The Veteran's Line

The branch line from Hyde to Nightingale is a twelve-mile-long secondary route operated by Tri-ang Railways. Due to the age of both its locomotives and rolling stock, the branch line is commonly known as "The Veteran's Line".

History
The Hyde-Nightingale branch line was opened in 1873 following two years of construction and planning. Designed originally as a secondary mainline or "loop" for the Northern and Eastern mainlines, the line was converted to a proper secondary route up local superstitions about a mysterious figure that lurked beyond Nightingale. The farms along the line soon took advantage of the new railway line by transporting their produce to both market in Hyde and the rest of Nerland.

By the 1910s, the branch line had over six stations with an additional textiles industry that provides extra goods traffic for the railway. The line proved to be vital during World War One (1914-1918) to supply soldiers with warm clothes, new uniforms and food. By the 1930s, the line fell into small usage as the textiles industry started using lorries to transport their products, resulting in services being cut and the beginning of a proposal to close the line due to the little traffic and revenue it generated, but was scrapped when traffic rose during the early stages of WWII in 1939.

Locomotives

 * McConnell (occasionally)
 * Roberts
 * Ugander (since 1935)
 * Joseph (since 1959 to 2017. Retired in 2017)
 * Bertram (following closure of Highland line)

Rolling stock

 * TR "Second-Gen" coaching stock (both four and six wheel versions. Retired in 1988)
 * BR Mk1 suburban stock (since 1967)
 * Ex-SECR Covered Carriage Truck (since 1960)
 * Ex-SECR "Birdcage" coaching stock (since 1958)

Stations

 * Hyde (mainline connection)
 * Hyde South
 * Croft
 * Waterhen
 * Lanstone
 * Nightingale (terminus)

Trivia
The Veteran's Line is sometimes used by the Nerland Preservation Society (based at Hyde) to perform load tests on locomotives following overhaul.

The nickname "The Veteran's Line" came from the age of the locomotives and rolling stock normally used on the line until the 1960s.

Officially, the Veteran's Line is the first TR line ever mapped.