Manchester and Leeds Railway

Proposals to build a railway from Manchester to Leeds originated at about the same time as those for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and a company was formed in 1825 but despite the involvement of George Stephenson, the scheme was abandoned, and a reintroduced scheme in 1831 also failed to gain approval. In 1835, the company was reconstituted with capital fixed at £800,000; Stephenson was again appointed chief engineer, and plans were deposited for the following parliamentary session. The route was altered from the earlier proposals to run via Wakefield to Normanton to join the North Midland Railway over which it would have running powers from Normanton into Leeds. The eastward diversion was to form easier gradients than previously proposed, but nearer Manchester there were three inclines, each about long at 1 in 165 and 1 in 130. In from Manchester the line would climb to a tunnel, long, and two other tunnels of and . Normanton is some distance east of Wakefield and not the direct route towards Leeds. Running powers over of the North Midland Railway to Leeds were given and a clause in the act that should the North Midland Railway fail to build its line, the Manchester and Leeds Railway would have the power to do so. ==Tunnels==

Work on the section from Manchester to Littleborough began on 18 August 1837, and on the Summit Tunnel the following year. The tunnel proved much more expensive than planned, and took longer to complete. It was nearly finished in December 1839 when a portion of the invert failed, allowing the side walls to move by , requiring them to be rebuilt. Stephenson explained the failure by saying The blue shale through which the excavation passed at that point, was considered so hard and firm, as to render it unnecessary to build the invert very strong there. But shale is always a deceptive material... In this case, falling away like quicklime, it had left the lip of the invert alone to support the pressure of the arch above, and hence its springing inwards and upwards. At the time of its completion it was the longest railway tunnel in the world, at . The brickwork varies from five to ten rings in thickness. The total cost of Summit Tunnel was £251,000. There was a problem at Charlestown Tunnel, between Eastwood and Hebden Bridge. The ground consisted of loose, sandy earth which gave trouble from the start. On 8 June 1840 it was reported that the masonry inside the tunnel was collapsing and eventually, after much further consideration, the tunnel was abandoned and the line built round the hill at ground level on curves of radius. ==Early track==

Whishaw wrote in 1842, "The [track] gauge is , in order to allow of an inch [] play on either side for the wheels of the locomotives and carriages. The rails are of the single parallel form... They are in lengths, having bearings..." The track consisted of T-section rails, deep with heads wide and deep, weighing , secured in chairs by means of a diameter ball and key fitted into grooves in each side of the stem of the rail. Sleepers consisted of sandstone blocks of about each in cuttings, and Kyanised larch sleepers, by by , on embankments. ==Opening==

On Wednesday 3 July 1839, the line was formally opened from Manchester to Littleborough and two trains conveying the directors and invited guests ran as far as Summit Tunnel. On the following day the line opened to the public over that section; 3,100 passengers were carried. The fare for the from Manchester to Littleborough was first class 4s, second class 2s 6d, and third class 6d. The chief booking clerk at Manchester was Thomas Edmondson who had invented a machine for printing railway tickets on cards of standard size, numbered progressively, and another machine for stamping the date on each ticket. Edmondson's ticket system and machines were used into the 1970s, almost identical with those first used on the in 1839. The next section that opened was from Normanton to Hebden Bridge on Monday 5 October 1840. The North Midland Railway had opened its line to Leeds, using its own terminus at Hunslet Lane on 30 July. As the eastern end of the was isolated by the uncompleted Summit Tunnel, the NMR provided locomotives for this section until the line was completed. Passengers could now book from Manchester to Leeds, the journey from Littleborough to Hebden Bridge was made in road coaches provided by the company. ==First train services==

The first timetable showed nine passenger trains each way except Sundays when there were four. The first weekday eastbound train started from Sowerby Bridge. The trains alternated between all stations and semi-fast, the latter calling at eight intermediate stations compared with 15 intermediate stops for all-stations trains. The stopping trains took about 3 hours and 20 minutes to and from Leeds, the semi-fast trains took 2 hours and 45 minutes. The fact that the line by-passed many important towns is emphasised by the notes in the timetable: Mills Hill (for Oldham); Blue Pitts (for Heywood); Todmorden (for Burnley); Sowerby Bridge (for Halifax); Brighouse (for Bradford); and Cooper Bridge (for Huddersfield). The quickly achieved a high profit level, owing to the density of population along the route and the fact that in the early years much southbound traffic from Manchester was routed this way owing to disputes affecting the Grand Junction Railway. goods wagons on its system in order to run a cheap excursion from Dewsbury to Liverpool—at the time a commonplace form of accommodation. The Midland reacted by taking all the M&LR wagons it could find and moving them to Derby. ==Manchester Victoria Station==

After the opening of the Leeds to Manchester line, only the gap between the 's Oldham Road station and the 's Liverpool Road terminus in Manchester, prevented there being a through line from Liverpool to Hull. As well as the inconvenience to passengers, goods had to be unloaded and carted across Manchester and reloaded into railway wagons. The companies agreed to make a connecting line from the at Miles Platting to a new station at Hunt's Bank and on to the terminus of the Manchester and Bolton Railway (close to the present-day Salford Central station) and over an S-shaped link to join the to the west of its terminus in July 1838. The Hunt's Bank site was purchased privately by Samuel Brooks, vice-chairman of the , and presented to the company in August 1838. The section from Miles Platting to Hunt's Bank was built by the , and the western section by the . Royal assent was given to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Act 1839 (2 & 3 Vict. c. xli) for this arrangement on 14 June 1839, followed by an '''''' (2 & 3 Vict. c. lv) on 1 July, which also authorised branches to Oldham and Halifax. There was considerable controversy because a southern route was strongly advocated; the in particular was attracted to a connection to the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, giving better connections southwards, at the cost of failing to connect the Bolton line at all, and of requiring some form of transshipment for Leeds traffic, because of incompatibility in the levels. It took some time to pacify the dissenters, but the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Act 1842 (5 & 6 Vict. c. cviii) was obtained on 30 July 1842, finalising the matter. The part of the construction was beset by accidents, but it was opened on 1 January 1844. The extension descended to Hunt's Bank with gradients from 1 in 47 to 1 in 59. A stationary engine was provided at Miles Platting to work the incline by rope. and at the time of its completion was the largest station in the country. Even so, a single platform was considered sufficient for all the traffic, the west end for the Liverpool trains and the east for the Leeds trains: it was long. The trains were hauled up to Miles Platting by a wire rope; descending trains were controlled by brake wagons in front. In the Railway Chronicle, Hawkshaw is reported as saying that the use of the stationary engine had been largely discontinued, the ordinary engines taking up passenger and goods trains weighing over . It thus seems that the rope haulage might have been in operation for only a year and a half. With the opening of Victoria station, Oldham Road station was closed to passengers after only four and a half years of use, and became a goods station. ==Leeds station==

The first terminus in Leeds used by the Manchester and Leeds Railway was at Hunslet Lane situated to the south of the city centre and shared with the Midland Railway. In 1846, the Midland Railway transferred most of its services to the centrally situated Wellington Station which was built by the Leeds and Bradford Railway. The Manchester and Leeds Railway stayed at Hunslet Lane after 1846, but diverted most of its trains via the LNWR route through Batley in 1848. This crossed over the Midland Railway's Leeds–Bradford line at Holbeck and terminated at a temporary station, about from Wellington, near the site of where the permanent structure was opened about 1851. ==Expansion and branch lines to 1846==

When the company obtained its original act of Parliament, the Manchester and Leeds Railway Act 1836, on 4 July 1836, this was for the main line only, between Manchester and Normanton, giving access to Leeds. The main line was complete in 1841; the extension to Victoria station in Manchester followed, being ready in 1844. It was obvious that many other important manufacturing locations were in the general area served by the company, and it began to take steps to connect many of them, by building branches, or later, by absorbing other companies. Heywood branch 1841 Heywood was an important industrial centre, home to numerous cotton mills and an iron foundry. A single line branch to Heywood was made, opening on 15 April 1841 without getting parliamentary authorisation, until obtained retrospectively on 10 May 1844 in the '''''' (7 & 8 Vict. c. xvi). It left the main line at Castleton, but at the time the locality was known only as Blue Pitts, south-west of Rochdale. It cost £10,000 to build. The branch trains used horse traction, until a locomotive was used on the line from 1 May 1847. Oldham branch 1842 When the Hunt's Bank extension was authorised, an Oldham branch was included in the Manchester and Leeds Railway Act 1839 of 1 July 1839. It opened on 31 March 1842. The line was long, climbing from a junction on the main line at Middleton; a station there was named Oldham Junction at first. The branch had a gradient of 1 in 27 for more than half the distance. The method of working was devised by Captain Laws, the company General Manager; it used a balancing load of mineral wagons on a reserved track, with a cable passing round a large drum at the head of the incline. This arrangement continued until some time between 1851 and 1856, after which ordinary locomotive working was used. "There is a steep gradient in this branch of 1 in 27, in length, situated between Middleton Junction and Werneth, Oldham, and a stationary engine was fixed at the top of the incline, with a rope attached to it, for the purpose of pulling up and letting down trains to the bottom of the incline." Halifax branch 1844 Also authorised in the Manchester and Leeds Railway Act 1839 was a Halifax branch. It too was a short line, with severe gradients. Its junction with the main line at North Dean (later Greetland) faced Wakefield. The Halifax station was at Shaw Syke, and the branch opened on 1 July 1844. Bolton and Bury 1846 Through the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Act 1791 (31 Geo. 3. c. 68), the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Company had been created. In 1832, it decided to build a railway beside its canal, changing the company name to the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal Navigation and Railway. It never reached Bury, and its "Manchester" terminal was in fact in Salford, and its title is usually shortened to the Manchester and Bolton Railway. The railway opened for public traffic as far as Bolton on 29 May 1838; there were six trains each way on weekdays and two on Sundays. From May 1844, the MB&BR reached Victoria station over the rails of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The Manchester and Bolton Railway saw that an ally in Manchester was necessary, and after failed talks in 1844, more favourable terms were offered by the at a meeting on 30 January 1846. An operating agreement came into force on 1 July, and by the Manchester and Leeds Railway (Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal and Railway) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccclxxviii) of 18 August 1846, the Bolton company was absorbed by the . Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway 1846 This line was authorised by the '''''' (8 & 9 Vict. c. xxxix) on 30 June 1845 to connect Huddersfield with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway near Penistone. There was to be a branch to Holmfirth. Amid considerable political tactics, the unbuilt Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway was absorbed into the Manchester and Leeds Railway on 27 July 1846. The opened to the public on 1 July 1850. At first the worked the line (as it was disconnected from the ), but in 1870 the began running Sheffield-Huddersfield trains from Penistone. 1846 The West Riding Union Railways Company was formed in 1846 from the wreckage of George Hudson's duplicity; he had promised to promote a southward line from Bradford to Halifax and elsewhere. The '''''' (9 & 10 Vict. c. cccxc) of 18 August 1846 authorised a line supported by the Manchester and Leeds Railway; the act required amalgamation with the Manchester and Leeds Railway within three months. This was done on 17 November 1846; the actual construction of the line was carried out by the , which changed its title the following year to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The section from Low Moor to Mirfield was opened on 18 July 1848, but the more difficult construction from Bradford to Low Moor was delayed until 9 May 1850, and Mirfield to Halifax on 7 August 1850; the Sowerby Bridge section opened on 1 January 1852. Preston and Wyre Railway 1846 The Preston and Wyre Railway and Harbour Company was founded in 1835 to build from Preston via Poulton to the new town of Fleetwood; it opened in 1840. The company amalgamated with the Preston and Wyre Dock Company to form the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company in 1839. A branch from Poulton to Blackpool North and another to Lytham, both opening in 1846. With the absorption of the Manchester and Bolton Railway and a share of the North Union Railway in 1846, the Manchester and Leeds Railway had now extended its influence to Preston. It had already had a close association with the Preston and Wyre Railway in running excursion traffic, and a closer connection was appropriate. The amalgamation of the two companies was authorised by the Manchester and Leeds Railway Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. cclxxvii) of 3 August 1846. ==Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway 1847==

A branch was proposed to run from Miles Platting to Ashton and Stalybridge, with a short branch to Ardwick, in Manchester. The bill was successful and the branch was authorised by the Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. lxxxii) of 19 July 1844; there was no intention to build to Liverpool. The line was to terminate adjacent to the Stalybridge station of the Sheffield, Ashton and Manchester Railway, the predecessor of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which was authorised on the same day. The respective branches were required to be connected at Stalybridge. The Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. cix), on 21 July 1845, authorised the branch from Miles Platting to connect with the Manchester and Birmingham Railway at Ardwick. The line to Ashton was opened on 13 April 1846, and on to Stalybridge on 5 October 1846. The branch was long. It was a single line; double track was completed except across Medlock viaduct, by 1 March 1849, but approval for opening this second line was not received until 1 August. The Medlock viaduct was made suitable for double track which was opened towards the end of 1849. The Ardwick branch from Miles Platting was just under long, and opened on 20 November 1848 for goods trains only; regular passenger trains starting operating at the end of 1852. ==Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway==

Seeing potential in expanding eastwards, especially in connecting directly to an east coast port, the sponsored the promotion of a line from its Wakefield station. An act of Parliament, the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway Act 1845 (8 & 9 Vict. c. cxlii), of 31 July 1845 authorised the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway. The planned line ran from the east end of the Wakefield Kirkgate station and headed broadly east through Crofton, Featherstone, Pontefract, Knottingley and Hensall to Goole. The line was opened on 1 April 1848 by which time the company had amalgamated with the and others to form the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on 9 July 1847. An act of Parliament, the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway and Port of Goole Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. ccxii) of 16 July 1846 authorised dock improvements at Goole, and another, the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway (New Branches) Act 1846 (9 & 10 Vict. c. clxxxv) also of 16 July 1846 authorised branches from Pontefract to Methley, opened on 12 September 1849, and from Knottingley to Askern, joining the Great Northern Railway. ==Formation of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway==

As the scope of the network of the Manchester and Leeds Railway was extending considerably, it was decided on 9 December 1846 to change the name of the company; the title "the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway" was settled upon, and this was confirmed by an act of Parliament, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Act 1847 (10 & 11 Vict. c. clxvi), of 9 July 1847. The act also incorporated the Wakefield, Pontefract and Goole Railway and the Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway into the . The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Act 1847 also authorised a south connection at Castleton from the main line onto the Heywood branch, allowing direct running from Manchester to Bury. In addition it authorised the Liverpool and Bury Railway to extend eastwards under the East Lancashire Railway at Bury to join the Heywood branch extension and to make an east to north connection between the two railways at Bury. ==Boiler explosion==

On 28 January 1845, the boiler of locomotive No. 27 Irk exploded at Miles Platting, Lancashire. ==Location list==

• ; opened 1 January 1844; still open; • ; opened 4 July 1839; closed 1 January 1844; • ; opened 1 January 1844; last train Friday 26 May 1995; • ; open by February 1872; still open; • Oldham Junction; opened 31 March 1842; renamed Middleton 11 August 1842; renamed 1852; closed 3 January 1966; • ; opened 4 July 1839; closed 11 August 1842; new station opened 25 March 1985; still open; • Blue Pits or Blue Pitts; opened 15 September 1839; renamed 1 November 1875; still open; • ; opened 4 July 1839; relocated 28 April 1889; still open; • ; opened 1 October 1868; closed 2 May 1960; reopened 19 August 1985; still open; • ; opened 4 July 1839; still open; • Summit Tunnel; • ; opened October 1845; closed 7 August 1961; new station nearby opened 10 September 1990; still open; • ; opened 28 December 1840; still open; • ; opened 28 December 1840; closed 3 December 1951; • ; opened 5 October 1840; still open; • ; opened May 1847; still open; • ; opened 5 October 1840; closed 10 September 1962; • ; opened 5 October 1840; relocated 1 September 1876; still open; • Greetland Junction; • North Dean; opened February 1846; renamed 1 January 1883; closed 10 September 1962; • ; opened 12 April 1841; relocated 1 August 1865; closed 10 September 1962; • ; opened 5 October 1840; closed 5 January 1970; new station on same site opened 28 May 2000; still open; • ; opened 1 October 1840; closed 20 February 1950; • ; opened 31 March 1845; relocated 5 March 1866; still open; • Dewsbury; opened 5 October 1840; later renamed ; closed 1 January 1962; • Horbury; opened 5 October 1840; renamed Horbury & Ossett 25 March 1903; renamed 18 June 1962; closed 5 January 1970; • ; opened 1 January 1850; replaced by , opened 11 July 1927; closed 6 November 1961; • Wakefield; opened 5 October 1840; renamed from 1872; still open; • Goose Hill Junction; • ; date of opening uncertain; North Midland Railway station; the line was opened 1 July 1840; still open. Heywood Branch • Blue Pitts; above; • ; opened 15 April 1841; relocated 1 May 1848 on extension to Bury; closed 5 October 1970. Oldham branch • Oldham Junction; above; • Oldham; opened 31 March 1842; renamed 1849; closed 4 October 2009. Halifax branch • Greetland Junction; above; • ; opened at Shaw Syke 1 July 1844; moved to current location 7 August 1850. ==Notes==