Manchester and Leeds Railway

Manchester and Leeds Railway

Industry	Railway company
Fate	Amalgamation
Successor(s)	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Founded	4 July 1836
Defunct	9 July 1847
Headquarters	Manchester and Leeds

Manchester and Leeds Railway

Legend York and North Midland Railway to York North Midland Railway to Leeds 51 Normanton1840 North Midland Railway to Derby 48 Wakefield1840 44 Horbury / Horbury and Ossett1840 41 Thornhill for Dewsbury1840 Mirfield1845 36 Cooper Bridge for Huddersfield1840 34 Brighouse for Bradford1840 31 Elland1840 North Dean / Greetland1844 28 Sowerby Bridge for Halifax1840 26 Luddendenfoot1840 Mytholmroyd 24 Hebden Bridge1840 21 Eastwood1841 20 Todmorden1841 Walsden1845 Summit Tunnel 14 Littleborough1839 Smithy Bridge1868 11 Rochdale1839/1889 9 Blue Pits / Castleton1839/1875 6 Mills Hill1839/1985 Middleton Junction1842 Moston Newton Heath1853 Miles Platting1844 0 Manchester Oldham Road1839 Manchester Victoria1844

The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom which opened in 1839, connecting Manchester with Leeds via the North Midland Railway which it joined at Normanton.

Its route now forms the backbone of the present-day Caldervale Line.

History

It was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1836, with a second Act in 1839 which authorised the extension from the original Manchester terminus at Oldham Road railway station to join the Liverpool and Manchester Railway when the latter was extended to Hunt's Bank (later called Manchester Victoria). The Act also authorised branches to Oldham and Halifax with a diversion at Kirkthorpe. Superintended by George Stephenson, its engineer was Thomas Longridge Gooch, a brother of Daniel Gooch of the GWR.

The line was opened in 1839 as far as Littleborough, and from Normanton to Hebden Bridge in 1840. The final linking section opened on completion of the Summit Tunnel in 1841.

The line became the chief constituent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which was incorporated in 1847. Several railways had earlier been absorbed by the M&LR:

• Manchester and Bolton Railway
• Ashton, Stalybridge & Liverpool Junction Railway incorporated 1844
• Liverpool & Bury Railway 1845
• Huddersfield & Sheffield Junction Railway 1845
• West Riding Union Railway
• Wakefield, Pontefract & Goole

Route

The line climbed out of Manchester with an average gradient of 1 in 260 (0.38%) until it arrived at the summit and a 2,860 yards (2,620 m) long tunnel at Littleborough. From there it descended towards Normanton.

It used the North Midland's line to run into Leeds since Parliament had refused to sanction two parallel lines. Not an easy line to build, there were eight tunnels in all, mostly through very difficult rock, a hundred and sixteen bridges and long cuttings and embankments. One tunnel, that at Charlestown, had to be given up due its collapse and the continued instability of the ground. This entailed a diversion with some tight curves at variance with the norm for the line of 60 chains (130.62 m). Two large bridges were avoided by diverting the course of the River Calder. The rails were of 15 feet (4.6 m) lengths laid at a gauge of 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm) with a mixture of stone blocks and, on the embankments, wooden sleepers.

Locomotives

The locomotives were provided by local manufacturers, six-wheeled Stephenson pattern. Carriages were all four wheeled. First and Second had three compartments, the latter with wooden shutters instead of glazing. The third class was "Stanhopes," that is, without seats, each divided into four sections by lateral and longitudinal bars. There were also some mixed carriages having a first class centre compartment, with the end ones second class. The average weight of a train would be about 18 tons, with an average speed of about 25 MPH (40 km/h), reaching approx. 42 MPH (67.6 km/h) downhill.

The railway was an early user of Edmonsons Ticketing System. Tickets were checked en route, the guard presumably having to move from carriage to carriage by means of the external footboard - just as is described in Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll.

Bibliography

• Parkinson-Bailey, John (2000), Manchester: An Architectural History, Manchester University Press, ISBN 0719056063, http://books.google.com/?id=ush5WC9BM_gC 
• Scrivenor, Harry (1849), The Railways of the United Kingdom, Smith, Elder, and co., http://books.google.com/?id=TN1AAAAAIAAJ 
• Whishaw, F, (1842) The Railways of Great Britain and Ireland London: John Wheale repub Clinker, C.R. ed (1969) Whishaw's Railways of Great Britain and Ireland Newton Abbot: David and Charles

External links

• Map and chronological details

• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Oldham Road to Miles Platting Station Jn.
• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Manchester Victoria to Newtown No.1
• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Newtown No. 1 to Miles Platting Station Jn.
• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Miles Platting Station Jn. to Thorpes Bridge Jn.
• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Thorpes Bridge to Hebden Bridge
• The Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1960 - Hebden Bridge to Normanton, Goose Hill