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 1902 (2 Edw. 7. c. clxviii) of 31 July 1902. It took over the Goole and Marshland Railway, running from Marshland Junction near to and , and the Isle of Axholme Light Railway, running from Reedness Junction to . 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 was complete at the takeover. The northern section opened on 10 August 1903,Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick 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 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.
History 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 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.
Precursors The South Yorkshire Railway built a line which ran broadly parallel to the Stainforth and Keadby Canal, passing through . Two plans for railways from London to York, which would have crossed the Isle, were proposed but not built, while the more local Isle of Axholme Extension Railway would have linked Haxey, Epworth, Crowle and Thorne. In 1846, the railway financier George Hudson proposed a line from Goole to be called the Isle of Axholme, Gainsborough and York and North Midland Junction Railway, which failed to obtain an act of Parliament, but much of its route was used by the railway which did eventually get built.
In 1882, the Isle of Axholme and Marshland Steam Tramway was authorised by the . It would run from Haxey to Crowle, and would use a gauge of . However, in 1883 the company joined forces with, and was then taken over by, the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway to resist a proposal for the Goole, Epworth and Owston Railway. The defeat of the rival scheme was resented by local businessmen. Under an act of Parliament, the (48 & 49 Vict. c. liv), the tramway was abandoned and the Isle of Axholme Railway was authorised, but this too was abandoned three years later by another act of Parliament, the (51 & 52 Vict. c. viii). Nothing more happened, until the passing of the Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48), which meant that rural railways could be authorised by an order from the Board of Trade, rather than having to obtain a costly act of Parliament.
Proposals
The was one of the first to take advantage of the new Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. 48). A public enquiry held in Goole on 8 October 1897 showed that the plans, which would cost £59,602 to implement, had local support, and the farmers' club estimated that the railway would carry 51,625 tons of agricultural produce per year. The was issued on 16 August 1898, enabling construction to proceed. It sanctioned four railways and a road. Leaving the Doncaster to Goole main line (Hull and Doncaster Branch), a line composed of two of the railways ran to Adlingfleet via , and there were branches to Swinefleet and Luddington. of road were needed to provide access to the railway. The maximum speed was restricted to , and locomotives with tenders were not allowed to run tender-first.
The was proposed in 1897, running from to Crowle via and . At Haxey, it would join the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway, while at Crowle it would pass over and also connect to the Great Central Railway, and would join the Goole and Marshland Light Railway at . Two branches, to Hatfield Moor and Newlands, were proposed. Like its northern neighbour, the plans had strong local support, and a light railway order, the , was granted on 11 March 1899. A request by the Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation Company that the swing bridge over the canal near Crowle should be maintained in the open position to allow free passage of boats, rather than in the closed position to prefer the railway, was refused, as was an application for running powers over the line by the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway.
Neither railway remained independent for long. Both were negotiating with the North Eastern Railway by January 1900, and agreement was reached that the larger railway would run both of the new lines, also representing them at the Railway Clearing House. As well as the agricultural traffic, the route would provide access to coal from the South Yorkshire coalfields. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway also needed routes into the coalfields, and the two companies agreed with the two new railways on a takeover plan. The North Eastern Railway Act 1902 (2 Edw. 7. c. clxviii) of 31 July 1902 dissolved, transferred to and vested both companies in the North Eastern and the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway companies jointly, with three directors appointed by each company. They paid £73,500 for the Goole and Marshland line, which had been completed, and £27,500 for the Isle of Axholme Light Railway, which was still in the early stages of construction.
Construction Construction of the Goole and Marshland Light Railway began on 22 September 1898 at Eastoft, where the first sod was cut by the chairman, William Halkon. There was some initial disagreement with the North Eastern Railway over Marshland Junction, but this was resolved in December, and the first section of the virtually flat railway was opened from Marshland Junction to Reedness Junction on 8 January 1900, initially for goods traffic only. A locomotive and two open wagons were used to form a Directors' train to inspect the line to Eastoft on 26 June, and the North Eastern Railway carried out a survey in December before purchasing the line. At the time, the railway was open as far at , and the final section to Garthorpe was expected to be laid within a month. Eastoft station was completed, and the expected Reedness Junction, Luddington and Garthorpe stations to be finished to a similar standard. Garthorpe station was eventually renamed .
The railway claimed its first lives when two contractor's locomotives collided in thick fog near Eastoft on 4 January 1901. Both of the locomotives were damaged, and the crew of one were scalded when the boiler tubes burst. The driver died the following day, and the stoker a few days after that. Another inspection train was run on 26 June 1901, starting from Reedness Junction and visiting, according to the Crowle Advertiser, Creyke Siding, Garthorpe and Crowle. The train consisted of two first-class carriages and an open truck. A dinner was held at the Darby and Joan Hotel in Crowle, before the party returned to Reedness. Although Creyke siding was mentioned, this term was normally applied to a siding serving Creyke's peat works on the North Eastern Railway main line to the south of Marshland Junction.
The cutting of the first sod for the Isle of Axholme Light Railway was an altogether grander occasion. It took place on 20 July 1899, and was reported at great length in the Epworth Bells newspaper. The ceremony was performed by Miss Bletcher, the daughter of one of the Directors, after which a luncheon for a large number of people was held in a marquee. Following speeches, about 400 children were given a free tea in the Temperance Hall, while adults were catered for in the schoolrooms of four local chapels. Sports were then held, watched by a crowd of 1,500, and finally there was a fireworks display. Most of the children later received a commemorative medal.
Construction proceeded slowly, to the extent that there were letters in the local newspaper complaining about the delays. The first train ran into Epworth on 25 November 1901, to test the new bridge, and the event was attended by a crowd of over 400. The line involved more earthworks than the Goole and Marshland Light Railway, with major cuttings at Haxey and Epworth, where steam excavators were used, and a swing bridge over the canal at Crowle. The first fatality was a 15-year-old boy who was hit by a rock during blasting, and died at Doncaster Hospital in early 1902.
By the end of 1902, the section from Crowle to Reedness Junction was finished, as was the line from Epworth to Haxey Junction. The railways became part of the Axholme Joint Railway in early 1903, and the northern sections, from Marshland Junction to Fockerby and Crowle, were opened for passengers and goods on 10 August 1903Railway Passenger Stations by M.Quick 19 November 1903. Only Crowle swing bridge remained to be finished by March 1904, and the southern section opened for goods traffic on 14 November. The Board of Trade required several improvements to be made before it passed the line as suitable for passengers, and the formal opening took place on 2 January 1905. The work had involved excavating of earth to form the cuttings between Epworth and Haxey, and another had been used to construct the embankments by Crowle swing bridge. of bricks and of concrete had also been used. Since 17 February 1904, the official name of the undertaking had been the Isle of Axholme Joint Railway (NE and L&Y Joint).
Hatfield Moor branch An application for a light railway order for the Hatfield Moor Extension Light Railway was made in November 1904, and the was granted on 5 August 1905. The contract to build it was given to John Moffat of Manchester on 27 September 1907, and the contract price was £14,649. Construction took one and a half years, and the branch opened on 1 March 1909. Because the area through which it ran is low-lying, and had been the subject of drainage schemes since 1626, the railway had several bridges over rivers and drains. Between Epworth and Sandtoft goods station, it crossed the Folly Drain, the New Idle River and the River Torne. Beyond the station it crossed the North Idle Drain, and then ran along the bank of the Hatfield Waste Drain to reach its terminus at Hatfield Moor, close to the Hatfield Peat Works, then owned by the British Moss Litter Company (BMLC).