Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
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The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was unique amongst the pre-grouping companies in that its main traffic flow was to and from east and west. The intensity of it’s service was reflected in the 1,650 locomotives that it owned and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions which averaged out at 1 in every 3 ½ miles. No two stations were more than 5⅛ miles apart and its 1904 passenger services occupied 57 pages in Bradshaw, a number exceeded only by the Great Western Railway, the London and North Western Railway and the Midland Railway. It amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1st January 1922, the general manager, secretary and chief mechanical engineer positions of the expanded company being taken by L&Y men. The company was a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.
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[edit] Pre-grouping history
The L&YR was incorporated in 1847, being an amalgamation of several important lines, the chief of which was the Manchester & Leeds Railway (itself having been incorporated in 1836).
[edit] The system
The system consisted of many branches and alternative routes, so that it is not easy to determine where its "main line" was. For working purposes it was divided into three divisions:
- Western Division:
- East Lancashire or Central Division
- Eastern Division:
Whereas there were various lines between the Central and Western Divisions there was only one route between the Eastern and Central Divisions. This cut through the Pennines between Lancashire and Yorkshire: because of that there were a number of long tunnels: the longest being Summit Tunnel, 2885 yd (2597 m) in length, near Rochdale. There were six others over 1000 yd (910 m) long.
[edit] Liveries
[edit] Locomotives
L & Y Locomotives were originally painted dark green with ornate brass work and copper capped chimneys. Lining was black and white. In 1876 the dark green was changed to a light green and goods engines were painted plain black. 1878 saw the start of the goods locomotives also appearing in light green. This livery was discontinued from 1883 when all locomotives were painted black. Lining was red and white for passenger locomotives and red only, or none, for goods locomotives
[edit] Carriages
Coaching stock was originally painted teak, changing in 1875 to an overall light brown. In 1879 it was decided to use ‘a little brighter shade’. Finally in June 1881 it was announced that the lower panels were to be painted ‘lake colour’. Between 1896 and 1914 the upper panels became buff with the lower in purple-brown, ends were dark brown. Roofs were normally dark grey but some did appear in red oxide.
[edit] Goods stock
Wagons were unpainted until 1902 except for the ironwork which was black. After 1902 it was painted dark grey. The illiterate symbol of an inverted solid triangle within a circle was replaced from 1902-3 with the letters LY. Break/Brake vans were black and special traffic wagons were painted in various colours e.g. Gunpowder- red, Fish – white, Butter – pale blue etc. .
[edit] Electrification
The L&Y was the first in the country to electrify a mainline route.
[edit] Liverpool area
The 4th Rail system was used at 600vdc, although it was later converted to 3rd Rail.
- Liverpool Exchange - Southport and Crossens: 22nd March 1904
- Liverpool - Aintree (two routes): July and December 1906
- Southport - Meols Cop railway station: 1909
- Aintree - Ormskirk: 1913
Suburban lines in the Liverpool area were electrified to reach a total of 37 route miles:
[edit] The Holcombe Brook branch
In 1912 Dick, Kerr & Co‘s Preston factory were considering tendering for a Brazilian contract and approached the L&Y to use the branch for test purposes at Dick, Kerr’s expense. The line from Bury, Bolton Street Station to Holcombe Brook was electrified with the overhead 3.5kvdc system , rolling stock was also supplied at their cost. After prolonged trials the trains entered public use on 29 July 1913. The L&Y purchased the equipment and stock on the successful completion of the trials in [[1916[[. During 1917 work started on the branch to convert to 3rd Rail to match the Manchester – Bury system. 3rd Rail trains started to run on 29th March 1918.
[edit] Manchester area
In 1913 a decision was taken to electrify the Manchester to Bury route at 1.2kvdc using the 3rd Rail system in an attempt to overcome competition from the trams. Electric trains began running on 17th April 1916 but as Horwich was by then involved in war work deliveries of the new electric stock was delayed and it was August 1916 before steam trains were withdrawn from the route. In 1920 the L&Y was considering electrifying the Manchester-Oldham-Shaw and Royton lines but no work was carried out.
[edit] See LYR electric units
[edit] Shipping
The L&YR had the largest fleet of all the pre-grouping railway companies. In 1913 the L&Y owned 26 vessels with 2 more being built plus a further 5 that were in joint ownership with the London and North Western Railway. The L&YR ran steamers between Liverpool and Drogheda in Ireland; between Hull and Zeebrugge; and between Goole and many Continental ports, including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, and Rotterdam. The jointly owned vessels were between Fleetwood, Belfast and Londonderry.
[edit] Post-grouping history
The LYR had initially amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1st January 1922 prior to the 1923 Grouping, which involved the expanded LNWR forming part of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway. The LMS did little to develop the former LYR routes. Nationalisation followed in 1948 followed by a period of rationalisation and modernisation. The LYR system has survived largely intact, although the following routes have been closed
- Manchester to Bury (converted to Manchester Metrolink operation).
- Preston to Southport
- Bury to Accrington and Bacup
- North Lancs Loop – Blackburn to Burnley via Great Harwood and Padiham
Most ex-LYR routes are now operated by Northern Rail. Manchester Victoria station has been rebuilt in a more modest form but retaining the former terminal building.
[edit] Manchester Victoria station
Victoria station was one of the largest in the country: it occupied 13.5 acres (55,000 m²), and had 17 platforms with a total length of 9,332ft.. After the Grouping a structural change led No. 11 platform to run through and combined with No. 3 platform in the adjacent Manchester Exchange station to form the longest railway platform in Britain. (2,194ft between the ramps)
[edit] Trivia
The football team of the L&YR Carriage and Wagon works at Newton Heath, Manchester, evolved into Manchester United F.C..
[edit] See also
Caldervale Line: a service operated by Metro (West Yorkshire), which uses a large part of the former L&YR.
[edit] References
- Blakemore, Michael (1984) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-1401-9
- Coates, Noel (1997) 150 Years of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, Hawkshill Publishing
- Earnshaw, Alan (1992) The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway: Then & Now, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-2058-2
- Haigh, A (1978) Railways in West Yorkshire, Dalesman Books, ISBN 0-85206-459-4
- Mason, Eric (1975) The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in the Twentieth Century, 2nd Ed., Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-0656-3
- Nock, O.S. (1969) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway - A Concise History, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-7110-0130-8
- Marshall, John (1969, 1970, 1972) The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, David & Charles (3 Volumes).
[edit] External links
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The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies
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Great Western • London Midland & Scottish • London & North Eastern • Southern |
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GWR constituents: Great Western Railway • Cambrian Railways • Taff Vale Railway |
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See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923 - 1947 • List of companies involved in the grouping |
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