newspaper=Derby Mercury |location=England |date=29 August 1888 |access-date=29 October 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} Construction work started in October 1888 when a ventilation shaft was sunk in Cartledge Meadow near Edale.{{cite news |author= |title=The Dore and Chinley Railway. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000228/18881020/067/0008 |newspaper=Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald |location=England |date=20 October 1888 |access-date=29 October 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} Tunnelling also started at the other end near Chapel-en-le-Frith and the breakthrough between the two sections was made on 18 July 1891.{{cite news |author= |title=Dore and Chinley Railway. Important Progress |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000181/18910720/016/0004

|newspaper=Sheffield Independent |location=England |date=20 July 1891 |access-date=29 October 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }} The lining out of the tunnel and laying of the rails was completed by March 1893, when the workmen were dispersed.{{cite news |author= |title=The Dore and Chinley Railway. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000228/18930315/003/0003 |newspaper=Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald |location=England |date=15 March 1893 |access-date=29 October 2017 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}

A single ventilation shaft, accessible via the moorland north-west of Mam Tor, is {{convert|791|ft}} deep, making it one of the deepest railway ventilation shafts in the country. The shaft was constructed in 1894 over the course of two years. Men lived on the rough exposed moorlands to dig the shafts without any modern machinery and were lowered into the shaft using a winch mechanism. 102 men worked eight-hour shifts day and night to excavate, mason and brick the shaft. It was eventually completed on 16 March 1896. Currently the shaft remains open, but protected by a large brick enclosure (pictured).{{cite book |title=The Hope Valley Line Dore to Chinley: Volume One From the Dawn of the Railways to the End of the Grouping in 1947 |first=Ted |last=Hancock |date=2019 |publisher=Pynot Publishing |isbn=978-0956270696 |page=153}}

Although the workings were relatively dry for tunnel builders at the time, on one occasion the headings filled with water to a depth of {{Convert|90|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

=Maintenance=

Repairs to the ventilation shaft were carried out in August to September 2021 by Network Rail, with an investment of around £800,000. The work involved installation of a system of drainage pipes inside the shaft to collect rainwater which seeps through its brickwork from the soil, which had been cascading onto the railway below. The new system diverts water to drains inside the tunnel itself. To avoid disrupting rail traffic, helicopters were used to airlift equipment to build a temporary platform to lower engineers inside the shaft similarly to the original constructors.{{cite news |last1=Ball |first1=Lucy |title=Helicopters brought in to help with Peak District railway tunnel repairs in rare move |url=https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/transport/helicopters-brought-in-to-help-with-peak-district-railway-tunnel-repairs-in-rare-move-3412901 |access-date=20 October 2021 |work=www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk |date=8 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211008184730/https://www.buxtonadvertiser.co.uk/news/transport/helicopters-brought-in-to-help-with-peak-district-railway-tunnel-repairs-in-rare-move-3412901 |archive-date=8 October 2021 |language=en}}

Description

Cowburn Tunnel takes the Hope Valley Line west out of Edale valley, to emerge near Chapel Milton, {{convert|4|km|order=flip}} east of Chinley railway station.{{cite map |publisher=Ordnance Survey |title=OL1 Dark Peak area |url= |scale=1:25000 |series=Explorer }}

Unusually, the tunnel is not built at a constant gradient: in fact, the summit of the line between Dore and Chinley lies within the tunnel, about a quarter of the way from the eastern end. From the summit, the tunnel falls at 1 in 100 (1%) eastwards and 1 in 150 (0.67%) westwards. Nevertheless, when the headings met, they were no more than {{Convert|1|in|mm|1}} out of line in the vertical direction, and met exactly in the horizontal direction. Only one vertical shaft was used.{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Gallery

File:Cowburn Tunnel.JPG|The eastern portal, from Barber Booth

File:Western portal, Cowburn tunnel.jpg|The western portal, near Malcoff

File:Cowburn Tunnel ventilation shaft (geograph 4085785).jpg|Airshaft, Colborne

File:EdaleStation6501(edited).JPG|In this picture, taken from Edale station, the eastern portal is seen beyond the departing Manchester-bound train. The route is still semaphore-signalled between Totley Tunnel East and Chinley signal boxes.