In 1841 I. W. Boulton began an apprenticeship with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway under Richard Peacock.
In 1858–1859 he bought three second-hand railway locomotives (2-2-0 tender engines built by Bury) and started to hire them out for temporary jobs.
The locomotive-hire side of the business grew and so a connection to the nearest railway line was needed.
This led, in 1864, to the construction of Boulton's Siding, alongside the Oldham branch of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.
In 1867, one of Boulton's carriages won what is considered to be the world's first race of two self-powered road vehicles.