Middleton Railway Hunslet 150 Gala

Middleton Railway in Leeds to host Hunslet 150 Gala and employee reunion.

July 18th and 19th 2015


This summer we will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Hunslet Engine Company, the world famous producer of locomotives and other engineering products.

The highlight of the event will be both standard gauge visiting locos and a special appearance from iconic 2ft gauge attractions too...watch this thread for more information!


This event will include the opportunity to see models of Hunslets in all sizes and scales in action, the aim is to have 150 Hunslets on site over the weekend. There will be passenger and freight trains in operation as part of an intensive timetable as well as a vintage bus link to the city centre, workshop tours to see work on our own Hunslet locos, hot food and a real ale bar.


We are keen to talk to anyone who used to work for the Hunslet Engine Company in Jack Lane and would encourage people to contact us at hunslet150@gmail.com to find out about the special event we are holding especially for ex-employees of the company on July 17th.


The Middleton Railway is located just outside Leeds City Centre and is serviced by local buses but our free vintage bus service will pick up and drop off hourly from the city bus station, railway station and Armley Mills Industrial Museum where further parking is available (and 18'' Hunslet Jack will be in steam). Our address is The Middleton Railway, Moor Road, Hunslet, lS10 2JQ. Look out for more news at www.middletonrailway.org.uk.

 

Now that sounds interesting - email sent.

 

Just a quick update for everyone, we now have agreements for 2 standard gauge visiting locos, one of which has never before visited the North in preservation, it'll be great to be bringing these locos 'home' to Leeds. We should be in a position to announce them in the next couple of weeks.

By the time of the gala we should also have our third coach completed and this will give more capacity for all of you making the trip from wherever you call home! A small team are also restoring an original wagon that was used by Hunslet on their site from 1951 until around 1990. This flatbed wagon will be restored to its former glory in a dark green livery with yellow signwriting and red buffer beams (a little extravagant for a wagon I hear you say?!). This should form part of the freight train over the weekend.

On top of railway based attractions we have confirmed the support of 4 different vintage buses over the weekend to provide a free link with Leeds city station, the bus station and Armley Mills Museum if you would like to explore more of Leeds' industrial heritage. We have also been working on special advanced ticket prices and the production of a commemorative t-shirt design available in advance or on the day.

More updates very soon.

 

Latest updates can be followed at hunslet150.webs.com including progress on the restoration of the flatbed wagon which will hopefully be appearing in our freight train over the weekend of the gala. This dedicated website will have prices, bus timetables and loco details on plus much more before too long.

Steam will be in operation at both our own site on Moor Road AND significantly (possibly the only time this will ever happen) back at Jack Lane. In conjunction with Schneider Electric who now own the site we will be taking two famous Hunslets back to their birthplace. They will operate on parallel demonstration lines behind the only original works building still standing. The first of these locos is 'Irish Mail' from the West Lancs Railway represents the iconic 2ft gauge product many of us think of when we think Hunslet. The second loco is still to be announced but we are confident it will fill a very important gap in the story of the Hunslet Engine Company.

At Moor Road the main gala currently has two confirmed guest locomotives. One is 16" Hunslet 'Beatrice' courtesy of John Beesley/Embsay Bolton Abbey steam railway. This will be joined, for the first time in preservation and returning to its city of birth, Hunslet Austerity No 66/3890 from the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. This is one of the most significant Hunslets still in existence, it was the last standard gauge steam locomotive they built and has not thus far run in preservation. We are hopeful they will be joined by a third visiting steam loco and also two of our own resident diesels, John Alcock and Courage/Sweet Pea, representing in themselves fascinating parts of the Hunslet story.

We are still looking to speak to anyone who used to work for Hunslet so if you, or someone you know, did then please email us at hunslet150@gmail.com

Thanks

 

Pity it's the same weekend as the other major Industrial loco event the Foxfield gala, but good luck with what looks like a great event.

 

Well that's Foxfield's fault for planning theirs on this date. The date of Middleton's gala was decided 150 years ago!

 

Another slight problem is that there a fixed number of weekends in the year - and when you have several competing interests, planning can be less than simple.
I need a clone machine !

 

I appreciate the clash and am sorry to all those who we have caused an issue for but Foxfield and Middleton can be done in a weekend, even by public transport with our handy bus link! I'd also point out this is probably the ONLY opportunity you will ever have to see steam back at Jack Lane. We are also hoping to set up a photo charter the Thursday before the event if you can't make the main gala.

Third loco soon to be announced and the Hunslet wagon is coming on nicely.

John

 

Final visiting locos soon to be announced...it may be from even further north than Yorkshire (as if these places even exist!!) and will coming 'home' or the first time in preservation. It is also likely that we will have another very exciting visitor, albeit MUCH more modern to bring our event full circle. Watch this space for further announcements....

Also to appease those upset the clash both Foxfield and Middleton will be offering special rates for those who bring a rover ticket for the opposing event over the weekend. We hope to see a few of you at both events!

John

 

The final visitors for the Hunslet gala (which takes the total up to 6 including the 2 narrow gauge locos) are to be quite unique in different ways. The first is Austerity No 19 from the Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway courtesy of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society. This loco has never left Scotland and will be returning 'home' for a very special birthday celebration. This will provide the exciting prospect of double headed Austerities on the Middleton's fierce 1 in 45 bank as well as on freight trains over the Balm Road branch.

Secondly, the modern arm of Hunslet Engine Company LH Group (Wabtch) are kindly lending us their very latest product, part of pair headed for Buxton Lime these locos have not even been in service and the example visiting us weighs in at over 60T. This is the largest diesel to ever visit Middleton and will give an opportunity to see the oldest (John Alcock/LMS 7051) and newest Hunslet diesels in operation together.

Advance tickets and more info available at www.hunslet150.webs.com and charter details for Thursday 16th July from 30742 Charters.

 

We do hope everyone is going to be coming along to what is arguably the industrial event of the year. 5 Hunslets will be coming home, two to the very site where they were built, with many other attractions too. Models (both static and live steam) will be in operation as well as workshop tours, mixed trains, the Balm Road branch in operation and double headed trains. A free vintage bus service is being provided for those who don't drive or wish t partake in our real ale bar with 4 beers on and a cider all weekend. A special Hunslet 150 Ale will be available too! For more information and to follow the restoration of our Hunslet flatbed wagon see hunslet150.webs.com.

 

Will a timetable be released for the event?

 

Just to confirm the details for the Hunslet Engine Company Site on Jack Lane.


We will be laying parallel 2ft gauge tracks in the car park of Schneider Electrical who are now on the Hunslet Engine Company site. The tracks will be laid directly behind the Hunslet office block which is the only surviving building.


The two locomotives will be Irish Mail Works No. 803, 1903 from the West Lancs and Trankil No4 Works No. 3902, 1971 from Statfold Barn. Both locos will be in steam over the weekend and running up and down their respective 100ft of track.


There will be a vintage bus service between Moor Road and Jack Lane

 

I'm looking forward to this event. Quick question however, is there any ideas on the times of the bus service from Leeds station? The Middleton's website simply says hourly. Thanks in advance.

 

The bus timetable is on the Hunslet 150 web site, The page is http://hunslet150.webs.com/bus-timetable.

It is also worth looking at this web site for other information and pictures of the restored Hunslet wagon.

 

Seaham Luke.....a working timetable should go up at www.hunslet150.webs.com this weekend. Th bus service is more than hourly, especially early in the morning, please see the dedicated website for a timetable too.

 

Many thanks for the reply!

 

The working timetable for the weekend is now online at www.hunslet150.webs.com.

Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of our control 'Jack' will no longer be in steam at Armley Mills due to a failure of a component. It is still a very interesting place to visit if you have time among all the other excitement!