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Location notes
Earles Sidings is in the Hope Valley, near the village of Hope. It is a picturesque area in the Peak District and is located on the line from Manchester to Sheffield. The sidings are the interchange point for an industrial line up to the Cement Works.
Railway type and traffic
There is an hourly service both from Manchester to Cleethorpes, usually Trans Pennines class 158 units, and from Liverpool to Norwich, usually Central's 158 and 170 units. In addition, there is a two hourly local service of 142s from Newton Heath's allocation, and a variety of freight trains, in particular Stone Trains heading east from Peak Forest and Infrastructure trains to Castleton. In addition, the Privately-owned class 20 can sometimes be seen shunting in the sidings.
Environment
The area is rural, the bridge here being on a small farm track.
Road directions
From the Manchester direction: Take the A6 to Chapel-en-le-Rith. Take the unclassified road through Slackhall, which climbs along the side of the valley. Near the end of this, there is a left hand turning signposted to Edale. This climbs slightly before dropping spectacularly into the Hope Valley. At the bottom of the hill, the road crosses a bridge over a small stream. You then pass through Edale village, with the station on the left. The road eventually passes under the railway before running for a mile or two on the north side of the line. It then passes back underneath the railway. The road turns sharp right and over a bridge. At this point there is a track on the right leading to the bridge.
From the Sheffield direction, take the A6187 > to Hope. Turn right in the village towards Edale. The road passes under the viaduct carrying the line to the Cement Works, before crossing a bridge over a small stream. As the road turns sharp left after the bridge, the lane to the bridge is straight on.
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Earles Sidings map co-ordinates
From the Sheffield direction, take the A6187 > to Hope. Turn right in the village towards Edale. The road passes under the viaduct carrying the line to the Cement Works, before crossing a bridge over a small stream. As the road turns sharp left after the bridge, the lane to the bridge is straight on.
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Earles Sidings map co-ordinates
Parking
There is space for two cars on the bridge.
Public transport
It would be a considerable walk (40-45 minutes) from Hope station. Turn right onto the main road and head towards Hope Village, then follow directions above.
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Click here to set up your location for directions to this location
Amenities
There are public toilets are available in Hope in a car park on the South side of the main road. There are also at least 2 shops selling sandwiches, cold drinks and snacks in the village.
[JT]
[JT]
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Earles Sidings
Streetmap links
Earles Sidings general view map
Earles Sidings close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Earles Sidings
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Earles Sidings
Googly map
Earles Sidings general view map
Earles Sidings close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Earles Sidings
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Photographic notes
The light is good here mid-morning to early afternoon looking west, of trains heading east. Late afternoon the sun will favour the other direction towards the sidings. Photographs are possible from the bridge. There are also two gaps in the hedge, one on either side of the road. One leads into the field on the left, giving views west, the other next to the line side looking at the sidings. There is a semaphore signal visible for trains heading west which gives warning of approaching trains. Sometimes photographs of the class 20 are possible with a tele-photo lens if shunting brings it to the end of the sidings.
General views - All photographs © Mark Bearton unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking west
Fig 2 - Looking west
Fig 3 - Looking east
Disclaimer
All information contained within this is site is © Trainspots. The images used on this site remain the property of the original photographer, as credited at the top of the page, and are used with their kind permission.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
