at a temporary station, about mile from Wellington, near the site of Leeds Central where the permanent structure was opened about 1851. Expansion and branch lines to 1846 When the company obtained its Act in 1836, this was for the main line only, between Manchester and Normanton, giving access to Leeds. The main line was complete in 1841; the extension to Victoria station in Manchester followed, being ready in 1844. It was obvious that many other important manufacturing locations were in the general area served by the company, and it began to take steps to connect many of them, by building branches, or later, by absorbing other companies. Heywood Branch 1841 Heywood was an important industrial centre, home to numerous cotton mills and an iron foundry. A mile single line branch to Heywood was made, opening on 15 April 1841 without getting Parliamentary authorisation, until obtained retrospectively on 10 May 1844. It left the main line at Castleton, but at the time the locality was known only as Blue Pitts, two miles south-west of Rochdale. It cost £10,000 to build. The branch trains used horse traction, until a locomotive was used on the line from 1 May 1847. Oldham branch 1842 When the Hunt's Bank extension was authorised, an Oldham branch was included in the Act. It opened on 31 March 1842. The line was two miles long, climbing 186 feet from a junction on the main line at Middleton; a station there was named Oldham Junction at first. The branch had a gradient of 1 in 27 for more than half the distance. The method of working was devised by Captain Laws, the company General Manager; it used a balancing load of mineral wagons on a reserved track, with a cable passing round a large drum at the head of the incline. This arrangement continued until some time between 1851 and 1856, after which ordinary locomotive working was used. "There is a steep gradient in this branch of 1 in 27, a mile in length, situated between Middleton Junction and Werneth, Oldham, and a stationary engine was fixed at the top of the incline, with a rope attached to it, for the purpose of pulling up and letting down trains to the bottom of the incline." Halifax branch 1844 Also authorised in the Hunt's Bank Act was a Halifax branch. It too was a short line, ( miles with