Axholme Joint Railway - Motive Power

Motive Power

During the construction of the two railways, three contractors locomotives worked on the Goole and Marshland Railway, and four on the Isle of Axholme Light Railway. All were built by the Manning Wardle company in Leeds. The first, named Margaret, was an 0-4-0 saddle tank with outside cylinders, while the remainder, built to four different designs, were 0-6-0 saddle tanks with inside cylinders. None were owned by the two railways, and five of them were auctioned at a sale of contractors' plant held at Crowle Wharf in October 1904.

Once the contractors' locomotives ceased working on the line, locomotives were supplied from Goole shed, and were usually Barton Wright 0-6-2 side tanks or Barton Wright 0-6-0 goods engines with tenders. The locomotives took their name from William Barton Wright, who was the chief mechanical engineer for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway at the time they were introduced. They were designed and built by Kitson and Company in Leeds. Although classified as goods engines, the 0-6-0 locomotives were employed on both goods and passenger services. They continued to work on the line until the early 1960s. Most of the 0-6-2s had been withdrawn by 1914, and their duties were performed by Aspinall 2-4-2 side tanks.

In 1907, the company looked at using petrol-electric autocars for the passenger services, but were advised that they would not be economic, as conventional trains would still be required on Wednesdays and Saturdays to cope with the volume of traffic. However, in July 1926 they conducted trials with a Sentinel-Cammell steam railcar, which was borrowed from the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), who had absorbed the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, bought 13 steam railcars in 1926 and 1927, one of which was allocated to Goole shed for work on the Axholme Joint Railway. A similar vehicle was ordered in February 1930 specifically for the railway, and entered service in December. The steam power unit was built by the Sentinel Waggon Works in Shrewsbury, and the bodywork was built at Nottingham, at the former works of Cammell Laird, by then part of the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage, Wagon and Finance Company. Before passenger services were withdrawn in 1933, it ran 53,786 miles (86,560 km), working two return trips from Goole to Haxey Junction on weekdays, three on Wednesdays, and five on Saturdays. It was then sold to the LNER and continued in use until 1944.

From 1947, Ivatt 2-6-0 lightweight tender locomotives were allocated to Goole shed, and were soon operating on the Axholme Joint Railway. The last two Barton Wright 0-6-0 locomotives left Goole shed in December 1950 for Wakefield and all of the seven Ivatt locomotives are thought to have worked on the line. They were popular with the crews, as the tender was fitted with a back sheet for the cab, and was low enough to provide good visibility when running tender-first across the moors on the return journey to Goole. In 1957 they were briefly replaced by four elderly J10 0-6-0 tender engines, transferred from Liverpool, but all were withdrawn in 1958. Small diesel shunters were allocated to Goole shed in 1960, for use in the docks, but were also used on the Axholme Joint Railway. Only one of the Ivatt 2-6-0 locomotives was left at Goole by mid-1962.

Although there were no passenger services after 1933, occasional rail tours ran along the line. The last passenger train was a 4-car diesel multiple unit, hired by the North Axholme Secondary School at Crowle on 1 April 1965. It left Goole at 11:30 am, carrying 184 pupils, members of staff, invited guests and the press. Passing through Reedness Junction, the train ran to Fockerby, where it was met by pupils from Garthorpe Primary School. It then returned to Reedness, and followed the route through Crowle to Epworth, by then the terminus. It returned to Ealand siding, where some of the passengers left the train, and the rest detrained at Crowle. The average speed for the 32.6-mile (52.5 km) journey was 8.1 miles per hour (13.0 km/h).