Green’s tramroad was a mineral railway that connected the Green brothers’ Yew Tree CollieryFormer coal mine operating on the Manchester Coalfield after 1845 in Tyldesley, which was then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. north of Manchester Road in TyldesleyFormer industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester. to the Bridgewater Canal east of Astley Green. When George Green and his partners commenced the Tyldesley Coal CompanyCoal company was formed in 1870 in Tyldesley on the Manchester Coalfield, in the historic county of Lancashire, England. the railway system was expanded northwards to connect to their CombermereCombermere Colliery was sunk by the Tyldesley Coal Company on the Manchester Coalfield after 1867 in Shakerley, Tyldesley in Lancashire, England. , PeelwoodPeelwood Colliery on the Manchester Coalfield in Shakerley, Tyldesley, Lancashire, began producing coal in 1883. and Cleworth Hall Collieries Cleworth Hall Colliery on the Lancashire Coalfield operated between 1880 and 1963 in Tyldesley, Lancashire, England. .
In 1851 George Green, Robert Leigh of Wigan, Robert Cowburn of Atherton Iron Works and John Holland of Bulwell, Nottinghamshire signed a lease from the Ellesmere Trustees which allowed them to make a railway to the Bridgewater Canal east of Astley Green. At the Tyldesley end, the tramway was worked by cable down the steep slope of the Tyldesley Banks and horse-drawn wagons completed the journey.[1][2] The line crossed Henfold Road and Chaddock Lane at level crossings and there was a coal yard at Chaddock Lane.[3] A pony and governess cart ran into a train on Henfold Road in 1911.[4] North of Manchester Road the tramway continued past Yew Tree No 1 shaft and across Common Lane on the level to a shaft on Shakerley Common from where coal was moved along the tramroad until the 1860s.
The line was extended northwards when the Combermere Pits were sunk and the brickworks were constructed, and was extended again when Peelwood Colliery was sunk. A line to the east from Yew Tree was made when Cleworth Hall Colliery was sunk.[1][2]
In May 1912 the Earl of Ellesmere asked £250 per annum to renew the lease on the land south of Manchester Road, but in spring the following year it was decided to move all the coal by rail and the lease was not renewed. The Earl of Ellesmere acquired some railway track priced at 12/- per yard for the 3200 yards (2,926 m) of track. The Clifton and Kearsley Coal CompanyCoal mining company that operated on the south side of the Irwell Valley on the Lancashire Coalfields. , which had sunk Astley Green Colliery, bought 1000 yards (914 m) of rail, the wagon tip, turntable, weighing machine and stables for £600.[1] The line of the railway, which is still visible and walkable, became a public right of way.[1]
Locomotives
The line was standard gauge by 1868, by which time the Tyldesley LooplineRailway line built in 1864 to connect local collieries to the Liverpool–Manchester main line. had been built. The first locomotive to operate on the line was an 0-4-0 saddle tank named Tyldesley that was built at the Haigh FoundryIronworks and foundry in Haigh near Wigan that was notable for the manufacture of steam engines..[2] Another 0-4-0 saddle tank, Beatrice, was bought from the Vulcan Foundry in 1877 followed by an 0-6-0, Jessie, from Walker Brothers of Wigan. The Vulcan Foundry supplied another 0-4-0 saddle tank, Victoria, in 1897 and an 0-6-0 side tank, Louisa, was purchased from the Hunslet Engine Company in1902. They were all built with a reduced loading gauge to fit under the restricted headroom of Manchester Road bridge. In 1927 Jessie was replaced by an 0-4-0 side tank with the same name from Hunslets, and Tyldesley was taken out of service.[4]