The World's Oldest Operating Railway part 1

[footynutguy]

And here was me thinking that the Liverpool to Manchester railway was the first one. Thanks for correcting me.

[Roylambeth]

@footynutguy I believe that The Liverpool & Manchester was the first railway in the world to hold a competition (The Rainhill Trials of 1825) and may have been the first passenger railway. But there are many railways around that claim they are the FIRST for some particular happening peculiar to them selves

[aqswefhtgy]

Choo Choo!!! Hey it's Thomas the train!

[Roylambeth]

@aqswefhtgy Cheeky! No it is not Tank Engine Thomas from the Isle of Sodor. This is a REAL railway!

[mattitude1987]

wwwDOTdayoutwiththekidsDOTcoDO­Tuk/family-fun/Middleton_Railw­ay/2311

According to this, the oldest operating railway in the world is in Leeds (west yorkshire - England) but i dont know

[ghfdfhfdndxhcg]

Why does it need two brake vans?

[Roylambeth]

Being unfitted i.e. without continuous brake that can be operated by the locomotive crew, a brake van has to be provided at the back of the train. This demonstration coal train is running backwards & forwards over The Tanfield Railway. To avoid difficult shunting moves at each end of the line, it is easier just to put a brake van at each end of the train. Only the brake van at the opposite end of the train to the locomotive is in use.

[littlegiant18794]

Actually this is not the oldest operating railway in the world. That is the colliery railway at the Snibston Discovery Park, Coalville, Leicestershire, the 3rd railway in the world, and built by George Stephenson to serve the near by coal mine.

[littlegiant18794]

well, oldest railway built for steam atleast

[Roylambeth]

That depends on when your colliery railway opened for steam. Bear in mind that part of the original Stockton & Darlington which opened with steam in 1825, is still operated over by British Railways (Darlington North Road to Shildon and Dinsdale to Eaglescliffe)

[Roylambeth]

Sorry but it is the oldest existing operating railway in the world with parts of its route being opened in 1725 - 100 years before the Stephensons.

The official info available states:-

The oldest part, c1647, was the Lobley Hill section, it had over 300 years of coal traffic when closed in 1964. The surviving 1725 Sunniside to Causey section is now the World's Oldest Working Railway and the Causey to East Tanfield section dates from 1839.

[Roylambeth]

@littlegiant18794 Sorry. WRONG! Snibston is certainly old, but they were not mining coal in Leicester in the 1600s like they were in County Durham. Monks in County Durham were mining coal in the 1400s and had developed horse-drawn wooden tramways by the 1600s. Parts of The Tanfield Railway date back to horse-drawn wooden tramways and can be traced back to at least 1647. Which makes it the oldest in preservation