Manchester and Birmingham Railway
Encyclopedia
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester
and Crewe
and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham
, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway
. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western Railway
in 1846.
and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
, investors began to look for other routes south of Manchester
. From 1835, the GJR was considering a branch to the Potteries
, while the Manchester and Cheshire Junction Railway was planning a line from Manchester to Crewe
with branches outwards. Meanwhile George Stephenson
was investigating a line from Manchester and Stockport
to the Potteries, which developed into a proposal for a "Manchester South Union Railway". Also involved were proposals for competing lines through the Trent
valley to Rugby
.
After two years of proposals and counter-proposals, what emerged was a scheme to run from a junction from the GJR at Chebsey
, with branches to Macclesfield
and Crewe, into Manchester Store Street, which received Parliamentary authorisation in 1837. There were plans to take the line to Rugby, but for a number of reasons, including lack of finance, they were put in abeyance.
and a temporary station at Travis Street in Manchester was opened first in 1840 carrying nearly two thousand passengers in the first twenty weeks. However there still remained to be built an enormous 22 arch viaduct over the River Mersey
at Stockport. In 1841 the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
, which was to share Store Street, also began running into Travis Street. Store Street finally opened in 1842 and later became known as London Road. (It became Piccadilly in 1960). Services were extended to Sandbach
but entry to Crewe, where it would use GJR metals to Birmingham, proved more difficult. In the end it was agreed that the GJR would work the trains south of Crewe, while the M&B would work them into Manchester.
Enough locomotives, all 2-2-2
, had been ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company
and Sharp, Roberts and Company
to work the whole distance, but John Ramsbottom
, their Locomotive Superintendent, managed to sell four of them on to the South Eastern Railway
. Although the company's finances remained weak, it built a number of short branches, and, although a minor player, its position made it a crucial part in revived plans for the Trent and Churnet
valleys, which involved the London and Birmingham Railway
with which they would compete.
. The long-awaited Trent Valley Railway opened in 1847. The Manchester and Birmingham had put other plans forward, including a line from Rugby to the Midland Railway
at Syston
near Leicester, authorised in 1846 and the Coventry and Nuneaton Railway. Also in 1846 the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
had been authorised, supported strongly by the M&BR and the Midland, joining the latter's line to London
. In the event it only reached Rowsley
due to financial difficulties, but the merger was a considerable embarrassment to the Midland, since the LNWR was naturally opposed to a competing line to the capital.
.
for the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. The south entrance arch is made from ashlar buff sandstone, and is Grade II listed. The arch stands proud of the rubble supporting walls, and is decorated with a modillion cornice. The north entrance arch is in brick and of a simpler design. The keystone of the northern arch has the 1845 date, and the company's initials.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
in 1846.
Plans
After the building of the Grand Junction RailwayGrand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
, investors began to look for other routes south of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. From 1835, the GJR was considering a branch to the Potteries
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, while the Manchester and Cheshire Junction Railway was planning a line from Manchester to Crewe
Crewe
Crewe is a railway town within the unitary authority area of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the urban area had a population of 67,683...
with branches outwards. Meanwhile George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
was investigating a line from Manchester and Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
to the Potteries, which developed into a proposal for a "Manchester South Union Railway". Also involved were proposals for competing lines through the Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
valley to Rugby
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
.
After two years of proposals and counter-proposals, what emerged was a scheme to run from a junction from the GJR at Chebsey
Chebsey
Chebsey is a small village in Staffordshire 2.5 miles southeast of Eccleshall on a confluence of Eccleshall water and the River Sow some 5 miles northwest of Stafford...
, with branches to Macclesfield
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town within the unitary authority of Cheshire East, the county palatine of Chester, also known as the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The population of the Macclesfield urban sub-area at the time of the 2001 census was 50,688...
and Crewe, into Manchester Store Street, which received Parliamentary authorisation in 1837. There were plans to take the line to Rugby, but for a number of reasons, including lack of finance, they were put in abeyance.
Opening
A section between Heaton NorrisHeaton Norris
Heaton Norris is now a mainly residential area of Stockport, England bordering on Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor. Formerly it was the name of the parish, that included Heaton Chapel, Heaton Mersey and Heaton Moor and was in Lancashire....
and a temporary station at Travis Street in Manchester was opened first in 1840 carrying nearly two thousand passengers in the first twenty weeks. However there still remained to be built an enormous 22 arch viaduct over the River Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
at Stockport. In 1841 the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
Sheffield, Ashton-Under-Lyne and Manchester Railway
The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne...
, which was to share Store Street, also began running into Travis Street. Store Street finally opened in 1842 and later became known as London Road. (It became Piccadilly in 1960). Services were extended to Sandbach
Sandbach
Sandbach is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements; Sandbach itself, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock....
but entry to Crewe, where it would use GJR metals to Birmingham, proved more difficult. In the end it was agreed that the GJR would work the trains south of Crewe, while the M&B would work them into Manchester.
Enough locomotives, all 2-2-2
2-2-2
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 2-2-2 represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle two powered driving wheels on one axle, and two trailing wheels on one axle. The wheel arrangement both provided more stability and enabled a larger firebox...
, had been ordered from Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company
Robert Stephenson and Company was a locomotive manufacturing company founded in 1823. It was the first company set up specifically to build railway engines.- Foundation and early success :...
and Sharp, Roberts and Company
Sharp, Roberts and Company
Sharp, Stewart and Company was a steam locomotive manufacturer, initially based in Manchester, England. The company was formed in 1843 upon the demise of Sharp, Roberts & Co. and moved to Glasgow, Scotland in 1888, eventually amalgamating with two other Glasgow-based locomotive manufacturers to...
to work the whole distance, but John Ramsbottom
John Ramsbottom (engineer)
John Ramsbottom was an English mechanical engineer who created many inventions for railways, including the piston ring, the Ramsbottom safety valve, the displacement lubricator, and the water trough.- Biography :...
, their Locomotive Superintendent, managed to sell four of them on to the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...
. Although the company's finances remained weak, it built a number of short branches, and, although a minor player, its position made it a crucial part in revived plans for the Trent and Churnet
River Churnet
The River Churnet is a river that flows in Staffordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Dove.- Etymology :The origins of the name "Churnet" are unknown, though it is thought to derive from the pre-English, British name for the river.- Course :...
valleys, which involved the London and Birmingham Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....
with which they would compete.
Merger
Eventually the complex relationship between the M&BR, the GJR and the L&BR was resolved by their merger in 1846 to form the London and North Western RailwayLondon and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
. The long-awaited Trent Valley Railway opened in 1847. The Manchester and Birmingham had put other plans forward, including a line from Rugby to the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
at Syston
Syston
Syston is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population is 11,508 as of the 2001 Census.-Overview:...
near Leicester, authorised in 1846 and the Coventry and Nuneaton Railway. Also in 1846 the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton....
had been authorised, supported strongly by the M&BR and the Midland, joining the latter's line to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In the event it only reached Rowsley
Rowsley
Rowsley is a village on the A6 road in the English county of Derbyshire.It is at the point where the River Wye flows into the River Derwent and prospered from mills on both.-Overview:...
due to financial difficulties, but the merger was a considerable embarrassment to the Midland, since the LNWR was naturally opposed to a competing line to the capital.
Locomotives of the M&BR
The M&BR's locomotive works was at Longsight railway stationLongsight railway station
Longsight railway station was built by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway Company .-History:The first station opened in June 1840. Its original location was on Stockport Road near its junction with Slade Lane in Longsight, Manchester, England. Its creation coincided with the then new Belle Vue Zoo...
.
Prestbury Tunnel
The Prestbury Tunnel 53.29551°N 2.14447°W was constructed in 1845 by George W. BuckGeorge W. Buck
George Watson Buck was Engineer of the Montgomeryshire Canal in the early 19th Century, and was responsible for the unique lock paddle design....
for the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. The south entrance arch is made from ashlar buff sandstone, and is Grade II listed. The arch stands proud of the rubble supporting walls, and is decorated with a modillion cornice. The north entrance arch is in brick and of a simpler design. The keystone of the northern arch has the 1845 date, and the company's initials.