The event comprises a program of three evening talks plus buffet lunch and trip on the Middleton Railway. The first takes place on 19th May, ‘The Middleton Railway – a Preservation Pioneer’, the second on 21st June, ‘Blenkinsop, Murray and the Leeds Locomotive Building Industry’ by Anthony Dawson, and the third on 17th July, ‘The 1811 Model of ‘Salamanca’ and What a CT Scan Revealed’ by Dr Michael Bailey. The events take place in the Middleton Railways Conference Room starting at 17.45 hrs with buffet lunch followed by train ride and then the talk and end at about 20.15 hrs. The events are intended to appeal to all interested in railway and industrial history and also to those interested in the story of Leeds.
The Middleton Railway was established by Act of Parliament in 1758 and the precedent thus created helped facilitate the construction of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. In 1812 the Middleton Railway became the first railway in the world to successfully employ steam traction; the first locomotive was named ‘Salamanca’ after the famous Napoleonic Wars battle. The pioneer locomotives were designed by John Blenkinsop and Matthew Murray and were built in Murray’s Round Foundry in Leeds. Subsequently locomotives of this design were sold to the Kenton & Coxlodge Railway in Northumberland where they were seen by George Stephenson. His first locomotive and subsequent locomotives including ‘Locomotion No. 1’ of the Stockton & Darlington Railway were based on the Murray-Blenkinsop Design. The pioneering work of Matthew Murray led to Leeds becoming the largest centre for locomotive building in England and one of the most innovative.
The Middleton Railway never closed and today the remaining sections are operated by the Middleton Railway Trust – an all volunteer body. This exists to preserve both the history and remains of the Middleton railway and also that of the Leeds Locomotive Building Industry and operates trains using historic Leeds built locomotives.