Axholme Joint Railway

Axholme Joint Railway
Dates of operation	1902–1923
Predecessor	Goole and Marshland Light Railway and Axholme Light Railway
Successor	Joint London, Midland and Scottish Railway and London and North Eastern Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

Axholme Joint Railway
Legend To Hull Goole To Sheffield Reedness Junction Eastoft Luddington Fockerby Crowle North Crowle (Sheffield to Grimsby Line) Belton Epworth Haxey Town Haxey Junction

The Axholme Joint Railway was a committee created as a joint enterprise between the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was established by the North Eastern Railway Act of 31 July 1902.

History

The Goole and Marshland Light Railway Company was incorporated under the Light Railways Act of 1896 and confirmed by Order of the Light Railway Commissioners and by the Board of Trade on 11 March 1898. The Axholme Light Railway Company was incorporated under the Light Railways Act of 1898 and was confirmed by Order of the Light Railway Commissioners and by the Board of Trade, on 17 August 1898. The North Eastern Railway Act of 31 July 1902 dissolved, transferred to and vested both companies in the North Eastern and Lancashire & Yorkshire railway companies jointly, with three directors appointed by each company.

The line closed to passengers on 15 July 1933. The section from Haxey Junction to Epworth was closed on 1 February 1956 and the rest of the network closed on 5 April 1965. The line between Marshlands Junction and Ealand (south of Crowle) was retained as a long siding until 1972 for servicing Keadby Power Station.

Route

The Goole and Marshland Light Railway ran from Marshland Junction, south east of Goole on the North Eastern Railway Hull to Thorne line, to Reedness Junction with a branch line from Reedness to Fockerby on the River Trent estuary. The Axholme Light Railway ran from Reedness junction to Haxey, a junction with another joint railway (Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway) between Doncaster and Gainsborough. There was a freight-only branch from Epworth to Hatfield Moor. Marshland Junction to Haxey was a distance of 19.5 miles (31.4 km).

Motive power

Unable to accept locomotives with a greater route availability than 3, the line was worked by lightweight LMS 2MT 2-6-0 engines: four of the engines being used daily on the following goods workings:

1. 05.55 Goole - Fockerby/08.15 Fockerby - Reedness Jcn/08.50 Reedness Jcn - Peat Works/09.05 Peat Works - Goole/10.20 Goole - Reedness Jcn/11.20 Reedness Jcn - Goole/12.15 Goole -Reedness Jcn/12.40 Reedness Jcn - Goole.

2. 08.28 Goole - Hatfield/12.40 Hatfield - Goole

3. 10.20 Goole - Reedness Jcn/11.20 Reedness Jcn - Goole/12.15 Goole - Reedness Jcn/12.40 Reedness Jcn - Goole

4. 12.00 Goole - Reedness Jcn/12.45 Reedness Jcn - Fockerby/13.45 Fockerby - Reedness Jcn/17.30 Reedness Jcn - Goole

Further reading

• C.W.Judge, (1994). The Axholme Joint Railway. Oakwood Press. ISBN 9780853614418.