Middleton Railway
| Middleton Railway | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Main station building on Moor Road. | |
| Locale | Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| Terminus | Moor Road |
| Coordinates | 53°46′30″N 1°32′19″W / 53.775070°N 1.538600°WCoordinates: 53°46′30″N 1°32′19″W / 53.775070°N 1.538600°W |
| Commercial operations | |
| Name | Middleton Railway |
| Built by | Charles Brandling |
| Original gauge | until 1881 4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm) from 1881 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Preserved operations | |
| Owned by | The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. |
| Operated by | The Middleton Railway Trust Ltd. |
| Stations | 2 |
| Length | 0.96 miles (1.54 km) |
| Preserved gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| 1757 | Construction of first waggonway |
| 1799 | Wooden tracks replaced with iron edge rails |
| 1812 | Introduction of steam 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauges |
| c. 1835 | Line reverts to horse drawn trains |
| 1866 | Return of steam locomotives |
| 1881 | Line converted to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| 1947 | Rationalisation of the Line |
| 1960 | Line taken over by preservation society |
| Preservation history | |
| June 1960 | One week passenger service |
| 1960 | Start of freight service |
| 1969 | Start of regular passenger service |
| 1983 | End of freight service |
| Headquarters | Moor Road station |
| Website | |
| middletonrailway.org.uk/ | |
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.
The railway operates passenger services at weekends and on public holidays over approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) of track between its headquarters at Moor Road, Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England and Park Halt on the outskirts of Middleton Park.
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.
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.
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