Liverpool and Manchester Railway

Early trains on the railway.

Moorish Arch, Edge Hill.

1830. The Northumbian Locomotive.

1883. The Hibernia and Vauxhall engines.

1880. Old Manchester Station.

Jug commemorating the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the world's first intercity passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and operated for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives.

The LMR was primarily built to provide faster transport of raw materials and finished goods between the port of Liverpool and mills in Manchester in north-west England.

General

The initiative to build the Liverpool and Manchester Railway came from Joseph Sandars and William James and subsequently, a group of Lancashire businessmen, led by Charles Lawrence, Lister Ellis, Robert Gladstone, John Moss and Joseph Sandars asked George Stephenson to build them a railway between Liverpool and Manchester

1822 July. Notice that there is interest in the idea and that the use of steam carriages is contemplated.

1822 September 23rd. Announcement of intention.

1823 May 24th. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company was founded. It was established by Henry Booth, who became its secretary and treasurer, along with other merchants from Liverpool and Manchester.

1824 October 29th. Prospectus published for the 'Liverpool and Manchester Rail Road Company'. Charles Lawrence is Chairman of the Committee with 26 members (see below).

1824 December 10th. Notice about the sale and transfer of shares not being authorised.

The initial survey for the line was carried out by William James and Robert Stephenson and, being done surreptitiously and/or by trespass, was defective. Robert departed for South America and William James became bankrupt.

In 1824 George Stephenson was appointed engineer in their place. By this time, he was taking on too much. As Robert was absent, George (who could not do the calculations required, and had relied on his son for this part of the business) left checking the survey to subordinates.

1825 In January, John Urpeth Rastrick was engaged by the promoters along with George Stephenson, Mr. Sylvester, Mr. Brunton, Philip Taylor, Mr. W. (now Sir W.) Cubitt, James Walker, Nicholas Wood and others, to visit the different collieries in the North of England, with a view of experimenting and reporting upon the tram-roads, and engines at work upon them. For this purpose a series of experiments was made with the locomotive engines on the colliery tramways at Killingworth and Hetton. Their recommendation was that a combination of locomotive with stationary power should be used; but their Report was replied to so effectively by Robert Stephenson and Joseph Locke, that the celebrated Rainhill trials were instituted, and the locomotive system was fully established.

1825 February 11th. Business in Parliament.

1825 Marge 2nd. Business in Parliament. Long report on debate.

1825 June 21st. Notice about the rejection of the Bill.

1825 July 1st. Editorial / Leader in the Times newspaper.

1825 July. The bill presented to Parliament was rejected

1825 December. Charles Lawrence is Chairman and 25 members of the committee are named. Long and detailed response published to the problems that caused the first application for an Act to fail.

1826 May. The Bill was passed. In Liverpool 172 people took 1,979 shares, in London 96 took 844, Manchester 15 with 124, 24 others with 286. The Marquess of Stafford had 1,000, giving 308 shareholders with 4233 shares.

Upon presentation to Parliament in 1825 it was shown to be inaccurate (particularly in relation to the Irwell bridge), and the first Bill was thrown out. A key opposition figure in this had been G. H. Bradshaw, one of the trustees of the Marquess of Stafford's Worsley estate, which included the Bridgewater Canal.

In place of Stephenson, who was now in disgrace, the railway promoters appointed George Rennie and John Rennie as engineers, who chose Charles Vignoles as their surveyor. They also set out to placate the canal interests and had the good fortune to be able to approach the Marquess directly through the good offices of their counsel, Mr. Adam, who was a relative of one of the trustees, and the support of William Huskisson who knew the Marquess personally. Implacable opposition to the line changed to financial support, a considerable coup.

1829 The line was completed and the Rainhill Trials were run to find the best locomotive. The Rocket by George Stephenson was the winner.

1830 September 15th. The line was opened

1833 Of the 32 locomotives up to and including 1833, 26 were from Robert Stephenson and Co and most of the others were on designs approved by them. The first eight were of the 'Rocket' type

1840 They were running 11 trains a day in each direction with fares for a single journey ranging from 6s 6d to 4s 6d.

In 1845 the L&MR was absorbed by its principal business partner, the Grand Junction Railway; the following year the GJR formed part of the London and North Western Railway.

A Brief History

Taken from The Newcomen Society Meeting of November 16th 1921, "The Liverpool and Manchester Railway" by C. F. Dendy Marshall.

The Railway

In 1797 William Jessop suggested that a tram-road to be worked by horses should be laid down between Liverpool and Manchester, and he surveyed a route. The following year Benjamin Outram made another survey for the line, but nothing came of either proposal.

The credit for the earliest practical scheme is due to William James, who drew up a plan in 1821, based on a preliminary survey, for a “Line of Engine Railroad from Liverpool to Manchester,” in which he succeeded in Joseph Sandars, a Liverpool merchant, who became one of the most active promoters of the line.

The first survey, in which Vignoles took part, was very imperfect, and a second one was made in 1822, with the assistance of Robert Stephenson. Soon afterward, owing to ill-health and financial embarrassments, James became incapable of proceeding further with the matter, and it was put in the hands of George Stephenson.

Read More Here.

1824 Committee

The committee of 29th August 1824 consisted of: Charles Lawrence, John Moss, Robert Gladstone, Joseph Sanders, Lister Ellis, Thomas Shaw Brandreth, Robert Benson, H. H. Birley, Joseph Birley, Henry Booth, James Cropper, John Ewart, Peter Ewart, William Garnett, Richard Harrison, Thomas Hedlam, Isaac Hodgson, Adam Hodgson, Joseph Hornby, John Kennedy, Wellwood Maxwell, William Potter, William Rathbone, William Rotheram, John Ryle, Thomas Sharpe, John Wilson.

Railway Locomotives

1830 Eight locomotives, constructed at the Stephenson works, were delivered for the opening of the line:

• 1 Rocket,
• 2 Arrow
• 3 Wildfire, later renamed Meteor
• 4 Dart,
• 5 Comet
• 6 Phoenix
• 7 Northumbrian
• 8 North Star,

Locomotives belonging to the L&MR up to 1840

Engine No.	Name	Built	Builder Detail
9	Planet	1830
?	Northumbrian	1830	Robert Stephenson and Co
11	Mercury	1830
19	Vulcan	1831
19	Vulcan	1831
21	Fury	1831
22	Victory	1831
23	Atlas	1832
26	Liver	1832	Edward Bury and Co
27	Pluto	1832
28	Caledonian		Galloway and Co
29	Ajax	1832
30	Leeds	1832
31	Firefly	1833
32	Experiment		Sharp, Roberts and Co.
33	Patentee	1834
34	Titan	1834
35	Orion	1834
36	Swiftsure	1835	George Forrester and Co
37	Rapid	1835
38	Speedwell	1835
39	Hercules	1836
40	Eclipse	1836
41	Star	1836
42	York	1836
43	Vesuvius	1836
44	Thunderer	1836
45	Lightning	1836
46	Cyclops	1836
47	Milo	1836
48	Phoenix	1836

...to be completed

See Also

Loading...

Sources of Information

• [2] Wikipedia
• Bradshaw’s Railway Companion 1840
• Engineers and Mechanics Encyclopedia 1839: Railways: Liverpool and Manchester Railway