Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway


The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern England.
The intensity of its service was reflected in the 1,650 locomotives it owned – it was by far the most densely trafficked system in the British Isles with more locomotives per mile than any other company – and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions averaging one every. No two adjacent stations were more than apart and its 1,904 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 was the first mainline railway to introduce electrification of some of its lines, and it also ran steamboat services across the Irish Sea and North Sea, being a bigger shipowner than any other British railway company.
It amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922. One year later, the merged company became the largest constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

History

The L&YR was incorporated in 1847 by the , being an amalgamation of several important lines, the chief of which was the Manchester and Leeds Railway.

Constituent companies

The following companies, in order, were amalgamated into the L&YR. The dates shown are, in most cases, the acts of Parliament authorising the incorporation and amalgamation of each company. In a few instances the effective date is used.
The L&YR was a co-owner of several joint railways and joint stations. Besides those listed above, they included:
Unless otherwise stated, the owning railways had equal shares. In addition, the L&YR had a one-third stake in the Dearne Valley Railway, the remaining two-thirds of which was owned by private shareholders.

The system

The system consisted of many branches and alternative routes, so that it is not easy to determine the location of its main line. For working purposes the railway was split into three divisions:
Whereas there were various lines split between the Central and Western Divisions there was only one route connecting the Eastern and Central Divisions. This line cut through the Pennines between Lancashire and Yorkshire using a number of long tunnels, the longest of which was Summit Tunnel near Rochdale. There were six other tunnels each more than long.

Manchester Victoria railway station

was one of the largest railway stations in the country at the time. It occupied and had 17 platforms with a total length of. After the grouping, a structural change led platform 11 to run through and join with platform 3 in the LNWR's adjacent Exchange station; at between ramps it became the longest railway platform in Britain. Lately the station capacity has been reduced to two platforms for Metrolink trams, two bay platforms, and four through platforms under Manchester Arena, which now replaces a significant area once occupied by the station. The main façade and station building of the original Hunts Bank station still exist and are kept in relatively good condition.

Electrification

The L&YR was the first in the country to electrify a mainline route. In Liverpool, the fourth rail system pioneered by the tube railways in London was used at 600 V DC, although this was later converted to a third rail system. Suburban lines in the Liverpool area were electrified to reach a total of.
  • Liverpool Exchange – and : 22 March 1904
  • Liverpool – : July and December 1906
  • Southport – : 1909
  • Aintree – : 1913
In 1912 Dick, Kerr & Co.'s Preston factory was considering tendering for a Brazilian contract, and approached the L&YR to use the Bury to Holcombe Brook Line for test purposes at Dick, Kerr's expense. The line from to was electrified with the overhead 3.5 kV DC system; rolling stock was also supplied at their cost. After prolonged trials the trains entered public use on 29 July 1913. The L&YR purchased the equipment and stock on the successful completion of the trials in 1916.
In 1913 a decision was taken to electrify the Manchester to Bury route at 1.2 kV DC in an attempt to overcome competition from electric trams. Using the third rail system, trains powered by electric motor cars began running on 17 April 1916 but as Horwich was by then involved in war work, deliveries of the new electric stock were delayed and it was not until August 1916 that steam trains were withdrawn from the route. In 1920 the L&YR also considered electrifying the Manchester–Oldham–Shaw and Royton lines, but no work was carried out. During 1917 work began to convert the Bury to Holcombe Brook line to a third rail system, matching the Manchester to Bury system. Third-rail trains started to run on 29 March 1918.

Livery

Locomotives of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway were originally painted dark green with ornate brasswork 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 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, if present, red only for goods locomotives.
Passenger coaching stock was originally painted teak, changing in 1875 to an overall light brown. In 1879 a decision was made 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.
Wagons were unpainted until 1902 except for the ironwork which was black. After 1902 it was painted dark grey. The graphical symbol of an inverted solid triangle within a circle was replaced in 1902–03 with the letters LY. Brake vans were black and special traffic wagons were painted in various colours, such as red for gunpowder, white for fish, and pale blue for butter.
The football team of the L&YR Carriage and Wagon works at Newton Heath, Manchester, evolved into Manchester United F.C.

Post-grouping history

On 25 March 1921, the L&YR and LNWR agreed terms under which the two railways would amalgamate. Before this could occur, the Railways Act 1921 became law on 19 August 1921, under which the L&YR and LNWR would be forced to amalgamate on 1 January 1923 with each other and with other railways, such as the Midland Railway and the Caledonian Railway. The Act included provisions for two or more railways to amalgamate voluntarily before 1923; and the L&YR and LNWR took the opportunity to implement their March 1921 agreement, and on 1 January 1922 both railways were dissolved and a new company was formed, which was also named the London and North Western Railway; its board of twenty directors included six from the former L&YR. The 1923 Grouping duly occurred one years later, which involved the expanded LNWR forming part of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway. The general manager, secretary and chief mechanical engineer positions of the expanded company were taken by L&YR employees. Ex-L&YR lines formed the core of the LMS's Central Division.
The LMS did little to develop the former L&YR routes, which in many places ran parallel to ex-LNWR or ex-Midland routes now forming part of the same network. Nationalisation followed in 1948 followed by a period of rationalisation and modernisation. The L&YR system has survived largely intact, although the following routes have been closed, many within the L&YR's old East Lancashire division:
  • Bury to Manchester
  • Bury to Clifton Junction, closed 1966
  • Bury/Radcliffe to Bolton, closed 1970
  • Bury to Rochdale, closed to regular passenger traffic 1970, but now partly preserved as the East Lancashire Railway heritage railway line
  • Bury to Accrington/Bacup, closed to regular passenger traffic in 1966, but now partly preserved as the East Lancashire Railway heritage railway line
  • Bury to Holcombe Brook, fully closed 1963
  • Rochdale to Bacup, fully closed 1967
  • Rochdale to Manchester via Oldham – The Oldham Loop, now converted to Manchester Metrolink operation
  • Blackburn to Burnley via Padiham – The North Lancs or Great Harwood Loop, closed 1964
  • Blackburn to Chorley, closed 1960
  • Preston to Southport, closed 1964
  • Preston to Longridge, closed 1930
  • Southport to Altcar, closed 1952