There was a 2’ gauge light railway which ran from Bilton at sidings adjacent to the main railway immediately north of Bilton Lane and Harrogate’s gas works by Ripon Road at New Park.

These railway siding preceded the light railway as originally coal was hauled by steam road locomotives from these sidings to the gas works. Strong opposition by the public to the damage caused to the roads by these steam road locomotives caused the directors of Harrogate Gas Company to seek alternative methods of transport.

An attempt was made in 1897 to persuade the North Eastern Railway to build a branch line from Bilton to the gas works. Due to the cost of construction and insufficient revenue the traffic would generate, the railway company refused.

In 1904 the directors of the Gas Company viewed a narrow gauge railway being constructed by Harrogate Corporation for the construction of Roundhill Reservoir near Masham. As a result the engineer, Mr E W Dixon, was asked to draw up plans for a light railway and these were ultimately accepted. On 26th March 1907 the board authorised raising share capital up to £20,000 and also awarded the contract to Messrs Holmes and King of Liverpool at £18,000.

The required land was purchased and on 26th April 1907 work began on sinking the 53’ shaft for the 800 yard tunnel under Skipton Road and what is now the Knox Estate. The first sod was cut on 7th May. Construction of what became known locally as the Barber Line was complete by November 1908. The line terminated at the exchange sidings with the main line, several feet below the main railway tracks as the main line ran on an embankment.

However, one siding of the Barber Line ascended steeply to cross the other sidings so that tar and liquors could be discharged into the main railway’s tank wagons. In 1921 a deviation east of the bridge over Knox Lane was built to ease the steep gradient, and a passing loop was added at the other side of Know Lane on the only level section of the track between the lane and the tunnel.

The line was first operated by an 0-6-2 saddle tank locomotive called Barber after one of the Gas Company’s directors. Barber was built by Thomas Green & Son of Leeds in 1908, works number 441. A second loco was acquired in 1920, Spencer, again named after a director. It was a 4-6-0 side tank loco built by the Hunslet Engine Company of Leeds in 1919, modified and delivered in 1920, works number 1340.

Towards the end of World War II, Spencer needed replacing and Barber was also nearing the end of its life. In 1944 the company took delivery of an 0-6-0 saddle tank built by Peckett & Company of Bristol, works number 2050. It does not appear to have received a name.

In September 1949 Barber was replaced by a diesel loco, the order being placed in June 1947 with Drewry & Company of London. The loco was manufactured under tender by E E Baguley of Burton on Trent. It displayed Drewry works plates and their works number 2262. The loco was powered by a Gardner 6LW diesel engine. It lasted until the line closed.

It was the increased amount of coal which outstripped the line’s capacity and the need for a new coal handling plant at Bilton that forced the Barber Line’s closure in 1956. It was found that road haulage was 33% cheaper and more efficient than the railway. Events had turned full circle. The last coal train ran in July and the last load of tar and ammoniacal liquids in October.

The locomotive Barber is preserved in Bradford Industrial Museum. Spencer was cut up for scrap on site at the New Park terminus. The Peckett loco was restored to working order at Bredgar & Wormshill Light Railway near Sittingbourne, Kent. The Drewry loco eventually found its way to Natal and then Selukwe in Rhodesia.

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