and Carlisle Railway was completing its Alston branch, running from Haltwhistle; the primary purpose of the line was to serve the lead mines in the hills between Alston and Nenthead. The line passed near Lambley and had a short branch to the colliery there, a little west of the new line. The colliery was not operated by Thompson and Sons, but the firm decided to extend their line from Midgeholme to Lambley, and join the N&CR there. As well as serving the colliery output, the connection with the N&CR was valuable. The Thompson and Sons extension and the N&CR branch opened on 5 January 1852. Rails recovered from the by-passed waggonway at Milton were used for this construction. Development Over the succeeding twenty years, the firm progressively upgraded the track and the wagons, both of which were primitive at first. Tindale Fell colliery ceased operation by about 1870 and Blacksyke followed in 1872; the branches ceased operation concurrently with the pits. A new colliery called Howard opened near Greenside. The business was expanding and in 1872 an additional engine was acquired, named Tichborne (in reference to the Tichborne case which was preoccupying the newspapers at the time). However, Tichborne proved to be too heavy for the permanent way and was converted to a tender engine, transferring the weight of the water from the tank in 1879. Another tender engine, No 5, was purchased in 1878. Brampton town Brampton was an important township, with a population of about 3,500 at this time and as a market town it received a considerable volume of goods and visitors. The horse-drawn dandy coach connection from Milton station on the main line was increasingly criticised and goods had to be carted from Milton station, renamed Brampton in 1870. Local people petitioned the North Eastern Railway to construct a branch line to Brampton, independently of the Thompson's line, but this was refused. A public meeting in Brampton in 1889 recorded that period and agreed that the situation was unsatisfactory: It was a positive fact that in Carlisle they could have goods delivered from London in less time than they could get them delivered from Carlisle in Brampton... In 1875, a deputation [had] waited upon the directors [of the North Eastern Railway] and endeavoured to induce them to make a branch line into Brampton... In October however, a letter was received stating that the directors were not