Whitehall Road Junction
An example of what lies beneath: if I remember rightly this was found during the investigation of the old tracks south of Whitehall Junction, Leeds parallel to the lines towards Doncaster. Rather atypically the railway here is underlain by a thick layer of natural orange sand which is good for water drainage; more typically elsewhere the formation contains amounts of clay (glacial, alluvial or marine) which does not readily allow drainage. The remnants of ballast above the sand is clearly worn out: it was probably regular stone ballast but has degraded to such an extent that only a small percentage is still recognisable as such. It also looks to have been 'cemented' to some extent; this is possibly due to the previous use of limestone ballast which breaks down both physically and chemically.
Location: Whitehall Road Junction
Original line: Copley Hill Junction to Whitehall (London and North Western Railway)
Photographer: Charlie Niven
Contact photographer: Charlie Niven
Date: 1998
Image number: 79457
