Manfeld & Donning Railway

The Manfeld & Donning Railway (M&DR) was the first mainline railway to be built on Hadren. It operated between 1848 and 1919, connecting the historic town of Donning to the growing town of Manfeld, and later the city of Dullmoness. It's track now makes up part of the Hadren Railway mainline.

Formation
The M&DR was opened on 3rd September 1848, between it's namesake towns. Sir George Brunton, the 23rd Earl of Hadren, was appointed as it's director. The railway had 4 2-4-0WT engines. In May 1852 they completed an extension to Dullmoness, the island's capital, as well as a bridge to Whitehaven where they connected with the FR and LNWR. Three new single-driver 2-2-2 express engines, named 'Donning', 'Hanel' and Manfeld', were built to help run the longer line. On 20th June that same year, to mark the 15 year anniversary of Queen Victoria's coronation, a new express service was launched between Donning, Manfeld, Dullmoness and Whitehaven, titled 'The Victorian'.

Golden Years
The line saw continuous success throughout the 1850s and 60s. Three 'pug' class saddle tanks were built to assist with goods and shunting work in 1868. In 1873, the station at Debrent became a junction upon the completion of the North Coast Railway, which resulted in more traffic for the M&DR arriving from the north of the island. The M&DR's final locomotives, a pair of 2-4-0 express engines named 'Whitehaven' and 'Dullmoness', were built at Hanel Works in 1884, taking over the running of 'The Victorian' from the singles, which were now showing their age.

Decline
As early as 1902, the signs were starting to show of the railway's changing fortunes. Just over half of it's engines were at least 50 years old, and rarely were all twelve available for work. In 1898, shortly after the NCR completed an extension to Rothery, an agreement was made to loan them two of the M&DR well tanks to assist with the heavier workload. This would prove beneficial to the NCR, but also meant the M&DR had even fewer available engines. In 1902, 'Manfeld' derailed due to excessive speed around a curve while travelling light engine. It rolled down an embankment and fell into the adjacent canal. The wreck was recovered, but deemed too expensive to repair. Out of all the railways on Hadren, the M&DR was hit hardest by World War 1. The drop in passenger traffic tanked the company's profits, while the troop and supply trains only went as far as Debrent, where they were carried on by the NCR. They were no longer able to properly repair their ageing motive fleet, which led to both remaining singles and two of the well tanks being sent for scrap to help with the war effort. These struggles would come to a head in November 1917, when 'Whitehaven' broke a crank pin while on approach to Donning. The left coupling rod tore up the frames and splashers, and the engine's rear drivers were rendered useless. The railway couldn't afford to repair the damage, so she had to be scrapped. Even once the war came to a close, the future looked bleak for the M&DR, with a heavily reduced, ageing fleet in desperate need of repair, and very little money left to keep going. Consequently, the line merged with the NCR in 1919.