and Marshland Light Railway, with major cuttings at Haxey and Epworth, where steam excavators were used, and a swing bridge over the canal at Crowle. The first fatality was a 15-year-old boy who was hit by a rock during blasting, and died at Doncaster Hospital in early 1902. By the end of 1902, the section from Crowle to Reedness Junction was finished, as was the line from Epworth to Haxey Junction. The railways became part of the Axholme Joint Railway in early 1903, and the northern sections, from Marshland Junction to Fockerby and Crowle, were opened for passengers and goods on 10 August 1903 19 November 1903. Only Crowle swing bridge remained to be finished by March 1904, and the southern section opened for goods traffic on 14 November. The Board of Trade required several improvements to be made before it passed the line as suitable for passengers, and the formal opening took place on 2 January 1905. The work had involved excavating of earth to form the cuttings between Epworth and Haxey, and another had been used to construct the embankments by Crowle swing bridge. of bricks and of concrete had also been used. Since 17 February 1904, the official name of the undertaking had been the Isle of Axholme Joint Railway (NE and L&Y Joint). Hatfield Moor branch An application for a light railway order for the Hatfield Moor Extension Light Railway was made in November 1904, and was granted on 5 August 1905. The contract to build it was given to John Moffat of Manchester on 27 September 1907, and the contract price was £14,649. Construction took one and a half years, and the branch opened on 1 March 1909. Because the area through which it ran is low-lying, and had been the subject of drainage schemes since 1626, the railway had several bridges over rivers and drains. Between Epworth and Sandtoft goods station, it crossed the Folly Drain, the New Idle River and the River Torne. Beyond the station it crossed the North Idle Drain, and then ran along the bank of the Hatfield Waste Drain to reach its terminus at Hatfield Moor, close to the Hatfield Peat Works, then owned by the British Moss Litter Company (BMLC). Facilities were limited, with a borehole deep supplying a water column at Sandtoft, and a run-round loop with a lever frame at Hatfield Moor, where the staff consisted