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The 'Middleton Steam Railway' is the world's oldest working railway. It was founded in 1758 and is now a heritage railway run by enthusiasts.
The railway operates passenger services at weekends and on public holidays over approximately 1 mile of track between its headquarters at Moor Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and Park Halt on the outskirts of Middleton Park.

Contents

Operational Steam Locomotives

Steam Locomotives Undergoing Overhaul or Restoration

Stored Steam Locomotives outside

Origins

Introduction of steam

Preservation

Reference

External links

Operational Steam Locomotives

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★ Manning Wardle L Class 0-6-0ST no. 1210 "Sir Berkeley". Recently returned to traffic after a boiler replacement but now used on passenger trains at Middleton, boiler ticket expires in 2017. On loan to Bluebell Railway from August 10th-August 12 for Bluebell 125 gala

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★ Hunslet Engine Company 0-6-0ST no.1 "Brookes". Returned to traffic in early 2007 after overhaul, boiler ticket expires in 2009.

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★ Manning Wardle 0-6-0ST no. 1601 "Matthew Murray". Returned to traffic in 2001, boiler ticket expires in 2011.

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★ Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0ST No 67. Returned to traffic in 2002 and is a regular on passenger trains, boiler ticket expires in 2012.

Steam Locomotives Undergoing Overhaul or Restoration

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★ Hunslet 0-4-0ST No 1493. Undergoing restoration to operational condition, the frames have their wheels and are being painted before the motion goes on.

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★ Hawthorn Leslie 0-4-0ST No 1 "Swanscombe". Undergoing restoration to working order, the frames have been re-wheeled and painted and the cab has been fitted to the frames and is being painted, the final motion parts are being fitted and work on the saddle tank, smokebox and boiler will start afterwards.

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★ Manning Wardle 0-4-0ST No. 14. In the final stages of overhaul, wheeels fitted under the frames and boiler being retubed.

Stored Steam Locomotives outside

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★ Y7 0-4-0T No. 1310. Was withdrawn in 2001 and is presently dismantled in the yard, funds coming in for overhaul.

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★ Bagnall 0-4-0ST No. 2702. Stored outside in the elements.

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★ Borrows 0-4-0WT No. 53 "Windle". Currently being given a protective coat of paint. Planned to be overhauled in the not too distant future.

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★ Peckett and Sons 0-4-0ST No. 2003 "John Blenkinsop". Stored awaiting overhaul but should be one of the next to be returned to working order.

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★ Sentinel 4w No. 68153. Stored dismantled in the yard.

Origins

The Middleton Railway was the first railway to be granted powers by Act of Parliament in 1758. It was built to a gauge of 4 ft 1 in to carry coal from the Middleton pits owned by Charles Brandling to 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 wagonway using horse-drawn vehicles. Around 1807 the wooden tracks began to be replaced with superior iron edge rails.

Introduction of steam

In 1812 the Middleton Steam Railway became the first commercial railway to successfully use steam locomotives. 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 was called ''The 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.
The line thus entered the history books, in 1812, for it was first to operate successfully, and with three more locos built later, remained in use for another twenty years. In 1881 the railway was converted to standard gauge.

Preservation

In June 1960, the Middleton Steam Railway became the first standard-gauge railway to be taken over and operated by unpaid volunteers. Passenger services were initially only operated for one week, using an ex Swansea and Mumbles Railway double deck carriage. However, the volunteers of the Middleton Railway operated a freight service until 1983.
Regular operation of passenger services began in 1969.
The Middleton Steam Railway is home to a representative selection of locomotives built in the Jack Lane, Hunslet area by the famous Leeds manufacturers of John Fowler & Co., Hudswell Clarke, Hunslet Engine Company, Kitson & Co. and Manning Wardle. The locomotives include "Sir Berkeley", which was featured in the 1968 BBC TV version of "The Railway Children". The locomotive is owned by the Vintage Carriages Trust of Ingrow near Keighley.

Reference

★ Ransom, P.J.G., (1990) ''The Victorian Railway and How It Evolved'', London: Heinemann

External links

★ The Middleton Railway

★ Middleton Railway Trail

★ "''The Collier''" (Middleton Railway Scene 1814)

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