Middleton Railway, Leeds

02/09/2026

STOP SCROLLING! It's an end of summer ticket sale at the Middleton Railway, Leeds!

You can have a day out of a fiver. Five of your find Great British Pounds for all day travel at the Middleton Railway this weekend.

LS10 2JQ for your satnav, and we can't wait to see you. Been planning on coming down, while now is your chance!

SATURDAY 5th: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/etn/regular-diesel-running-day-5-9-26/
SUNDAY 6th: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/etn/regular-steam-running-day-6-9-26/

Say goodbye to summer and make back-to-school season an adventure with a visit to the historic Middleton Railway! Before the new term gets into full swing, bring the whole family to experience the magic, sounds, and nostalgia of the world’s oldest continuously working railway. Whether you’re a l...

02/09/2026

Today's focuses on No.385, the Hartmann locomotive undergoing restoration at the Middleton Railway. Built in 1895 in Chemnitz, Germany, 385 has always been a firm favourite with the crew, with the water tank tucked between the frames and everything easily accessible, there's no crawling underneath in hot, wet damp, head banging cramped spaces!

Sadly, a crack in the tank's well took this quirky little loco out of service, and that is going to be one of the many challenges to fix during this restoration and overhaul.

Fancy helping to restore it? Now is a great time to get involved and really get to understand a steam locomotive, by taking it apart!

Recently retired and looking for something to fill your time? Or just have the odd Saturday afternoon free and want to learn some new skills? We accept volunteers from as young as 14, so drop us a message. Volunteering days are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, at times between 9am and 5pm, though you can come the whole day or part of the day.

You can volunteer as much or as little as you like, and we even have tea and biscuits.

01/09/2026

Summer's over. The adventure isn't.

For ONE WEEKEND ONLY, we're slashing the price of online Day Rover tickets – so the whole family can squeeze in one last big day out before the school run takes over.

£5 for adults and ONE POUND for kids!

🗓 Sat 5 Sept – Heritage Diesel Day
🗓 Sun 6 Sept – Steam Day
⏰ Trains from 10:30 to 15:30
📍 Moor Road, Hunslet, Leeds LS10 2JQ

One ticket, all day. Ride as many times as you like between Moor Road and Middleton Park, hop off at the top for the woodland trails and playground, then head back down for the Engine House Museum and get up close to the locos built right here in Leeds. There's a café for a brew and a gift shop for the little engineers.

This is the world's oldest continuously working railway, on your doorstep, at its lowest price of the year.

Online only. Two days only. When they're gone, they're gone.

BOOK ONLINE:
Diesel Day, Sat 5 Sept: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/etn/regular-diesel-running-day-5-9-26/
Steam Day, Sun 6 Sept: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/etn/regular-steam-running-day-6-9-26/

31/08/2026

Have you spotted our Isles crane at Moor Road? Built in 1886 (works No. 173), it's a rare survivor from one of Yorkshire's lesser-known crane makers and it has quite a story behind it.

Job Isles was born in Farsley in 1842, the son of a cloth weaver. After a spell as an office clerk at Thomas Smith's crane works in Rodley, he set up on his own in 1869, trading as Isles & Whitham in Pudsey, making steam cranes and lifting machinery. A few years later he built the Prospect Foundry at Stanningley, and by 1881 he'd bought out his partners entirely.

The firm went on to build everything from dockside and Goliath cranes to railway breakdown cranes and floating pontoon cranes, even turning out thousands of mortar bombs during WW1, on a production line staffed by women and known as the "Bomb Bay".
After nearly 60 years of crane-making, Isles left the trade in 1928 to become Leyland service agents for Yorkshire.

Today only a handful of Isles cranes survive, ours here in Hunslet, and another as far away as St Kitts in the West Indies! Preserved as a static exhibit, it's a proud reminder of Leeds' engineering heritage.

Come and see it for yourself this weekend at the Middleton Railway.

29/08/2026

Return of steam 🚂 !!

We are pleased to announce the return of steam this bank holiday weekend with the return of ‘HC 1544 Slough Estates No.3’ on both Sunday 30th August & Monday 31st August.

Engine house is open from 10:00-16:30 with trains running from 10:30-15:30 each day.

For more information & tickets visit:
https://middletonrailway.org.uk

25/08/2026

It's happening...
Santa is coming!!

R**t, listen up! If tha’s after a proper Christmas treat that won’t cost an arm an’a leg, we’ve got just t’ticket for yer!

Get ready for festive magic when Santa returns to Middleton Railway this December! The much-loved Santa Special train rides are back for 2026, with decorations, gifts, and family fun all along the track.

Starting on Saturday 5th December, we will be running on Saturdays and Sundays of the 5th & 6th, 12th & 13th, and 19th & 20th, Wednesday 23rd and then finally on Christmas Eve (Thursday 24th).

For more info and tickets visit :
https://middletonrailway.org.uk/santa-2026/

24/08/2026

Middleton Railway Chairman Charles Milner recent interview with the Yorkshire Post talking about acquiring custodianship of locomotive HC 1544 'Slough Estates No.3'

22/08/2026

IMPORTANT NOTICE -

Due to the governments recent national safety message about risk of fires we are doing everything we can to minimise our risk of any fires due to the extremely dry and very flammable landscape around our railway line.

In order to protect our environment, our customers, and our volunteers, we have made the decision to withdraw our steam service on Sunday 23rd August.

We are keeping this under constant review and will update you if this changes.

So if you are visiting us Sunday we will be running our normal timetable, but using one of our historic diesel locomotives instead.

As part of the change we will charging our regular diesel service prices - £9 for adults, and kids for a quid! (5-15 years)

Thank you for your understanding of this matter.

16/08/2026

The story of the Middleton Railway told as never before.

Artist Alan Braby and renowned historian Anthony Dawson take a unique look at the history of Middleton Railway and the workings of Salamanca in this unique new and exclusive graphic novel.

You can buy this book in our Shop, visit LS10 2JQ on our running day to pick up a copy.

It will be on our shop in the near future: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/product-category/books/

14/08/2026

Feeling hot this weekend? In desperate need of some air conditioning around 2pm this Saturday? The Round Foundry was one of the most important locations for the Industrial Revolution, and this will be a superb talk.

The great news is our conference room has air conditioning!

Book your ticket online and head down to the Middleton Railway, LS10 2JQ.

BOOK ONLINE: https://middletonrailway.org.uk/etn/the-round-foundry-a-talk-by-helen-gomersall-guy/