High Royds Hospital Railway
High Royds Hospital Railway
High Royds Hospital Railway was a short private line in West Yorkshire that connected the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum near Leeds with the Midland Railway between Menston and Guiseley (on what is now the Wharfedale Line). It opened in 1883, ran about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) on a single standard gauge track, and used 110 V DC electric power later in its life.
The line was built to bring building materials for the hospital and later to carry flour and mainly coal for the boilers. Coal wagons arrived at the hospital and were unloaded into coal hoppers; any leftover coal had to be shoveled out by hospital workers, often male patients. A small steam engine was used at first but proved underpowered on the steep incline. In 1897 the line was electrified and an electric locomotive was introduced, but it could haul only a small load. A more powerful electric locomotive arrived in the 1920s and was used until the line closed in the 1930s, with a wartime reopening in 1939. The final closure came in 1951.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:31 (CET).