London and North Western Railway

(north of ) The thick black lines denote the lines of the two companies on one of Euston Station's entrance lodges The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the '''''' (9 & 10 Vict. c. cciv), which authorised the amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. This move was prompted, in part, by the Great Western Railway's plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham. (). The station stood on Drummond Street. Further expansion resulted in two additional platforms in the 1870s with four more in the 1890s, bringing the total to 15. The LNWR described itself as the Premier Line. This was justified, as it included the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway of 1830 and the original LNWR main line linking London, Birmingham and Lancashire had been the first big railway in Britain, opened throughout in 1838. As the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other railway company of its era. With the Grand Junction Railway acquisition of the North Union Railway in 1846, the London and North Western Railway operated as far north as Preston. In 1859, the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway amalgamated with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and this combined enterprise was leased to the London and North Western Railway, giving it a direct route from London to Carlisle. In 1858, they merged with the Chester and Holyhead Railway and became responsible for the lucrative Irish Mail trains via the North Wales Main Line to Holyhead. On 1 February 1859, the company launched the limited mail service, which was only allowed to take three passenger coaches, one each for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. The Postmaster General was always willing to allow a fourth coach, provided the increased weight did not cause time to be lost in running. The train was timed to leave Euston at 20.30 and operated until the institution of a dedicated post train, wholly of Post Office vehicles, in 1885. On 1 October 1873 the first sleeping carriage ran between Euston and Glasgow, attached to the limited mail. It ran three nights a week in each direction. On 1 February 1874 a second carriage was provided and the service ran every night. It was introduced on a section of level track at Mochdre, between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay. The LNWR also had the Huddersfield Line connecting Liverpool and Manchester with Leeds, and secondary routes extending to Nottingham, Derby, Peterborough and South Wales. At its peak just before World War I, it ran a route mileage of more than , and employed 111,000 people. In 1913, the company achieved a total revenue of £17,219,060 () with working expenses of £11,322,164 (). On 1 January 1922, one year before it amalgamated with other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS), the LNWR amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (including its subsidiary the Dearne Valley Railway) and at the same time absorbed the North London Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, both of which were previously controlled by the LNWR. With this, the LNWR achieved a route mileage (including joint lines, and lines leased or worked) of . The company built a war memorial in the form of an obelisk outside Euston station to commemorate the 3,719 of its employees who died in the First World War. After the Second World War, the names of the LMS's casualties were added to the LNWR's memorial. The LNWR were also involved in the mass manufacture of replacement legs in the mid 19th century and the early 20th century. This is due-to the routine demand for prostheses for disabled staff. Serious injuries that resulted in the loss of limbs were common at this time with over 4,963 casualties in the year of 1910 on the LNWR alone, and over 25,000 injuries across the whole industry, manufacturing prostheses resulted in self-sufficiency for the company. ==Electrification==

From 1909 to 1922, the LNWR undertook a large-scale project to electrify the whole of its London inner-suburban network. The London and North Western Railway London inner-suburban network, encompassed the lines from London Broad Street to Richmond, London Euston to Watford, with branch lines such as Watford to Croxley Green. There were also links to the District Railway at Earl's Court and over the route to Richmond. With the Bakerloo Tube Line being extended over the Watford DC lines, the railway was electrified at 630 V DC fourth rail. The electricity was generated at the LNWR's power station in Stonebridge Park and a depot built at Croxley Green. ==Successors==

The LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway when the railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923. Ex-LNWR lines formed the core of the LMS's Western Division. Nationalisation followed in 1948, with the English and Welsh lines of the LMS becoming the London Midland Region of British Railways. Some former LNWR routes were subsequently closed, including the lines running east to west across the Midlands (e.g. Peterborough to Northampton and to Oxford). Others were developed as part of the Inter City network, such as the main lines from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Carlisle, which are collectively known in the modern era as the West Coast Main Line. These lines were electrified in the 1960s and 1970s, and further upgraded in the 1990s and 2000s, with trains now running at up to 125 mph. Other LNWR lines survive as part of commuter networks around major cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. In 2017, it was announced that the new franchisee for the West Midlands and semi-fast West Coast services between London and North West England would utilise the brand London Northwestern Railway as homage to the LNWR. == Acquisitions ==

The LNWR's main engineering works were at Crewe (locomotives), Wolverton (carriages) and Earlestown (wagons). Locomotives were usually painted green at first, but in 1873 black was adopted as the standard livery. This finish has been described as "blackberry black". ==Accidents and incidents==

Major accidents on the LNWR include: • On 26 March 1850, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Wolverton, Buckinghamshire due to tampering of the safety valves. One person was injured. • On 30 April 1851 a train returning from Chester Races broke down in Sutton tunnel, and the following train ran into it. Six passengers were killed. • In 1870, a North Eastern Railway freight train overran signals and collided with a passenger train at St. Nicholas Crossing, Carlisle, Cumberland. Five people were killed. The driver of the freight train was intoxicated. • On 12 January 1899, An express freight train was derailed at Penmaenmawr, Caernarfonshire due to the trackbed being washed away by the sea during a storm. Both locomotive crew were killed. • On 15 August 1903, two passenger trains collided at , Lancashire due to faulty points. • On 15 October 1907, a mail train was derailed at , Shropshire due to excessive speed on a curve. Eighteen people were killed. • On 5 December 1910, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision at , London. Three people were killed and more than 40 were injured. • On 17 September 1912, the driver of an express train misread signals at Ditton Junction, Cheshire. The train was derailed when it ran over points at an excessive speed. Fifteen people were killed. • On 14 August 1915, an express passenger train was derailed at Weedon, Northamptonshire due to a locomotive defect. Ten people were killed and 21 were injured. • On 11 November 1921, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Buxton, Derbyshire. Two people were killed. Minor incidents include: • In 1900, wagons of a permanent way train carrying sleepers were set on fire by the heat of the sun at Earlestown, Lancashire, destroying some of them. ==Ships==

The LNWR operated ships on Irish Sea crossings between Holyhead and Dublin, Howth, Kingstown or Greenore. At Greenore, the LNWR built and operated the Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway to link the port with the Belfast–Dublin line operated by the Great Northern Railway. The LNWR also operated a joint service with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway from Fleetwood to Belfast and Derry. ==Notable people==

Chairmen of the Board of Directors • 1846–1852 – George Glyn, later 1st Baron Wolverton • 1852–1853 – Major-General George Anson • 1853–1861 – Marquess of Chandos, later 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos • 1861 – Admiral Constantine Richard Moorsom • 1861–1891 – Richard Moon, Sir Richard Moon from 1887 • 1891–1911 – The Lord Stalbridge • 1911–1921 – Gilbert Claughton, Sir Gilbert Claughton from 1912 • 1921–1923 – Hon. Charles N. Lawrence, later Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate Members of the Board of Directors • John Pares Bickersteth • Michael Linning Melville • Frederick Baynes • Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh • The Hon. A. H. Holland-Hibbert • Sir Robert Turnbull MVO 1895 - 1914 (afterwards General Manager) • Lancelot W. Horne from 1914 Chief Civil Engineers • Robert Stephenson until 1859 • William Baker 1859 – 1878 • Francis Stevenson 1879 – 1902 • Edward Baylies Thornhill 1902 – 1909 • Ernest Frederic Crosbie Trench 1909 – 1923 (afterwards chief engineer of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway) Locomotive Superintendents and Chief Mechanical Engineers Southern Division: • 1846–1847 – Edward Bury • 1847–1862 – James McConnell North Eastern Division: • 1846–1857 – John Ramsbottom NE Division became part of N Division in 1857. Northern Division: • 1846–1857 – Francis Trevithick • 1857–1862 – John Ramsbottom ==Preservation==

• Sections of the former L&NWR are preserved as the Battlefield Line Railway, Nene Valley Railway and Northampton & Lamport Railway, the latter giving the name Premier Line to its quarterly journal. • A section of the former L&NWR line and station buildings are preserved at Quainton near Aylesbury. It is administered by the Buckinghamshire Railway preservation Society and houses some original L&NWR rolling stock in the former Oxford Rewley Road station. It regularly runs steam trains using various locomotives. ==See also==