HISTORIC MODEL LOCOMOTIVE DONATED TO MIDDLETON RAILWAY

The Middleton Railway has been donated a historic working model of its very first steam locomotive, “SALAMANCA”.

Photos of an article in the June 1939 edition of the Model Engineer, detailing the model

It was built in 1939 by a Mr H Murray and last worked, we believe, in 1960.  Stored for many years, his relatives originally offered the model to Leeds Industrial Museum, but as they already had a number of such models, they recommended that it be offered to the railway, which is delighted to receive it.

MRT Chairman, Charles Milner, said “We delighted to be given this superb model of a Blenkinsop locomotive and we will conserve it and have it displayed in our museum to help tell the story of these pioneering machines”.

The Middleton Railway was built in 1758 and is the First railway authorised by an Act of Parliament, the first to have commercially successful steam locomotives, in June 1812 and also the first standard gauge preserved railway, opening in June, 1960.  It has operated trains every year since opening in 1758.

According to the UK’s Heritage Railway Association, collectively UK and Ireland has in the region of 173 heritage railways with 460 stations spanning 560 miles.

For the local communities they serve they bring huge economic benefits, worth an estimated £600m to the UK’s  economy.

Approximately 13 million people travel on heritage railways,  taking 18.6 million passenger journeys covering 130 million passenger miles