Manchester and Bolton Railway

Background In the 1820s a number of proposals for a railway between Manchester and Bolton were made, some well advanced enough to be submitted to Parliament. One, in 1825, was for a line from New Bailey in Salford, to Park Field in Bolton, and included a branch line to the Mersey and Irwell Navigation. The plan included the use of an inclined plane at Clifton to allow the railway to access the higher ground from thereon. Another scheme was to connect with the planned Liverpool and Manchester Railway near Eccles, and would reach Bolton via Moorside and Farnworth. Neither of these schemes progressed beyond the early stages of planning. In 1830 two more proposals to connect the towns were made. The Manchester to Preston Railway was unsuccessful, leaving open the way for the second scheme, which would become known as the Manchester and Bolton Railway. Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Company Centenary, 1938 souvenir illustrating the 2-2-0 locomotive of Edward Bury. In 1830 the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Company, led by chairman John Tobin, began to promote the construction of a railway along the line of their canal, from Salford to Bolton and Bury. Alexander Nimmo was employed to assess the proposal, and reported that it was possible "so far as he expressed himself capable of judging from his present cursory view of the canal". The shareholders then sought a bill for a railway from Bolton to Manchester and on 23 August 1831 obtained an act of Parliament, the ' (1 & 2 Will. 4. c. lx) to become the "Company of Proprietors of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway Company". The act authorised the abandonment of the canal between the Irwell basin and Prestolee, and empowered the company to build a line from Manchester to Bolton and Bury, "upon or near the line of ... the Canal". Two branch lines were also authorised, one from Clifton Aqueduct through to Great Lever, and the other from Giants Seat through to Radcliffe and Bury. The company obtained a further act of Parliament, the ' (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. lxix) that allowed it to build the railway along the new alignment. The Act also allowed for an extension of the railway to New Bailey Street in Salford, and from Church Wharf (the terminus of the canal at Bolton) to Bridge Street. Smaller branches in Bolton and Salford were also allowed. In July 1834 the committee of management applied to Parliament for "an act to amend the line of the railway between Manchester and Bolton". Initially there were to have been three tracks, one for goods and another two for passengers, but only two were built. A difficult section of the railway was at Farnworth, where a tunnel was required to cut through the hillside. A double-bore tunnel long was built between 1835 and 1838, driven from both sides, with a large vertical shaft in the centre. This was later joined by a narrower single-bore tunnel, through which the down line was routed. Traffic along the upline was routed through the original tunnel. Four acts of Parliament were required to raise the necessary funds, and the line opened on 28 May 1838. In 1845 William Hurst took over as Railway Superintendent for the company. A branch line was also "to join and communicate with the ... Bolton and Leigh Railway", at a junction near the Daubhill Stationary Engine, this line was however, not built. The company later shared their railway, including their station at Salford, with the Manchester, Bury and Rossendale Railway Company (MB&RRC) and both worked together to construct a junction at Clifton Junction railway station. In 1846 the company was taken over by the Manchester and Leeds Railway, In 1922 it amalgamated into the London and North Western Railway, and in 1923 this company amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. This company was nationalised in 1948 under the Transport Act 1947, and became part of British Railways. ==Route==

The original terminus was at Salford railway station on New Bailey Street in Salford. Passing through Pendleton, Clifton Junction, Dixon Fold, Stoneclough and Farnworth the line ended at Bolton railway station. In 1841 the line was extended to Preston by the Bolton and Preston Railway. The route northwards to Blackburn followed four years later, whilst the Liverpool and Bury Railway's arrival in 1848 gave Bolton links eastward to Bury and Rochdale and westwards to Wigan and Liverpool. From Salford, the line was extended via several bridges and across Chapel Street, to Victoria Station in 1844. These lines had all become part of the expanding Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway system by 1858. ==Design==

The rails were of broad-based parallel form and weighed . Gauge was . These rails were later replaced with rails when the former were discovered to be insufficient to carry the weight of the trains using them. Significant earthworks were required along the route, and the tunnel at Farnworth was constructed in favour of a cutting. The tunnels were built through clay, and lined entirely with brick or masonry. Turntables were placed at each terminus. Thirty three bridges were constructed, along with stone drainage facilities to keep water from the cuttings. The railway company was forced to change the design of some of these bridges, as insufficient room was given for the locomotives and carriages on the track to pass between the bridge supports, which were only wide. With only of space between some vehicles and the bridge supports, a report by the Inspector of Railways on 11 December 1846 concluded that they were dangerous. On 19 November 1842 a guard named William Parker was killed on the railway, his skull found fractured, and on 26 July 1844 a guard named James Cook was killed as he leant out and was struck by a support. It was also reported that the distance between rails at these bridges was only , whereas the normal distance was . ==Locomotive types and coaches==

The company purchased four Bury Type locomotives from Bury, Curtis and Kennedy, two from George Forrester and Company, and two from William Fairbairn & Sons. Two further Bury 2-2-0s were acquired by the railway in 1844–45. Coaches were first and second class; each first class carriage held 18 passengers, and each second class carriage held 32 passengers. Third class carriages were introduced on 11 June 1838 but discontinued on 1 December 1838 after the company found that many passengers were vacating first and second class, for the cheaper third class. The company had 15 first class carriages, and 22 second class carriages. The locomotive works of the Manchester and Bolton Railway (M&BR) was at Salford, on the south side of the line within a roughly triangular area bounded by the railway, the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal, and East Ordsall Lane (). Opened with the railway in 1839, Salford works maintained the locomotives of the M&BR, and after the amalgamation of the M&BR with the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) in 1846, continued to maintain the locomotives of the Bolton section of the M&LR (subsequently of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR)) until at least 3 October 1849 when the two locomotive departments of the LYR were combined. Locomotive maintenance was transferred to the Miles Platting works of the LYR, and the Salford buildings were demolished before 1865. The first locomotive superintendent of the M&BR was William Jenkins, appointed in May 1839. He resigned in early February 1845 to take up a similar position with the M&LR at their Miles Platting works, which was then under construction. His successor on the M&BR was William Hurst, and on 3 October 1849, Hurst became the 'outdoor locomotive superintendent' of the LYR, alongside Jenkins who was now 'indoor locomotive superintendent'. ==Fares and services==

Initially, first class passenger fares were two shillings and six pence (2s 6d - "half-a-crown") for the entire ten mile journey, or 3d per mile. This is the equivalent of at least £10 in 2011 values. Second class was 2s, or 2.40d per mile. On 11 June 1838, a new pricing structure was introduced, with first class costing 2s, second class 1s 6d, and third class 1s. Passenger tickets were taken in transit. ==See also==