Middleton Railway | |
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![]() 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°W |
Commercial operations | |
Name | Middleton Railway |
Built by | Charles Brandling |
Original gauge | 4 ft 1 in (1,245 mm) until 1881 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge from 1881 |
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 |
1758 | Construction of first waggonway |
1799 | Wooden tracks replaced with iron edge rails |
1812 | Introduction of steam locomotives |
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 railway,[1] situated in the English city of Leeds. 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, in Hunslet, and Park Halt, on the outskirts of Middleton Park.