Grand Junction Railway
Overview | |
---|---|
Locale | Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Crewe |
Dates of operation | 4 July 1837–1846 |
Predecessor | Warrington and Newton Railway |
Successor | London and North Western Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Length | 82 miles (132 km) |
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the
The lines which comprised the GJR now form the central section of the West Coast Main Line.
History
The Grand Junction Railway Company was established in the second half of 1832 by the consolidation of two rival companies: the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Company and the Liverpool and Birmingham Railway Company.
It began operation with a temporary Birmingham terminus at Vauxhall,[6]: 12 The travelling post office where mail was sorted on a moving train was instituted on the Grand Junction Railway in January 1838. Using a converted horse-box, it was carried out at the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt, a General Post Office surveyor.[7] Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting.[8]
When the
It is confidently expected, that after the ensuing winter is over, and the embankments on the London and Birmingham Line are well settled down, first class trains between Liverpool and Manchester and London will not occupy more than nine hours in the journey. This being accomplished, what further improvement could be desired between London and Lancashire?[10]
In 1840, the GJR absorbed the Chester and Crewe Railway[11] soon before it began operation. Considering itself as part of a grand railway network, the company encouraged the development of the North Union Railway which extended the tracks onward to Preston, and it also invested in the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the Caledonian Railway. In 1845, the GJR merged with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and consolidated its position by buying the North Union Railway in association with the Manchester and Leeds Railway.[12]
In 1841, the company appointed Captain Mark Huish as the secretary of the railway. Huish was ruthless in the development of the business and contributed significantly to the company's success.[13]
Profits
The GJR was very profitable, paying dividends of at least 10% from its beginning and having a final capital value of more than £5.75 million (equivalent to £592.39 million now)
Locomotives
One locomotive, Columbine, a
References
Notes
- ^ The very first long distance railway had been the horse drawn line between České Budějovice in Bohemia, Linz, and Gmunden (Upper Austria).
- ISBN 9781107681828. Retrieved 13 July 2015.
- 3 & 4 Will. 4. c. xxxiv
- ^ "The Bills which received the Royal assent on Monday were –". Morning Post. British Newspaper Archive. 8 May 1833. Retrieved 24 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Opening of the Grand Junction Railway". London Evening Standard. British Newspaper Archive. 5 July 1837. Retrieved 24 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ISBN 0-906899-66-4.
- ISBN 0903485257.
- OCLC 2798188.
- ISBN 0-7110-1459-0.
- ^ Osborne & Osborne 1838, pp. 108–9.
- ^ "Grand Junction Railway". Liverpool Mercury. British Newspaper Archive. 26 October 1838. Retrieved 24 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Grand Junction Railway". Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser. British Newspaper Archive. 12 February 1840. Retrieved 24 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Reed 1996, pp. 21–22
- ^ Mark Huish and the London and North Western Railway, A Study of Management – Dr Terry Gourvish (Leicester UP, 1972);
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ "Grand Junction Railway". Gore’s Liverpool and General Advertiser. British Newspaper Archive. 19 February 1846. Retrieved 24 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Science Museum. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
Sources
- Webster, Norman W. (1972). Britain's First Trunk Line – the Grand Junction Railway. Bath: Adams & Dart. ISBN 0-239-00105-2.
- Osborne, E.C.; Osborne, W. (1838). Osborne's guide to the Grand Junction, or Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester Railway (2 ed.). Birmingham & London: E.C. & W. Osbourne —Simkin, Marshall, and Co. — Darton & Clark. OCLC 437315296.
Further reading
- Arthur Freeling (1837), Wikidata Q106779240
- OCLC 833076248.
External links
- Bradshaw's Guides – via Wikisource. .