The Middleton Railway has several claims to fame. It was the world's first standard gauge preserved railway, it claimed to be the first modern style railway ever and it also originally used a form of assistance than pre-empted rack and pinion operation.
It's first couple of decades saw it running exclusively freight trains, the line still serving several locations on the outskirts of Leeds.
This was my only visit on a lovely June evening in 1986. The first thing that struck me was just how rural the line was at its furthest extremity. Considering this was only a couple of miles from the centre of Leeds the top 6 pictures depict a very bucolic scene!
This has to be a line on my 'must do again' list!
More info (from Wikipedia)
The
Middleton Railway is the world's oldest continuously working public railway. It was founded in 1758 and is now a
heritage railway, run by volunteers from The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. since 1960.
Origins
Coal has been worked in
Middleton since the 13th century, from
bell pits, gin pits and later "day level" or
adits. Anne Leigh, heiress to the Middleton Estates, married Ralph Brandling from
Felling near
Gateshead on the River Tyne. They lived in Gosforth and left running of the Middleton pits to agents.
Charles Brandling was their successor. In 1754, Richard Humble, from Tyneside, was his agent. Brandling was in competition with the Fentons in Rothwell who were able to transport coal into Leeds by river, putting the Middleton pits at considerable disadvantage. Humble's solution was to build
waggonways which were common in his native north east. The first waggonway in 1755 crossed Brandling land and that of friendly neighbours to riverside
staithes.
[1]
In 1757 he began to build a waggonway towards Leeds, and to ensure its permanence Brandling sought ratification in an
Act of Parliament, (31 Geo.2, c.xxii, 9 June 1758) the first authorising the building of a railway.
An ACT for Establishing Agreement made between Charles Brandling, Esquire, and other Persons, Proprietors of Lands, for laying down a Waggon-Way in order for the better supplying the Town and Neighbourhood of Leeds in the County of York, with Coals.
The Middleton Railway, the first railway to be granted powers by Act of Parliament, carried coal cheaply from the Middleton
pits to Casson Close, Leeds (near Meadow Lane, close to the River Aire). Not all the land belonged to Brandling, and the Act gave him power to obtain
wayleave. Otherwise the line was privately financed and operated, initially as a waggonway using horse-drawn waggons. Around 1799 the wooden tracks began to be replaced with superior iron
edge rails to a gauge of
4 ft 1 in (
1,245 mm).
Cheap Middleton coal gradually enabled
Leeds to become a centre of the many developing industries which used coal as a source of heat, e.g. for pottery, brick and glass making, metal working, and brewing, or as a source of power for mill and factory engines.
Introduction of steam
In 1812 the Middleton Railway became the first commercial railway to use
steam locomotives successfully.
John Blenkinsop, the colliery's viewer, or manager, had decided that an engine light enough not to break the cast iron track would not have sufficient
adhesion, bearing in mind the heavy load of coal wagons and the steep track gradient. Accordingly, he relaid the track on one side with a
toothed rail, which he patented in 1811 (the first
rack railway), and approached
Matthew Murray of
Fenton, Murray and Wood, in
Holbeck, to design a locomotive with a
pinion which would mesh with it. Murray's design was based on
Richard Trevithick's
Catch me who can, adapted to use Blenkinsop's
rack and pinion system, and probably was called
Salamanca. This 1812 locomotive was the first to use two cylinders. These drove the pinions through
cranks which were at right angles, so that the engine would start wherever it came to rest.
In 1812,
Salamanca was the first commercial steam locomotive to operate successfully. Three other locomotives were built for the Middleton colliery, and the railway was locomotive-operated for more than twenty years. A number of other firsts can be claimed by the railway. Being the first line to use steam locomotives regularly on freight trains it was naturally the first line to employ a train driver. The world's first regular, professional train driver was a former pit surface labourer named James Hewitt who had been trained by Fenton, Murray & Wood's test driver. The first member of the public to be killed by a locomotive was almost certainly a 13-year-old boy named John Bruce killed in February 1813 whilst running alongside the tracks.
Leeds Mercury reported that this would
"operate as a warning to others".
Though it was considered a marvel at the time, a child who witnessed it was less impressed. The child,
David Joy, became a successful engineer.
Living in Hunslet Lane, on the London Road, the old coal railway from the Middleton Pits into Leeds, ran behind our house a few fields off, and we used to see the steam from the engines rise above the trees. Once I remember going with my nurse, who held my hand (I had to stretch it up to hers, I was so little) while we stood to watch the engine with its train of coal-wagons pass. We were told it would come up like a flash of lightning, but it only came lumbering on like a cart.
Boiler explosions and a return of horses
Salamanca's boiler exploded on 28 February 1818 killing the driver when, as a result of the force of the explosion, he was
"carried, with great violence, into an adjoining field the distance of one hundred yards."[4]This was the result of the driver tampering with the
safety valves. Another boiler explosion occurred on 12 February 1834, again killing the driver. This time the most likely cause was a badly worn boiler, kept going by in-house repairs which were no longer expertly carried out after Blenkinsop's death. The driver killed on this occasion was James Hewitt, the world's first regular locomotive driver. The following year horse haulage returned and steam was abandoned apart from about a 1-mile section near the main pit, which for some time was chain-worked by a stationary steam engine.
Return of steam
Steam was reintroduced in 1866 with tank engines from local firm
Manning Wardle. In 1881 the railway was
converted to
4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (
1,435 mm)
standard gauge allowing it to connect with the
Midland Railway. Other extra links included one to the
Great Northern Railway in 1899 and sidings serving other sources of freight including Robinson & Birdsell's scrapyard and Clayton, Sons & Co's engineering works.
[5] The Middleton Estate & Colliery Co became part of the nationalised
National Coal Board in 1947. Some rationalisation took place, the city centre staith at Kidacre street was closed and in the end coal movement was concentrated on the stretch of line from the GNR connection to Broom Pit. Preservationists mainly from Leeds University were allowed to move into an abandoned part of the line, between Moor Road and the GNR connection, by its then owners Messrs. Clayton, Son & Co. When Broom Pit closed in 1968 the preservationists, by then called the Middleton Railway Trust, were able to reinstate the connection and operate to the site of Broom Pit, maintaining the continuous operation of the line.
Preservation
In June 1960, the Middleton Railway became the first standard-gauge railway to be taken over and operated by unpaid volunteers. Passenger services were initially operated for only one week, using an ex
Swansea and Mumbles Railway double deck tram (the largest in Britain seating 106 passengers), hauled by a 1931 diesel locomotive hired from the nearby
Hunslet Engine Company. However, the volunteers of the Middleton Railway subsequently operated a freight service from September 1960 until 1983.
Regular operation of passenger services began in 1969.
Route and stations
[hide]
Middleton Railway |
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| 0.37 mi | Hallam & Pontefract Lines |
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| | |
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| 0.29 mi | Beza Road |
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| | Balm Road Branch |
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| 0.17 mi | Tulip Street |
|
| | |
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| 0.03 mi | Moor Road |
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| | former line towards city (removed) |
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| 0.00 mi | Museum & shed | Moor Road |
|
| | |
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| 0.10 mi | engine & wagon storage siding |
|
| | |
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| 0.16 mi |  motorway |
|
| | |
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| 0.24 mi | Dartmouth Branch |
|
| | |
|
| | |
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| 0.55 mi | John Charles Approach |
|
| | |
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| 0.69 mi | footbridge
|
|
| | |
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| 0.94 mi | Park Halt | engine run-around loop |
|
| | |
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| 0.96 mi | End of line |
|
| | |
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| | Proposed extension into Middleton Park |
|
Although the operational line starts at
Moor Road, the line actually begins with the
Balm Road Branch which joins the Middleton Railway with the Leeds - Sheffield route of the
Hallam &
Pontefract Lines. However, the connection to the main network has been bolted closed preventing access having not been used since 1990.
[6] This section of track crosses
Beza Road,
Tulip Street and
Moor Road. It is currently only used during special events as the line and crossings would need upgrading for regular use.
Located few yards from Moor Road level crossing is the line's main terminus,
Moor Road station. The site includes the Engine House museum and workshops along with a single platform for departing and arriving trains. The site was once a junction between the link to the Midland Railway mainline via the "Balm Road Branch" and the line to Kidacre Street coal staith near the centre of the city.
Departing
Moor Road, are a selection of locomotives and rolling stock stored on sidings before the tunnel. The tunnel is the only one located on the route and allows the railway to pass under the
M621 motorway. It is approximately 263 feet (80 m) long. Immediately after, there is the junction with the
Dartmouth Branch, a stub of the line that once connected various local metal industries with the main line. This is occasionally used on special events and has in recent years been used for training mainline track workers. This branch is close to the former connection to the Great Northern line.
After the Dartmouth Branch, the line begins to enter
Middleton Park. The line passes by the
John Charles Centre for Sport on its right and the
South Leeds Academy on its left. There are two over bridges on this section: one road bridge, carrying
John Charles Approach and a second footbridge connecting the school and the sports centre.
Located close to the site of Broom Pit colliery and on the edge of Middleton Park,
Park Halt railway station is the current terminus of services at the far end of the line. Branches once continued to Day Hole End and to West Pit via a
rope worked incline. There were also numerous
wagonways from early pits in the park, the remains of which can still be seen. The station consists of a platform for
Middleton Park and a run round loop for trains allowing return running.
A proposed extension of the railway into
Middleton Park has been discussed for many years and it has long been the ambition of the railway to run further in to
Middleton Park. Plans have existed for some time to extend the railway to the centre of the park, however this would require significant earthworks and funding.
Route gallery[edit]
Section of the
Balm Road Branch looking towards
Moor Road station from the
Beza Road crossing.
-
-
Middleton Railway main line just prior to the tunnel, looking back towards
Moor Road station.
-
-
End of the line. Run round loop for
Park Halt can be seen in the distance.
Motive power
Steam locomotives
Diesel and electric locomotives
Trams
Following the closure of the
Mumbles Railway by
South Wales Transport attempts were made to preserve some rolling stock at the Middleton Railway. One car (no. 2) was saved for preservation by members of Leeds University in Yorkshire and stored at the Middleton Railway. However, it was heavily vandalised and eventually destroyed by fire leading to the tram being scrapped.
| Number / Name | Design | Manufacturer | Notes | Image |
|---|
| Scrapped |
|---|
| No. 2 | Double Deck Tram seating 106 passengers | Brush Electrical Company | Built c. 1929 |  |
Rolling stock
| Number / Name | Design | Manufacturer | Notes | Image |
|---|
| Passenger Stock |
|---|
| 1867 | PMV Standard Brake | Southern Railway | Converted from ex SR PMV Van. Fitted with heating. |  |
| 2084 | PMV Standard Trailer | Southern Railway | Converted from ex SR PMV Van. Fitted with heating. | |
| 1074 | PMV Standard Brake | Southern Railway | Currently under construction. Converted from ex SR PMV Van. Fitted with heating and designed for easier wheelchair access.
|
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4,785
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