It was owned by the Gascoigne family of Yorkshire to transport coal from their collieries via the Great North Road and a connection with the Leeds and Selby Railway.
High turnpike fees, and the inability to access the Aire and Calder Navigation due to competing interests owning land on the few miles to the canal meant that the sale of coal to nearby Leeds was uneconomic.
[2] From the 1870s, horse-powered transport was replaced by steam engines – the first being a Manning Wardle Class H 0-4-0 locomotive named Mulciber purchased in 1870.
[3] Mining reached its zenith at the beginning of the 20th century, with 440,000 tons per year being produced, 120,000 of which exported via Hull.
[4] Much of the line is walkable as a public footpath, with a Ha-ha rebuilt as a railway cutting in the grounds of the Gascoignes family house still extant.