Manchester and Leeds Railway
Encyclopedia
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom
which opened in 1839, connecting Manchester
with Leeds
via the North Midland Railway
which it joined at Normanton
.
Its route now forms the backbone of the present-day Caldervale Line
.
when the latter was extended to Hunt's Bank (later called Manchester Victoria
). The Act also authorised branches to Oldham
and Halifax
with a diversion at Kirkthorpe. Superintended by George Stephenson
, its engineer was Thomas Longridge Gooch
, a brother of Daniel Gooch
of the GWR
.
The line was opened in 1839 as far as Littleborough, and from Normanton to Hebden Bridge in 1840. The final linking section opened on completion of the Summit Tunnel
in 1841.
The line became the chief constituent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
, which was incorporated in 1847. Several railways had earlier been absorbed by the M&LR:
It used the North Midland's line to run into Leeds
since Parliament had refused to sanction two parallel lines. Not an easy line to build, there were eight tunnels in all, mostly through very difficult rock, a hundred and sixteen bridges and long cuttings and embankments. One tunnel, that at Charlestown, had to be given up due its collapse and the continued instability of the ground. This entailed a diversion with some tight curves at variance with the norm for the line of 60 chains (130.62 m). Two large bridges were avoided by diverting the course of the River Calder
. The rails
were of 15 feet (4.6 m) lengths laid at a gauge of with a mixture of stone
blocks
and, on the embankments
, wooden
sleepers
.
s, with an average speed of about 25 MPH (40 km/h), reaching approx. 42 MPH (67.6 km/h) downhill.
The railway was an early user of Edmonsons Ticketing System
. Tickets were checked en route, the guard presumably having to move from carriage to carriage by means of the external footboard - just as is described in Through the Looking-Glass
by Lewis Carroll
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which opened in 1839, connecting 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...
with Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
via the North Midland Railway
North Midland Railway
The North Midland Railway was a British railway company, which opened its line from Derby to Rotherham and Leeds in 1840.At Derby it connected with the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...
which it joined at Normanton
Normanton railway station
Normanton railway station serves the town of Normanton in West Yorkshire, England. It lies south-east of Leeds railway station on the Hallam Line, which is operated by Northern Rail.-History:...
.
Its route now forms the backbone of the present-day Caldervale Line
Caldervale Line
The Caldervale Line is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool...
.
History
It was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1836, with a second Act in 1839 which authorised the extension from the original Manchester terminus at Oldham Road railway station to join the Liverpool and Manchester RailwayLiverpool 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...
when the latter was extended to Hunt's Bank (later called Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria station
Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is the city's second largest mainline railway station. It is also a Metrolink station, one of eight within the City Zone...
). The Act also authorised branches to Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
and Halifax
Halifax, West Yorkshire
Halifax is a minster town, within the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It has an urban area population of 82,056 in the 2001 Census. It is well-known as a centre of England's woollen manufacture from the 15th century onward, originally dealing through the Halifax Piece...
with a diversion at Kirkthorpe. Superintended by 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...
, its engineer was Thomas Longridge Gooch
Thomas Longridge Gooch
Thomas Longridge Gooch was civil engineer of the Manchester and Leeds Railway from 1831 to 1844.-Biography:...
, a brother of Daniel Gooch
Daniel Gooch
Sir Daniel Gooch, 1st Baronet was an English railway and transatlantic cable engineer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1885...
of the GWR
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
.
The line was opened in 1839 as far as Littleborough, and from Normanton to Hebden Bridge in 1840. The final linking section opened on completion of the Summit Tunnel
Summit Tunnel
The Summit Tunnel in England is one of the oldest railway tunnels in the world: it was built between 1838 and 1841 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway beneath the Pennines...
in 1841.
The line became the chief constituent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
, which was incorporated in 1847. Several railways had earlier been absorbed by the M&LR:
- Manchester and Bolton RailwayManchester and Bolton RailwayThe Manchester and Bolton Railway was a railway in the historic county of Lancashire, England, connecting Salford to Bolton. It was built by the proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company who had in 1831 converted from a canal company...
- Ashton, Stalybridge & Liverpool Junction Railway incorporated 1844
- Liverpool & Bury Railway 1845
- Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway 1845
- West Riding Union Railway
- Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole
Route
The line climbed out of Manchester with an average gradient of 1 in 260 (0.38%) until it arrived at the summit and a 2860 yards (2,615.2 m) long tunnel at Littleborough. From there it descended towards Normanton.It used the North Midland's line to run into Leeds
Leeds Hunslet Lane railway station
Leeds Hunslet Lane railway station was opened by the North Midland Railway in Leeds in 1840 in what was, at the time a middle class area, south of the city....
since Parliament had refused to sanction two parallel lines. Not an easy line to build, there were eight tunnels in all, mostly through very difficult rock, a hundred and sixteen bridges and long cuttings and embankments. One tunnel, that at Charlestown, had to be given up due its collapse and the continued instability of the ground. This entailed a diversion with some tight curves at variance with the norm for the line of 60 chains (130.62 m). Two large bridges were avoided by diverting the course of the River Calder
River Calder, West Yorkshire
The River Calder is a river in West Yorkshire, in Northern England.The Calder rises on the green eastern slopes of the Pennines flows through alternating green countryside, former woollen-mill villages, and large and small towns before joining the River Aire near Castleford.The river's valley is...
. The rails
Rail profile
The rail profile is the cross sectional shape of a railway rail, perpendicular to the length of the rail.In all but very early cast iron rails, a rail is hot rolled steel of a specific cross sectional profile designed for use as the fundamental component of railway track.Unlike some other uses of...
were of 15 feet (4.6 m) lengths laid at a gauge of with a mixture of stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
blocks
Masonry
Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
and, on the embankments
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
, wooden
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
sleepers
Railroad tie
A railroad tie/railway tie , or railway sleeper is a rectangular item used to support the rails in railroad tracks...
.
Locomotives
The locomotives were provided by local manufacturers, six-wheeled Stephenson pattern. Carriages were all four wheeled. First and Second had three compartments, the latter with wooden shutters instead of glazing. The third class was "Stanhopes," that is, without seats, each divided into four sections by lateral and longitudinal bars. There were also some mixed carriages having a first class centre compartment, with the end ones second class. The average weight of a train would be about 18 tonTon
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s, with an average speed of about 25 MPH (40 km/h), reaching approx. 42 MPH (67.6 km/h) downhill.
The railway was an early user of Edmonsons Ticketing System
Edmondson railway ticket
The Edmondson railway ticket was a system for validating the payment of railway fares, and accounting for the revenue raised, introduced in the 1840s. It is named after its inventor, Thomas Edmondson, a trained cabinet maker, who became a station master on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in...
. Tickets were checked en route, the guard presumably having to move from carriage to carriage by means of the external footboard - just as is described in Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
.
External links
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Oldham Road to Miles Platting Station Jn.
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Manchester Victoria to Newtown No.1
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Newtown No. 1 to Miles Platting Station Jn.
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Miles Platting Station Jn. to Thorpes Bridge Jn.
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Thorpes Bridge to Hebden Bridge
- The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Hebden Bridge to Normanton, Goose Hill