A Quaint Little Railway (1930)

A Quaint Little Railway (1930)
This short, silent film captures one of Britain's minor little railways: the Leek and Manifold Light Railway on the Staffordshire Moorlands. The railway opened in 1907, linking the villages of Waterhouses and Hulme End, and was built mainly for agricultural traffic, with a passenger service being a secondary consideration. Its route went through beautiful countryside in Staffordshire, and it is unfortunate that the intertitles state it as being shot in Derbyshire!
In 1934 the entire line was closed by the North Staffordshire Railway. There is little in the way of recorded film material of this quaint little train, so this gem gives an invaluable insight into the railway. (Stuart Smith, Midlands Railway Centre)
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[@mpracing4]

Appears the scenery along this railroad was second to none! Also couldn't help but it appears the railroad's infrastructure (specifically the rail line itself) was very well maintained in it's day.

[@markcarey8426]

Terrific! Love the change-gauge system.

[@HenrysAdventures]

I love the valley where the Leek & Manifold Railway used to run. I've driven through the tunnel in my Lada Riva!

[@aarphotos5]

Such a shame that this railway no longer exists. It would make a lovely tourist ride

[@gordonnutt2565]

Fantastic i never new movie film of the Leek and Manifold existed many thanks.

[@althejazz]

Great to see this - it's a superb view of a great little railway and such good quality too. Just a little quibble - the line was taken over by the LMS at the grouping in 1923 and it was the LMS who closed it - The North Staffordshire Railway had ceased to exist in 1923.

[@alexanderhando4746]

You can cycle on it now it's fun, I've been several times, Hulme End's station has been preserved as a visitor centre, you can buy sausage buns at the Locomotive Shed

[@cogidubnus1953]

Wonderful footage...thank you for posting it...I think it's a fascinating insight into a totally bygone age...

[@sprintrider55]

To all those who don't know the area the track is now used as a cycle track and footpath between Waterhouses and Upper Hulme, so the beauty of the area can still be enjoyed but by cycle or foot instead of train.

[@auntypopup]

The old train route is now called the Manifold way, which is a beautiful walk through the Manifold valley, I was lucky enough to grow up around here, it is a beautiful part of England :)))

[@callum110597]

It seemed like a lovely little railway, with a junction for standard gauge trucks. Never seen anything like that before! 😲

[@patcoen1113]

It must have been quite a beautiful rly and it's staff very proud of it!

[@Madmelodist]

Great video! Some great footage here! Thanx, Sam

[@McGSkjellyfetti]

What an innovative and efficient solution to the break of gauge problem. This in not like anything I've seen before. It seems in a way a little prescient of the current inter-modal transportation system with trailers and then containers on train cars. Here on this narrow gauge railway, they built a narrow gauge car to carry an entire broad gauge car. Along the line, they had some broad gauge sidings where they could leave those cars for loading or unloading.

[@robbowilson5580]

Gem of a film So inotive too of its tme carring standard gauge waggons on narrow gauge bogies brilliant. thanks for posting this.

[@brucemacdonald2468]

Robbo Wilson ßßw

[@Isochest]

Lovely to see this again. Like the open wagon with North Staffordshire Railway on the side. Transshipment was minimal using this arrangement

[@TheRichardSpearman]

Thanks for a superb video. No doubt the usual excuses were made for tis closure....imagination and enthusiasm have always been in short supply in railway planning.

[@cablecarguy]

Wonderful footage. "Next stop, Sodor" flashed into my mind.

[@Offshoreorganbuilder]

Pity, it will all be buggered up, today. What a shame.

[@johnsalt989]

As a child, I lived about half a mile away from Thors Cave. I have lots of knowledge about the area to share.

[@daviddunn4538]

What a fine little film. Thank you.

[@checkmatesolidier]

what a wonderful relic, this film.

[@Wayzgoosey]

The L&MLR was actually closed by the LMS; it was engineered by ER Calthrop and was unusual in that it was constructed so that standard gauge stock could be carried on transporter wagons which were then shunted onto isolated sections of standard gauge tracks at factories and suchlike. Much of the trackbed is currently accessible as a footpath.

[@meconicuk]

Excellent piece of filming of an unusual railway.

[@terryburton851]

A real gem thank you....

[@sirrliv]

"Leek & Manifold". A nice joke in our automotive age :P I didn't know any British narrow gauge lines had those carrier trucks, the ones they use to haul standard gauge stock. I thought that was only a Swiss & German thing. What a charming little video of such a charming little railway. Thank you so much for posting this.

[@betsy1947]

I like it! What a peaceful, pastoral place and much simpler, nice times. *Sigh*

[@josephmarrison4606]

Shame that it was closed. It looks like a lovely little line. I would have loved to have ridden on the engine's footplate.

[@dkbmaestrorules]

@McGSkjellyfetti I think they used the system a lot in Saxony, Germany (search 'rollwagen' on google and you ought to get something), but this was the only place they used it in the UK.

[@Isochest]

@waldenhouse It closed in 1934. But I wish it still was in use:-))) Like the portuguese Narrow Gauge (Bítola estreita)

[@lewisner]

It would be great to walk this line and make a time lapse film of it today.

[@stanchandler5393]

wonderful clip, good quality

[@ianb9729]

A pity that such a charming line isn't still with us... is it something like 85 years since it closed?

[@01276]

the 1930 in the title gives that away

[@Necrovamp101]

@waldenhouse No, though you can walk the route as they have paved it for walkers, and the tunnels and stuff are still there, there is also the platform for the station 'thors cave' but it's overgrown. Nice walk though

[@QPRTokyo]

Wonderful.

[@waldenhouse]

Absolutely fantastic - a great glimpse of Railway History. Is it still in existence?

[@johnsmart964]

No, it is now a trail.

[@barnstoneworth11]

You're talking rot. Both engines on the line had reversing gear. The pushing of the wagon at the start of this film is because it's a standard gauge wagon being pushed from the very short length of track built for it onto the narrow guage transporter wagon. The use of transporter wagons in the UK was unique to this line.

[@Toyboy789]

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this clip is the excellent standard of trackwork! There;s hardly any movement in those milk churns!

[@khonamanje]

wonderful!

[@Isochest]

@Toyboy789 Well spotted. Especially for such a Narrow gauge route

[@chrisconil]

charming!

[@porno6361]

great bit of film,glad it survived this long,thanks for posting it

[@mcbenman1793]

Amazing

[@fluoridekid]

Wonderful piece of social history for the L&MVLR

[@RichmanJ93]

Cool!

[@larrybarker2495]

it's now a lovely cycle path.

[@bingola45]

Oh, great!

[@dennisroyhall121]

Such is what is termed ‘progress’ : we gained a public footpath and lost a public railway...

[@Rearda]

@organisten Thanks for the clarification. I never studied language and welcome any help that enables me to use it more clearly.

[@jetporter]

I think a good upgrade to "You tube" would be to give the original uploader of the video the ability to delete comments. On topic, this is an interesting little railway. Makes a guy want to buy the live steam model of the locomotive that just became available.

[@davidfrobel7582]

good video or film,,,it would make a good torist attraction if they could open it up again.

[@eisemanrenyardjake]

I'd love to see it reopened, maybe as a miniature-scale line, for tourists

[@mr.contentdeleted9660]

now path bike a is railway entire TheIts

[@SuperBostyn]

Interesting piece of footage.I'm a member of two British train sites : Railway World TV and Steam Tube.Could I put this video on these two sites please? I will certainly mention the source!!

[@VanlifewithAlan]

@robinkimberley So it is still being used! Albeit without the rails!

[@ogauger]

excellent clip!5*

[@peterheath9002]

long closed and track removed. now a cycleway mostly

[@peterjarvis9367]

Good lettering.....

[@stanleepatterson95]

Help a Yankee railroader. What is it they push the boxcar onto at the beginning of the video?

[@Zumzing]

Think of it as an adapter, taking a normal rail gauge box car on top with narrow wheel set beneath it allowing it to be transported on the narrow rails. Saves having to unload the box car onto a smaller narrow gauge truck. Hope it makes sense :-)

[@stanleepatterson95]

I got ya. Cool.

[@atomage2006]

@waldenhouse closed in the 1930s. You can still walk the trackbed - from nowhere to nowhere!

[@hujjesb]

the good old days

[@williamtown4058]

The Leek and Manifold opened in 1904 not 1907

[@syedjavedahmad9719]

would have been nice to see what they did with the towed car.

[@KingofAmerica97]

1930? I thought they had sound films by this point

[@slygom]

and those were the days...

[@Isochest]

@McGSkjellyfetti I think it has been and still is used in other places (Zillertalbahn, Austria?).

[@davidrobert2007]

The audio has been disabled due to copyright restrictions. LOL

[@timspiers6225]

Pity that it didn't survive until after the war, it would almost certainly have been preserved.

[@aloisius1950]

...Apprezzato!*****

[@mr.contentdeleted9660]

No

[@VZerda]

*rhythmic chanting* M-I-L-K T-R-A-I-N! M-I-L-K T-R-A-I-N! M-I-L-K T-R-A-I-N!

[@TheSteamdriver]

what happend to the engines that ran the line

[@ChasseurBritannique]

was that Ronnie Barker at 9:37?

[@TrainmasterCurt]

@Rearda 1400 deadwood said some stuff he did'nt fully understand

[@VanlifewithAlan]

@jetporter The original uploader of a video can delete comments - and as far as I can remember it was always that way!

[@steverowe8785]

Staffordshire NOT Derbyshire.

[@TrainmasterCurt]

@1400deadwood You can believe what you wish, the first church in Britain was Celtic, and there was a shrine to St.Mary at Glastonbury since the 2nd century, and still is one to this day. Peace be with you +

[@psycotria]

@GWR4079 " it depends on where you live tbf and if you will drop what you believe in to satisfy other religons" I agree. It's unfortunate that "multiculturalism" and tolerance seems to be enabling these "other religions" to move in, greeted with smiles, then cry that their delicate sensibilities are being somehow offended when they are exposed to normal, civilized life. If you move to another country, have the courtesy to integrate into the society you are joining on THEIR TERMS, NOT YOURS.

[@organisten]

@Rearda excuse me - I object to the notion that, just because one group of people have taken this word to themselves, the original meaning is thereby redundant. That is what you imply by saying "older sense". That original meaning is still vallid!

[@sirrliv]

Yo dawg, I heard you like trains. So we put a train on your train so you can train while you train!. ...Forgive me. I am weak and could not resist the call of comedy. This is a cracking little line though.

[@goSoutherNcal]

why the hell was this in my recommended box?

[@Rearda]

@organisten I did say in my post that I still use the word "queer" in its 'old sense' myself. No-one knows the origin of the word (possibly Germanic origin), which first appeared around the 16th century; but it has only been used to describe homosexuals since the 20th century.

[@robertdenton3641]

An excellent film. The railway was known as "a queer little railway" but, allegedly this title wasn't acceptable in preceding years.

[@ubernagash]

yes but its a museum now i think

[@andyg3]

no.....

[@Rearda]

@TrainmasterCurt I'm in my 50s and still find myself using the word 'queer' in its older sense. Probably because it clung on in the North of England a lot longer; and I'm a Tolkien fan - the Hobbit folk used it a lot when describing others whose traits they mistrusted. It's annoying when profanity filters on Tolkien sites keep asterisking it out. BTW - how did the history of Christianity worm its way into a film about a disused milk train?

[@silver760]

he may well know the future and has invented a time machine,in the past,but just fast forwards through the crap bits.

[@VanlifewithAlan]

@MaryOMackie The standard of living is immensely better know that it was then. And despite the current economic slow down, it is fair to say that you have never had it so good.

[@Beatlefan67]

Blimey it was sure a simpler way of life then...

[@TrainmasterCurt]

@1400deadwood Actually, Christianity came to Britain not by sword but by a budded staff. When Joseph of Arimathaea came to Britain he planted his staff on Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury, and it budded, and that is where Christianity in Britain started, the FIRST Celtic Church was established by "peace" not war, not like Islam, when they ruined Constantinople!

[@organisten]

@Rearda well, if you wish to be strict about things, you are still wrong. You say that it has only been used to mean "homosexual" since the 20th Century (which would mean that it hasn't been used for anything else). I suspect that you really mean that it has been used to describe homosexuals ONLY since the 20th Century. Lol. Alas the queer rules for English, and the placement of words, are falling apart. The emphasis must fall on the word after "only", in your case "been" to dictate its meaning.

[@robinkimberley]

@waldenhouse discontinued in 1933. Now a footpath/cycle track.

[@gamer00100]

I run a queer little railway too ;)

[@alanstarkie2001]

Today, it's just a queer little cycle track...

[@latham29]

sad how many racists there are on youtube isn't it?

[@samnicholson5051]

9 years later and things have only gotten worse

[@anarchyonline211]

fake all fake

[@SR-kf6lr]

It most certainly was not

[@swappyinn]

lame

[@Spacerowa-f4t]

"jumping someone else's train."