London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

1920 map of the railway
Overview
Headquarters	Euston railway station
Dates of operation	16 July 1846–31 December 1922
Predecessor	Grand Junction Railway London and Birmingham Railway Manchester and Birmingham Railway
Successor	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length	2,066 miles 6 chains (3,325.0 km) (1919)[1]
Track length	5,818 miles 59 chains (9,364.4 km) (1919)[1]

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British

Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connected four of the largest cities in England; London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, and, through cooperation with their Scottish partners, the Caledonian Railway also connected Scotland's largest cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Today this route is known as the West Coast Main Line. The LNWR's network also extended into Wales and Yorkshire.

In 1923, it became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway, and, in 1948, the London Midland Region of British Railways.

History

London and North Western Railway Act 1846
Act of Parliament
9 & 10 Vict. c. cciv

Portland Stone on one of Euston Station

's entrance lodges

The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by 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.^[6] The company initially had a network of approximately 350 miles (560 km),^[6] connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester.

The headquarters were at Euston railway station. As traffic increased, it was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall, designed by Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It was 126 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (19 m) wide and 64 ft (20 m) high and cost £150,000^[7] (equivalent to £16,550,000 in 2021).^[8] The station stood on Drummond Street.^[9] Further expansion resulted in two additional platforms in the 1870s with four more in the 1890s, bringing the total to 15.^[10]

The LNWR described itself as the Premier Line. This was justified, as it included the pioneering

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

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.^[13]

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.^[14] 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.^[14]

In 1860, the company pioneered the use of the water trough designed by John Ramsbottom.^[15][16] It was introduced on a section of level track at Mochdre, between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay.^[14]

Crewe Locomotive Works

c. 1890

The company inherited several manufacturing facilities from the companies with which it merged, but these were consolidated and in 1862, locomotive construction and maintenance was done at the

.

At the core of the LNWR system was the main line network connecting

The LNWR also had the

At its peak just before World War I, it ran a route mileage of more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km), and employed 111,000 people. In 1913, the company achieved a total revenue of £17,219,060 (equivalent to £1,802,570,000 in 2021)^[8] with working expenses of £11,322,164^[19] (equivalent to £1,185,260,000 in 2021).^[8]

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 2,707.88 miles (4,357.91 km).^[20][21]

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.^[22]

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.^{[23][24][25][26]}

Electrification

From 1909 to 1922, the LNWR undertook a large-scale project to

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 ] 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.

as an homage to the LNWR.

Acquisitions

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Locomotives

The LNWR's main engineering works were at

(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.^[29]
• 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.^[14]
• On 6 September 1851 a train run for the Great Exhibition returning from Euston to Oxford derailed at Bicester and six passengers were killed.^[14]
• On 6 March 1853, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Longsight, Lancashire. Six people were killed and the engine shed was severely damaged.^[29]
• On 27 August 1860 a passenger train collided with a goods train at Craven Arms and one passenger was killed.^[14]
• On 16 November 1860 the Irish night mail ran into a cattle train at Atherstone. The fireman of the mail train, and nine drovers in the cattle train were killed.^[14]
• On 11 June 1861, a
  cast-iron bridge collapsed under a freight train at Leek Wootton, Warwickshire
  . Both engine crew were killed.
• On 2 September 1861 a ballast train came out of a siding onto the main line just past Kentish Town Junction without the signalman's permission, and an excursion train from Kew ran past the signals and collided with it, resulting in the deaths of fourteen passengers and two employees.[14]
• On 29 June 1867, a passenger train ran into the rear of a coal train at Warrington, Cheshire due to a pointsman's error which was compounded by the lack of interlocking between points and signals. Eight people were killed and 33 were injured.
• On 20 August 1868, a rake of wagons ran away from Llandulas, Denbighshire during shunting operations. The wagons subsequently collided with the Irish Mail at Abergele, Denbighshire. Kerosene being carried in the wagons set the wreck on fire. Thirty-three people were killed in what was then the deadliest rail accident to have occurred in the United Kingdom.
• On 14 September 1870, a mail train was diverted into a siding at Tamworth station, Staffordshire due to a signalman's error. The train crashed through the buffers and ended up in the River Anker, killing three people.^[30]
• In 1870, a
  Carlisle, Cumberland. Five people were killed. The driver of the freight train was intoxicated.^[30]
• On 26 November 1870, a mail train was in a rear-end collision with a freight train at
  Harrow, Middlesex. Eight people were killed.^[30]
• On 2 August 1873, a passenger train derailed at Wigan, Lancashire due to excessive speed. Thirteen people were killed and 30 were injured.
• On 22 December 1894, a wagon was derailed fouling the main line at Chelford, Cheshire. It was run into by an express passenger train, which was derailed. Fourteen people were killed and 48 were injured.
• On 15 August 1895, an express passenger train was derailed at Preston, Lancashire due to excessive speed on a curve. One person was killed.^[31]
• 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.^[32]
• On 15 August 1903, two passenger trains collided at Preston, Lancashire due to faulty points.^[33]
• On 15 October 1907, a mail train was derailed at Shrewsbury, Shropshire due to excessive speed on a curve. Eighteen people were killed.^[34]
• On 19 August 1909, a passenger train was derailed at Friezland, West Yorkshire. Two people were killed.^[35]
• On 5 December 1910, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision at
  Willesden Junction, London. Three people were killed and more than 40 were injured.^[36]
• 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.^[37]

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.^[34]

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

Members of the Board of Directors

General Managers

Chief Civil Engineers

• Robert Stephenson until 1859
• William Baker 1859 – 1878^[42]
• Francis Stevenson 1879 – 1902^[43]
• Edward Baylies Thornhill 1902^[44] – 1909
• Ernest Frederic Crosbie Trench 1909^[45] – 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^[46]

NE Division became part of N Division in 1857.

Northern Division:

• 1846–1857 – Francis Trevithick
• 1857–1862 – John Ramsbottom^[46]

Northern and Southern Divisions amalgamated from April 1862:

• 1862–1871 – John Ramsbottom^[46]
• 1871–1903 –
  Francis William Webb
• 1903–1909 – George Whale
• 1909–1920 – Charles Bowen Cooke
• 1920–1921 –
  Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames
• 1922 – George Hughes (ex-Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)

Solicitors

• 1830–1861 – Samuel Carter, with continuing role for subsidiary companies^[47]

Preservation

• Sections of the former L&NWR are
  Northampton & Lamport Railway, the latter giving the name Premier Line to its quarterly journal.^[48]
• 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

• Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway
• Nickey Line
• Croxley Rail Link
• Rail transport in Great Britain

References

• Reed, M. C. (1996). The London & North Western Railway. Penryn: Atlantic Transport.
  ISBN 978-0-906899-66-3

Further reading

• Measom, George (1859), Official Illustrated Guide to the North-Western Railway, London: W.H. Smith and Son
• Shaw, George (1876), The official tourists' picturesque guide to the London and North-western Railway : and other railways with which it is immediately in connection, embracing information respecting tours in England, Ireland, and Scotland : specially prepared for the use of American tourists, London, Boston: Norton and Shaw, Estes and Lauriat,
  OL 26199401M
• Steel, Wilfred L. (1914), The history of the London & North Western Railway, Railway and Travel Monthly
• Darroch, G. R. S. (1920), Deeds of a great railway; a record of the enterprise and achievements of the London and North-Western Railway Company during the Great War, John. Murray
• Head, Francis Bond (1849), Stokers and pokers; or, The London and North-Western Railway, the electric telegraph, and the Railway Clearing-House, John. Murray, 1861 edition
• Findlay, George (1889), The Working and Management of an English Railway 
  (2nd ed.)
• Smith, Neil (March 2021), The London & North Western Railway, Articles from the Railway Magazine Archives, Pen & Sword,
  ISBN 978-1-5267-8137-6

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to London and North Western Railway.

• "J. Hudson & Co Beaufort whistle, Railway, L&NWR, Kings Whistle, Made by J.Hudson & Co. One of their Best Made models.", Whistle Museum (image), archived from the original on 9 February 2013
• London and North Western Railway Society, Registered Charity L&NWR Society No. 1110210