Axholme Joint Railway

Axholme Joint Railway

The viaduct which carried the Axholme Joint Railway over the Folly Drain and the South Engine Drain
Dates of operation	1902–1923
Predecessor	Goole and Marshland Light Railway and Axholme Light Railway
Successor	Joint London, Midland and Scottish Railway and London and North Eastern Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Axholme Joint Railway was a committee created as a joint enterprise between the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&Y) and the North Eastern Railway (NER) and was established by the North Eastern Railway Act of 31 July 1902. It took over the Goole and Marshland Railway, running from Marshland Junction near Goole to Reedness Junction and Fockerby, and the Isle of Axholme Light Railway, running from Reedness Junction to Haxey Junction. Construction of the Goole and Marshland Railway had begun in 1898, and by the time of the takeover in early 1903, was virtually complete. The Isle of Axholme Light Railway was started in 1899, but only the section from Reedness Junction to Crowle was complete at the takeover. The northern section opened in November 1903, and the line from Crowle to Haxey Junction opened for passengers on 2 January 1905.

A branch to Hatfield Moor was opened in 1909, but traffic from the peat works at Hatfield did not start to use the railway until 1913, when the company extended their line into the works. Traffic was mainly agricultural produce, together with peat from Hatfield Moor and from Swinefleet Peat Works which processed peat from Thorne Moors. Passenger services ceased in 1933, although occasional excursion trains continued to be run. The Haxey Junction to Epworth section closed in 1956, the Hatfield Moor Branch closed in 1964, and the remainder closed in 1965. However, most of the tracks were retained and operated as a long siding, to allow it to be used to carry heavy parts from Keadby Power Station across the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, as the bridge on the A161 road could not support the weight. The road bridge was replaced in 1970, and the rails were finally removed in 1972.

The Isle of Axholme lies to the west of the River Trent and to the east of Hatfield Chase, a vast area of low-lying land which was described as a badly drained swamp in the 1620s. It was recorded as Axeyholme, with the three syllables Ax-ey-holme meaning water-island-island being contributed by successive groups of Celts, Angles and Danes. In the reign of King Charles I, the Dutch drainage engineer Cornelius Vermuyden set about draining Hatfield Chase, containing some 70,000 acres (280 km²) of wetland, in 1626. The River Don, River Torne and River Idle were re-routed and re-channelled, and although there were some flaws in the initial scheme, and considerable social unrest, including damage of the drainage works, the unrest was finally resolved in 1719, and the agriculture of the area prospered. The Stainforth and Keadby Canal cut across the region in 1802, providing some transport facilities, but the coming of the railway age resulted in calls for railways to be built to carry the agricultural produce to market.