Heritage Railways near Leeds: Middleton Railway

Middleton Colliery Railway

The Middleton Colliery Railway is one of the oldest in the world and was the first commercially successful steam locomotive, paving the way for the world’s first passenger railway - the Stockton and Darlington Railway of 1825. It is situated about two miles south of Leeds City Centre alongside the M621 Motorway at Junction 5.

The railway ran for three miles between the city of Leeds and Middleton Colliery to the south. It was originally constructed in 1758 as a privately financed venture when it was used by horse drawn trucks called corves, and was a cheap method of carrying coal from Middleton Pits to Casson Close. It became the first railway to be granted powers by an act of Parliament.

In 1812 the manager of the colliery John Blenkinsop relaid the track with a toothed rail to give added traction to enable it to bear heavier loads: he employed an engineer, Matthew Murray of Stockton on Tees to build a steam locomotive for the colliery with a pinion that would mesh with the rail; Murray’s engine was called Salamanca and was the first ever to use two cylinders. It remained in use for 20 years with three more locomotives built at a later date. The railway was converted to a 4ft 8” standard gauge in 1881.

In 1960 Middleton Colliery Railway received heritage status, run by volunteers from the Middleton Railway Trust Ltd and funded by the Heritage lottery; a passenger service came into operation in 1969 and is operated at weekends and public holidays, running along the one mile track between Moor Road Hunslet and Park Halt on the edge of Middleton Park.

The Station houses an Engine House with a selection of locomotives built in the Hunslet area by the famous Leeds manufacturer John Fowler, and includes the Sir Berkeley Manning built in 1890 that was featured in the BBC adaptation of The Railway Children, as well as the Mirvale, designed in 1882.