the railway system was heavily used in the construction of the beds. a steam locomotive had been purchased in 1897, and another four were bought as the work expanded. once the filter beds had been completed, they needed to be emptied for the media to be washed, regraded and topped up every few years, and this became the primary function of the railway for the next 32 years. it was also used to remove rubbish from the screening chambers, moving 861 wagon loads between october 1901 and march 1902. by july 1905, the primary bacteria beds had been completed, and an extra of land had been bought at flixton and carrington, which was to be used for secondary bacteria beds and land filtration. by 1905, the works owned a total of , which included the route for a conduit from davyhulme to flixton.