Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tunnel over a mile in length, and two rope-worked inclined planes; elsewhere it was locomotive-operated, and it carried passengers.
When it was built, the was the only railway in the area, but the Midland Railway was formed and had a main line through Leicester, opened in 1840 and its directors decided to acquire the. They made a generous offer and they took possession in 1847. At first the Midland Railway line and the were not connected, but the Midland Railway constructed a route from its main line to Burton, using part of the. The by-passed the inclines for its new route, but most of the other parts of the continued in use until 1966. The Burton line continues in use at the present day.
Prior history
The industry of Leicester was dominant in the county and the region generally, but it was limited by poor transport links. The developing industry brought about a huge demand for coal. During the closing years of the eighteenth century, the opening of turnpikes, and improvements to the River Soar – the Loughborough Navigation in 1778; the Leicester Navigation in 1791) and then in 1814 the completion of the Grand Union Canal towards Rugby – were all supportive of Leicester's development.As early as 1790 a railway connection from Swannington was proposed:
In the 1820s the Leicester Navigation was carrying 56,000 tons of coal annually for Leicester and 59,000 tons for other markets. There was good quality coal nearby around Swannington but no usable transport link, so it was cheaper to bring coal thirty miles by canal from South Derbyshire. William Stenson was part-owner of Long Lane Pit near Whitwick. Frustrated by the situation, he visited the industrial north-east of England in 1827 and observed the success of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Seeing a railway as a solution to his local difficulty, he enlisted the support of the wealthy weaver John Ellis, and together they travelled to see George Stephenson, who was engaged on the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson and his son Robert Stephenson, then 25, visited Leicester by invitation in the Autumn of 1828.
Conception of the Leicester and Swannington Railway
George Stephenson agreed to become involved in making a railway line from Swannington to Leicester; the first formal meeting to project the line was held at the Bell Inn in Leicester on 12 February 1829. At a further meeting on 24 June 1829, Robert Stephenson stated that a sixteen-mile line could be built for £75,540. Subscriptions amounting to £58,250 were raised at this meeting. The remainder of the £90,000 necessary for the construction of was raised through Stephenson's financial contacts in Liverpool. The act of incorporation for the line, the ', obtained royal assent on 29 May 1830. Authorised share capital was £90,000. The act prescribed that the company might carry goods, that is, operate as a carrier and not merely as a provider of the route for independent carriers.George Stephenson was consulted about the track gauge to be selected for the line, as compared to that of the Canterbury and Whitstable line, and is quoted as saying:
Williams stresses the magnitude of the undertaking:
When completed it was the first locomotive railway in the Midland counties, and only the second south of Manchester, after the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway.
A second act for the company, the ', was obtained on 10 June 1833 giving authority to increase the share capital by £10,000. There was a third act of 30 June 1837, the , which authorised £40,000 increase in share capital, making a total of £140,000.
Construction
The engineer for the railway was Robert Stephenson, with the assistance of Thomas Miles, while George Stephenson raised part of the capital for the line from businesspeople in Liverpool. The line was to run from West Bridge, in Leicester, at a location alongside the navigable River Soar; the intention was to be able to continue the transit of coal by water. The line was to run to the north end of Swannington village, together with three colliery branches, to Whitwick, Ibstock and Bagworth. In addition there was to be a branch in Leicester to the North Bridge, although that was never made. The colliery branches, and the land acquisition for them, were authorised by the Leicester and Swannington Railway Act 1830, but the actual construction of them would be the financial responsibility of the colliery owners.There was to be one tunnel, at Glenfield, just over a mile in length. Nine underbridges and one overbridge would be needed, and sixteen level crossings over public roads. The line was to be single throughout, except at stations.
The terrain was difficult, and due to the limited power of locomotives at the time, the line was built with two rope-worked inclined planes. One was at Bagworth; on a gradient of 1 in 29 it was self-acting, loaded wagons descending pulling up empty wagons. Originally it was to have been powered by a stationary steam engine. The top level was the summit of the line at an altitude of 565 feet. The engine was built by the Horseley Coal and Iron Company., and was equipped with a very early example of a piston valve.
The other was near Swannington, on a gradient of 1 in 17 against the load
The line was standard gauge, with fish-bellied rails on half-round oak cross-sleepers, but longitudinal timbers were used in Glenfield Tunnel.
Construction began almost immediately but soon ran into trouble, particularly with the tunnel. Initial boring had suggested that it would not need a lining. However, it turned out that about would be through sand, requiring much more expensive construction, and in fact doubling the estimated cost of the tunnel. During its construction, on 5 April 1831, one of the contractors, Daniel Jowett, fell down a working shaft and was killed. Three separate contractors gave up their contracts and had to be replaced.
The novelty of a tunnel attracted the interest of local people and in March 1832 temporary gates were placed at the entrances "so as to keep out intruders on Sundays until the permanent gates can be put up".
Opening and early operation
First formal journey
A formal opening of the first part of the line took place on 17 July 1832; a passenger journey for proprietors and directors and their friends only, ran from the West Bridge terminus in Leicester to the summit level at Staunton Road crossing, a distance of 11 miles 55 chains. The inaugural train was drawn by the locomotive Comet and consisted of an open wagon specially covered in for use of the directors, the company's only open second-class carriage and ten new coal wagons with improvised seats, conveying in all about 400 passengers. It left West Bridge at 10:00 and reached Bagworth at 11:00 "A slight delay was caused by the engine chimney striking the roof of the tunnel at a point where the platelayers had temporarily raised the track to pack a 'low' place. The train was halted specially at Glenfield Brook to enable the passengers, especially the ladies, to remove the effects of the enforced sojourn in the tunnel." The return journey conveyed two wagons of coal in addition.Public opening
The general public were able to travel to Bagworth and back by a second special train at 16:30. On the next day, the ordinary train service started; this usually consisted of three empty wagon trains each weekday, leaving West Bridge at 08:00, 13:00 and 16:30; the passenger carriage was attached to these and the corresponding return loaded trips. Apparently, special passenger trips were run for a few weeks after opening, until the novelty of a train journey had worn off.Coal rates
At first only Bagworth colliery was connected to the line, and accordingly income from mineral traffic was far below what was planned. Pressing ahead with the construction of the northern section of the authorised line was called for. In addition, a rebate was offered to other coal owners whose workings were near to the open section but not connected by rail; the rebate was in recognition of the cost of road transport from those pits to the railway, and of the breakage of coal due to the additional transhipment. The rebate proved very effective and those pits forwarded considerably increased quantities.Train operation
The usual train consisted of twenty-four wagons of each. The idea that there would be a demand from passengers came as something of a surprise to the directors, but a carriage was hastily built, and very soon the line was carrying about 60 passengers a day and their fares were repaying one per cent of the capital. In time, both first and second class was provided. On payment of the fare at the departure station, each passenger would receive a metal token marked with the destination. This would be given up on arrival and reused. Small four-wheeled wagons and coaches, painted plain blue, comprised the rolling stock.For many years facilities for passengers remained primitive; tickets were procured at local inns; passenger carriages were attached to goods trains. At West Bridge carriages were drawn into a siding by horses once they had been detached from the goods wagons. It was well into the 1870s before a platform was provided, and the conveyance of passengers at the rear of coal trains continued until 1887. From that time the Midland Railway supplied a proper branch train of six-wheel carriages hauled by a Midland 0-6-0 tender locomotive.