Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch Railway opens to Werneth

Background. The Oldham Branch Railway was an early railway of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company connecting Oldham to Manchester. Oldham lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester City Centre. The former County Borough Council suggested that if the town had not grown substantially before the railway age, it would surely have been overlooked.

Route Characteristics. The branch connected two stations: the junction at Middleton Junction and the terminus at Oldham. The route was 2 miles long, with most of it consisting of the Werneth Incline. This incline had a gradient of 1 in 27 for about one mile, making it one of the steepest passenger lines in Britain.

Historical Significance. This was the first railway to reach Oldham, albeit up a severe incline to Werneth on the west side of the town. The Werneth Incline made the Middleton Junction to Oldham Werneth route the steepest regular passenger line in the country, highlighting the engineering challenges of the era.