The First Commercial Steam-Powered Railroad

The Salamanca

The Middleton Railway boasts an interesting history. The one mile long railway has been running longer than the United States has existed. Founded in 1758, it has been run by volunteers since 1960 as a heritage site. Located in West Yorkshire, England, the railway was originally made to transport coal to Leeds and was called a Wagon-Way. It was called such because it originally carried wagons pulled by horses on the wooden tracks. The Railway's claim to fame came in 1812, when it changed out the wagon system for a new steam-engine locomotive. The manager of the railway, John Blenkinsop, felt that they would need new rails for the engine to overcome the steep hills. So Blenkinsop designed and patented a railway which had one rail that was toothed like a gear. He then asked Matthew Murray, a successful innovator, to design a locomotive with a pinion, a toothed wheel, to mesh with the track. Murray built the Salamanca, the first steam locomotive to use two cylinders. Murray and Blenkinsop's inventions made this the first successful cog railway in the world! The Salamanca became the first successfully operated commercial steam locomotive in the world in 1812, and with it brought many other first-time world records to Middleton. Unfortunately some of these were terrible and unwanted records, such as the first person to be killed by locomotive in 1813. Another series of misfortune came again in 1818 and 1834 when boiler explosions occurred, killing the first ever regular locomotive driver, James Hewitt. Steam was abandoned after this in favor of horse-drawn wagons, until 1866 when new engines were introduced. The railway continued operating for many years, connecting to other rails and switching hands, until volunteers took over the small section in order to make a living history railway. The fascinating history of the Middleton Railway gives us a brief glimpse into the makings of the incredible machines that have and continue to transport and connect the world.