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= Colsterdale Waterworks Light Railway = The Colsterdale Waterworks Light Railway was a 2ft gauge (610mm) railway which ran from exchange sidings situated north of Masham Railway Station to Roundhill Reservoir and Leighton Reservoir in North Yorkshire, England. The railway operated between 1901 to 1932.

History
The railway was built in 1901 to transport building material for the construction of the dam of Roundhill Reservoir. The line was initially operated by Harrogate Corporation during the construction of the Roundhill Reservoir and was later used by Leeds Corporation to construct the nearby Leighton Reservoir. Difficult terrain required impressive engineering in the form of a wooden trestle viaduct.

In 1905, Leeds and Harrogate Corporations made an agreement with the North Eastern Railway to construct exchange sidings at Masham, north of Melmerby road, on the opposite side of the standard gauge station. Here, building materials were offloaded from standard gauge wagons onto narrow gauge wagons to be taken up the line to the dams under construction in the Closterdale valley. The exchange sidings at Masham were particularly developed, featuring an engine shed and workers' accommodation. In 1908, Leeds Corporation began construction of Leighton Reservoir and acquired the narrow gauge railway from the Harrogate Corporation in 1910, following the completion of Roundhill Reservoir.

In a remote area called Breary Banks in Colsterdale, west of Masham, a temporary settlement was set up to provide accomodation for the workers who built the reservoir, along with their families. However, it was abandoned after a mysterious fissure appeared in the reservoir basin, prompting the construction workers to be transferred to another site.

After the outbreak of the First World War, the waterworks railway was requistioned by the War Department and was subsequently extended. The 15th Battalion of the West Yorkshire Regiment, known as the Leeds Pals, took over the former navvy settlement as a training camp in September 1914, preparing for action in the First World War. The railway supplied the new army camp with supplies of coal, food and mail, as well as the baggage and personal goods of the soldiers who arrived there from Masham by foot.

In 1915, construction work on Roundhill Reservoir was postponed. The military camp was used as a prisoner of war camp for captured German soldiers from January 1917. In 1919, construction work was resumed, with navvies returning to the Beary Banks settlement. The field railway was not dismantled until the early 1930s, a few years after the construction work was completed.