‘This tunnel will defy the rage of tempest, fire, war or wasting age.’

As the Summit tunnel near Rochdale prepares to mark the 175th anniversary of its opening on March 1 those proud words, uttered by Bernard Dickinson, the original assistant engineer, ring truer today than ever.

The tunnel has seen its fair share of drama, not least when it was ravaged by fire after a train derailed in December 1984.

It was one of the biggest underground fires in transport history – and some feared it would spell the end for the tunnel.

Despite this, it is still going strong today, celebrated as both a marvel of Victorian engineering and a key part of the region’s industrial heritage.

Built by the Manchester and Leeds Railway, it connects Littleborough and Walsden in West Yorkshire, and was once the the longest tunnel in the world at 2,869 yards long.

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The project, which began on August 18, 1837, cost £251,000, a huge sum for the time, and far more than the company expected.

It was also hit by a series of problems.

At one point, it passed beneath the Rochdale Canal, so an aqueduct had to be built. Digging progress was very slow as the rock was hard and renowned engineer George Stephenson, veteran of the Stockton and Darlington line was brought in as the contractor.

Although the progress speeded up, Stephenson found himself losing money and had to appeal to the company for financial help.

The project soon fell behind schedule and perhaps because of this, the number of industrial accidents increased – there had been 16 deaths by September 1838, rising to 28 by the time the tunnel opened.

Stephenson also faced labour troubles during building – in February 1841, 16 labourers were brought before the magistrates charged with intimidating workmen he had hired from North Shields - as they were paid more than the rest.

By November 1840, the end was in sight, with a grand opening planned for December 31.

But further engineering problems forced yet more delays and the tunnel was not unveiled until March 1 the following year.

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When it finally opened, the company directors and their guests boarded the train at Manchester to the strains of a brass band and the workmen who had built the tunnel were treated to a meal inside the tunnel once the train had passed.

Over the next 144 years, the tunnel remained a monument to its builders and no serious doubts about its future arose until December 20, 1984.

Then a train carrying one million litres of petrol entered the tunnel from the Yorkshire side at about 40mph, but a third of the way through, a defective axle bearing caused 10 of its 13 tankers to derail. Thousands of litres of petrol was spilled on the track and ignited.

The crew, including driver Stanley Marshall, guard Graham Broadbent and area guard Stanley Smalley, were forced to run through nearly a mile of pitch black tunnel before using an emergency phone box to raise the alarm.

Remarkably, the train’s crew was persuaded by firefighters to go back into the tunnel and uncouple the three tankers still on the rails before using the locomotive to drive them out.

Nearly five hours later, there was a deep rumbling underground followed by pillars of flame shooting out of the ventilation shafts dotted across the moors between Summit and Walsden.

The fuel supply was so rich there wasn’t enough oxygen inside the tunnel so superheated vapours, travelling at about 110mph, exploded from the ventilation shafts bursting into flames 150ft high as soon as they hit the fresh air.

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Specialist equipment was brought in to fight the fire and foam was pumped down the ventilation shafts in a bid to cut off the oxygen supply, but it was to be another four days – Christmas Eve – before the incident was finally over.

It turned out George Stephenson, his team of engineers and the 1,000 navvies employed on building the tunnel had done a remarkable job.

Even though the temperature had climbed to 8,000 degrees centigrade welding the derailed tankers to the line, damage to the interior of the tunnel was remarkably minimal.

The brick lining varied between five and 10 rings thick, yet only bricks from the first three rings had melted. Although the tunnel was badly scorched it was repairable.

The last wagon was not removed until March 1, 1985 by which time most of the tunnel had been repaired. And the following year, Todmorden Rotary Club organised a walk through the tunnel, attended by thousands before it reopened.

Now, 175 years after its opening, and just as Bernard Dickinson predicted the tunnel has defied fire and wasting age and remains a vital part of the north west’s railways.

This piece uses information from an original piece by Joan Higson supplied via Touchstones archive, who also supplied the pictures.

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*The Summit tunnel’s 175th anniversary will be marked with a series of events on Tuesday at Littleborough.

Littleborough Historical and Archeological Museum at Littleborough station will be open from 9.30am to 12.30pm.

There will be a performance from the band of Holy Trinity CE Primary School from 9.45am and an exhibition on the tunnel will be opened by the Mayor of Rochdale Coun Surinder Biant. This will be followed by speeches and the cutting of the birthday cake.

A train will run from Littleborough at 10.53am to Hebden Bridge with points of interest shown, before returning for refreshments.

There will also be a display at the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms at the Sowerby Bridge station all day.