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<previous image The Methley Branch next image>IntroductionIn the Parliamentary Session of 1845 a number of Companies were formed with the view of connecting the Port of Goole to the existing railway system. In the resulting battle to secure the approval of Parliament, the winner was the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway. One of the other competitors was the Brayton and Goole Railway which, if it had proved successful, would have linked Goole directly with Leeds via Selby. In the event of the failure of this scheme the Board of Trade suggested that the WP&G could connect its line to Leeds by building a branch from Pontefract to Methley, there to connect with the already existing North Midland Railway from Derby to Leeds via Normanton. Thus a direct line was created between Pontefract and Leeds and opened in 1849. This line together with the Knottingley-Doncaster branch was for a few years part of the first direct East Coast line from London to Leeds. The following pictures take our steam-age coverage of Pontefract from the Lady Balk level crossing to Parkfield Lane. (Photograph above) Every afternoon the Pontefract pilot locomotive made a short trip working from the goods yard to the Prince of Wales Colliery to fetch coal wagons up to the sidings near the station. The picture shows number 46415 (one of the regulars) pulling out of the colliery and heading towards the crossing. Photo: Peter Cookson. Peter
Cookson Railway Photography
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