The intensity of its service was reflected in the 1,650 locomotives it owned – it was by far the most densely-trafficked system in the British Isles with more locomotives per mile than any other company[2] – and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions averaging one every 3+1⁄2 miles (6 km). No two adjacent stations were more than 5+1⁄2 miles (9 km) apart and its 1,904 passenger services occupied 57 pages in Bradshaw, a number exceeded only by the Great Western Railway, the London and North Western Railway, and the Midland Railway. It was the first mainline railway to introduce electrification of some of its lines, and it also ran steamboat services across the Irish Sea and North Sea, being a bigger shipowner than any other British railway company.[3]
The L&YR was incorporated in 1847 by the Manchester and Leeds Railway Act (No. 3) 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. clxiii), being an amalgamation of several important lines, the chief of which was the Manchester and Leeds Railway (itself having been incorporated in 1836).
Constituent companies
The following companies, in order, were amalgamated into the L&YR. The dates shown are, in most cases, the acts of Parliament authorising the incorporation and amalgamation of each company. In a few instances the effective date is used.[4]
Unless otherwise stated, the owning railways had equal shares. In addition, the L&YR had a one-third stake in the Dearne Valley Railway, the remaining two-thirds of which was owned by private shareholders.
The system
The system consisted of many branches and alternative routes, so that it is not easy to determine the location of its main line. For working purposes the railway was split into three divisions:
Whereas there were various lines split between the Central and Western Divisions there was only one route connecting the Eastern and Central Divisions. This line cut through the Pennines between Lancashire and Yorkshire using a number of long tunnels, the longest of which was Summit Tunnel (2,885 yards (2,638 m) in length) near Rochdale. There were six other tunnels each more than 1,000 yards (900 m) long.
A map of the L&YR system forms part of the War Memorial at Manchester Victoria
Manchester Victoria railway station was one of the largest railway stations in the country at the time. It occupied 13+1⁄2 acres (55,000 m2) and had 17 platforms with a total length of 9,332 feet (2,844 m). After the grouping, a structural change led platform 11 to run through and join with platform 3 in the LNWR's adjacent Exchange station; at 2,238 feet (682 m) between ramps it became the longest railway platform in Britain.[24] Lately the station capacity has been reduced to two platforms for Metrolink trams, two bay platforms, and four through platforms under Manchester Arena, which now replaces a significant area once occupied by the station. The main façade and station building of the original Hunts Bank station still exist and are kept in relatively good condition.
The L&YR was the first in the country to electrify a mainline route. In Liverpool, the fourth rail system pioneered by the tube railways in London was used at 600 VDC, although this was later converted to a third rail system. Suburban lines in the Liverpool area were electrified to reach a total of 37 miles (60 km).
In 1912 Dick, Kerr & Co.'s Preston factory was considering tendering for a Brazilian contract, and approached the L&YR to use the Bury to Holcombe Brook Line for test purposes at Dick, Kerr's expense. The line from Bury Bolton Street to Holcombe Brook was electrified with the overhead 3.5 kV DC system; rolling stock was also supplied at their cost. After prolonged trials the trains entered public use on 29 July 1913. The L&YR purchased the equipment and stock on the successful completion of the trials in 1916.
Body shell manufacture at the company's works at Horwich, 1915
In 1913 a decision was taken to electrify the Manchester to Bury route at 1.2 kV DC in an attempt to overcome competition from electric trams. Using the third rail system, trains powered by electric motor cars (or carriages) began running on 17 April 1916 but as Horwich was by then involved in war work, deliveries of the new electric stock were delayed and it was not until August 1916 that steam trains were withdrawn from the route. In 1920 the L&YR also considered electrifying the Manchester–Oldham–Shaw and Royton lines, but no work was carried out. During 1917 work began to convert the Bury to Holcombe Brook line to a third rail system, matching the Manchester to Bury system. Third-rail trains started to run on 29 March 1918.
Livery
L&YR 0-8-0 Tender Engine on a period post cardL&YR Aspinall0-6-0 ST No. 752 at Rainhill in 1980 showing the LYR freight loco colours of black with red liningL&YR Blackpool–Manchester Club saloon of 1912 in contemporary colours
Locomotives of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway were originally painted dark green with ornate brasswork and copper-capped chimneys. Lining was black and white. In 1876 the dark green was changed to a light green and goods engines were painted plain black. 1878 saw the goods locomotives also appearing in light green. This livery was discontinued from 1883 when all locomotives were painted black. Lining was red and white for passenger locomotives and, if present, red only for goods locomotives.
Passenger coaching stock was originally painted teak, changing in 1875 to an overall light brown. In 1879 a decision was made to use 'a little brighter shade'. Finally in June 1881 it was announced that the lower panels were to be painted 'lake colour'. Between 1896 and 1914 the upper panels became buff with the lower in purple-brown, ends were dark brown. Roofs were normally dark grey but some did appear in red oxide.
Wagons were unpainted until 1902 except for the ironwork which was black. After 1902 it was painted dark grey. The graphical symbol of an inverted solid triangle within a circle was replaced in 1902–03 with the letters LY. Brake vans were black and special traffic wagons were painted in various colours, such as red for gunpowder, white for fish, and pale blue for butter.
On 25 March 1921, the L&YR and LNWR agreed terms under which the two railways would amalgamate. Before this could occur, the Railways Act 1921 became law on 19 August 1921, under which the L&YR and LNWR would be forced to amalgamate on 1 January 1923 with each other and with other railways, such as the Midland Railway and the Caledonian Railway. The Act included provisions for two or more railways to amalgamate voluntarily before 1923; and the L&YR and LNWR took the opportunity to implement their March 1921 agreement, and on 1 January 1922 both railways were dissolved and a new company was formed, which was also named the London and North Western Railway; its board of twenty directors included six from the former L&YR.[25] The 1923 Grouping duly occurred one years later, which involved the expanded LNWR forming part of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The general manager, secretary and chief mechanical engineer positions of the expanded company were taken by L&YR employees. Ex-L&YR lines formed the core of the LMS's Central Division.
The LMS did little to develop the former L&YR routes, which in many places ran parallel to ex-LNWR or ex-Midland routes now forming part of the same network. Nationalisation followed in 1948 followed by a period of rationalisation and modernisation. The L&YR system has survived largely intact, although the following routes have been closed, many within the L&YR's old East Lancashire division:
Most ex-L&YR routes are now operated by Northern. Manchester Victoria station has been rebuilt in a more modest form and retains the former terminal building. The Caldervale Line, as named by West Yorkshire Metro, is also operated by Northern and uses a large part of the former L&YR.
Accidents and incidents
The Helmshore rail accident on 4 September 1860 saw 11 people killed and 77 injured when the rear portion of a Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway passenger excursion train became detached and ran back down the line where it collided with an oncoming passenger excursion train.[30]
A passenger train ran into a goods train near Mosesgate on 27 October 1880. Several passengers were injured and about a dozen carriages and a number of wagons were damaged.[33]
An excursion train was in collision with a West Lancashire Railway passenger train at Preston Junction, Lancashire on 3 August 1896 due to the driver of the excursion train misreading signals. One person was killed and seven were injured.[34]
A passenger train was derailed on 15 July 1903 at Waterloo station, then in Lancashire (now Merseyside) caused by a broken spring and spring bridle on the locomotive, while negotiating a 23-chain-radius (460 m) curve at speed. Seven people were killed and 116 were injured.[35]
An express passenger train collided with a light engine at Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire on 22 October 1903 due to a signalman's error. A third train collided with the wreckage at low speed. One person was killed.[36]
A collision between a London and North Western Railway (LNWR) empty stock train and a passenger train at Huddersfield, Yorkshire on 21 April 1905 killed two people. The driver of the LNWR train had overrun signals, but fatigue was a contributory factor.[37]
The Hall Road rail accident at Blundellsands in what is now Merseyside on 27 July 1905 saw 20 killed and 48 injured when two Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway electric passenger trains collided due to human error on the part of a signalman and a train driver.
Two locomotives were shunted into a siding at Hindley & Blackrod Junction, Lancashire on 22 January 1909, but one of them remained foul of the main line. A passenger train collided with it, killing one person and injuring 33.[37]
A passenger train was derailed on the Charlestown Curve when the track spread under it on 21 June 1912. Four people were killed and twelve were injured.[37]
A freight train became divided on 28 October 1913. The rear portion ran back and was derailed at Lockwood, Yorkshire.[38]
On 18 March 1915, an express passenger train overran signals and was in a rear-end collision with an empty stock train at Smithy Bridge, Lancashire. Four people were killed and 33 were injured.[39]
A viaduct at Penistone, Yorkshire collapsed on 2 February 1916 due to subsidence. A locomotive was on the bridge at the time, but its crew had time to escape before it fell.[40]
A freight train became divided at Pendlebury, Lancashire. The rear portion was too heavy for the banking locomotive to hold, and it was pushed back downhill and derailed by catch points, as were the wagons.[41]
The Lostock Junction train collision near Bolton on 17 July 1920 saw four fatalities and 148 injured as the result of a near head-on collision between two Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway passenger trains due to a signal having been passed at danger[42]
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway locomotive works were originally at Miles Platting, Manchester. From 1889 they were at Horwich.
During its existence the L&YR stationed its locomotives at around sixty different depots, some of which belonged to another railway, or were shared. Not all were open at the same time: small depots were occasionally closed, with their duties being moved either to another existing depot, or to a new larger depot. By the early 20th century there were 32 depots, of which 27 were owned outright, three were jointly-owned with the LNWR, and two belonged to another railway. Each was given a code number:[43]
Surviving coaching stock of L&YR origin go as far as 1878, with Directors Saloon No. 1 being privately preserved at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway.[44] Multiple coaches are preserved by Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust,[45] at the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, 6-wheel 5-comp third No. 1507,[46] Blackpool Club Car No. 47,[47] 6-wheel 4-comp First No. 279[48] and Brake third No. 1474.[49]
Many L&YR carriages, that were sold to the Barry Railway Company also survive, one being a birdcage brake from 1882.[50]
A dynamometer car also survives at the Midland Rail Centre in Butterley.[51]
The L&YR had the largest ship fleet of all the pre-grouping railway companies. In 1902 the assets of the Drogheda Steam Packet Company were acquired for the sum of £80,000[52] (equivalent to £10,970,000 in 2023).[53] In 1905 they took over the Goole Steam Shipping Company.
^Major E Druitt, Report of inquiry into the causes of the accident which occurred on the 15th July to an express passenger train which was derailed at Waterloo on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Railway Department, Board of Trade, 10 August 1903
^Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. p. 65. ISBN0-7110-1929-0.
^ abcEarnshaw, Alan (1989). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 5. Penryn: Atlantic Books. pp. 6, 8, 13. ISBN978-0-906899-35-9.
^Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 14. ISBN978-0-906899-37-3.
^Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 17. ISBN978-0-906899-50-2.
^Trevena, Arthur (1980). Trains in Trouble. Vol. 1. Redruth: Atlantic Books. pp. 18, 29. ISBN978-0-906899-01-4.
^Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. p. 10. ISBN978-0-906899-52-6.
Coates, Noel (1997) 150 Years of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, Hawkshill Publishing, ISBN1-900349-11-6
Earnshaw, Alan (1992) The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway: Then & Now, Ian Allan, ISBN0-7110-2058-2
Haigh, A (1978) Railways in West Yorkshire, Dalesman Books, ISBN0-85206-459-4
Haws, Duncan (1993). Merchant Fleets – Britain's Railway Steamers – Eastern & North Western + Zeeland and Stena. Hereford: TCL Publications. ISBN978-0-946378-22-7.
Littleworth, Chris (2002). Signal Boxes on Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Lines - North-East Lancashire. Signalling Record Society. ISBN978-1-873228-21-0.
Littleworth, Chris (2013). Signal Boxes on Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Lines - North and West of Manchester: Part One. Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society. ISBN978-0-9559467-5-2.
Littleworth, Chris (2014). Signal Boxes on Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Lines - North and West of Manchester: Part Two. Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Society. ISBN978-0-9559467-6-9.
Marshall, John (1970). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Volume 2. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN978-0-7153-4906-9.
Marshall, John (1972). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Volume 3. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN978-0-7153-5320-2.
Mason, Eric (1975) [1954]. The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in the Twentieth Century (2nd ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN978-0-7110-0656-0.
Nock, O.S. (1969) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway – A Concise History, Ian Allan, ISBN0-7110-0130-8
Paget-Tomlinson, E.W. (2006). The Illustrated History of Canal & River Navigations. Ashbourne: Landmark. ISBN978-1-84306-207-3. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
Reed, M.C. (1996). The London & North Western Railway. Penryn: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN0-906899-66-4.
Wells, Jeffrey (1995). An Illustrated Historical Survey of the Railways in and Around Bury. Challenger Publications. ISBN1-899624-29-5.
Further reading
Normington, Thomas (1898). The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway — being a full account of the rise and progress of this railway, together with numerous interesting reminiscences and incidents on the line. Manchester: J. Heywood. OCLC26345942. OL10713324W.
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