The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping, although in 1922 it had already entered into a working agreement with the London and North Western Railway. The two companies were constituents of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway . 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS1) was a British railway company. ...

Early 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). The Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) was the chief constituent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which was incorporated in 1847. ...

The system

Divisions

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:
  • Manchester to Blackpool and Fleetwood;
  • Manchester to Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Liverpool; and the direct line to Liverpool;
• East Lancashire or Central Division
  • Manchester to Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Todmorden, Accrington, Barnsley and Colne
• Eastern Division:
  • Todmorden to Halifax, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Normanton, Goole, and Doncaster.

The City of Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in the North of England, historically notable for its central role in the Industrial Revolution. ... Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England. ... Map sources for Fleetwood at grid reference SD333479 Fleetwood is a town in Lancashire, England, lying at the northern end of the Fylde peninsula. ... Arms of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, the motto is Latin for Overcome Delays Bolton is a large town in the north-west of England. ... Map sources for Wigan at grid reference SD583055 Wigan is a large town in the North West of England, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, lying in the historic county of Lancashire. ... For other uses, see Southport (disambiguation). ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... Location within the British Isles Mumps Bridge, Oldham Backwoods of Delph, Oldham Oldham is a large town in North West England, lying in the foothills of the Pennines on the north-eastern edge of the Greater Manchester conurbation: the town proper has a population of 103,544, including a large... Bury is a town on the northern side of Greater Manchester in North West England, between Rochdale and Bolton and just west of the M66. ... The Rochdale war memorial Rochdale (pronounced ) is a town in Greater Manchester in north-west England, within the traditional borders of Lancashire. ... Todmorden is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England. ... Map sources for Accrington at grid reference SD7528 Arms of Accrington Borough Council Accrington, in the County of Lancashire, is a small former mill town in the industrial north-west of England. ... Barnsley is a large town in South Yorkshire, England, lying on the River Dearne, approximately twenty kilometres north of Sheffield. ... Colne is a town (population approx 20,000), in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England, close to the Yorkshire border. ... , This article is about the English town. ... Statistics Population: 293,717 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE165325 Administration Metropolitan borough: City of Bradford Metropolitan county: West Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force: West Yorkshire Ambulance service: Yorkshire... Leeds is a major city in the northern English county of Yorkshire in the United Kingdom and the urban core of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire. ... Huddersfield is a large town near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme. ... Wakefield is a city in Yorkshire, south of Leeds, and by the River Calder. ... Normanton is a town in West Yorkshire, England, lying north east of Wakefield and south west of Castleford. ... The Goole skyline showing the docks and the salt and pepper pots - the twin water towers Goole is a town and port located on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in northeast England. ... Doncaster is a town in the English county of Yorkshire, and the principal settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. ...

Electrification

Suburban lines in the Liverpool area were electrified to reach a total of 37 route miles:

• Liverpool Exchange - Southport and Crossens: April 1904
• Liverpool - Aintree (two routes): July and December 1906
• Southport - Meols Cop railway station: 1909
• Aintree - Ormskirk: 1913

Liverpool Exchange railway station was a railway station in Liverpool, England. ... Crossens was a detached settlement, on the northern fringe of what is now Southport, Merseyside. ... Aintree is a suburb of Liverpool, in the north-west of England. ... Meols Cop railway station serves the eastern outer suburbs of the coastal town of Southport, England, including the area of Meols Cop itself. ... Map sources for Ormskirk at grid reference SD415085 Ormskirk is a small market town in England, with a population of approximately 23,500 (2005 est. ...

Steamers

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. They also (in joint ownership of the vessels with the London and North Western Railway) operated ships between Fleetwood, Belfast and Londonderry WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Hull or Kingston upon Hull is a British city situated on the north bank of the Humber estuary. ... Zeebrugge (French: Zeebruges) is a harbour-town at the coast of Belgium, a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. ... The Goole skyline showing the docks and the salt and pepper pots - the twin water towers Goole is a town and port located on the River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in northeast England. ... Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 742,951(1 January 2005) Demonym Amsterdammer Coordinates Website www. ... Copenhagen (IPA: , rhyming with pagan (the way the Danes themselves pronounce the capitals name when saying it in English), or , with a as in spa; Danish IPA: ) is the capital of Denmark and the countrys largest city (metropolitan population 1,115,035 (2006)), at present made up of... Hamburgs motto: May the posterity endeavour with dignity to conserve the freedom, which the forefathers acquired. ... Rotterdam Location Flag Country The Netherlands Province South Holland Population 588,718 (2006) Coordinates 51° 55 N.; 4° 30 E. Website www. ... The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Derry or Londonderry (in Irish , Doire Cholm Chille or Doire), often called the Maiden City, is a city in Northern Ireland. ...

The routes

The L&YR's principal routes 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. Typical Pennine scenery. ... The Summit tunnel in England is one of the oldest railway tunnels in the world: it was built between 1838 and 1841 beneath the Yorkshire Dales. ...

Rolling stock

Locomotives were painted black, with red and white lining; carriages red-brown lower panels, light brown upper panels.

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. Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria railway station is the second of Manchesters mainline railway stations, now being much less important than Manchester Piccadilly station. ...

Trivia

The football team of the L&YR engineering works at Newton Heath, Manchester, evolved into Manchester United F.C.. Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Newton Heath is an area of Greater Manchester, famous primarily for two things: The birthplace of Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club (est. ... Manchester United Football Club is a world famous English football club. ...

See also

Caldervale Line: a service operated by Metro (West Yorkshire), which uses a large part of the former L&YR. The Caldervale Line is the name given to rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. ... Metro is the title adopted by the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority and Executive in England, made up of councillors from the five local councils: Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. ...

References

• Blakemore, Michael: The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Ian Allan, 1984
• Coates, Noel: 150 Years of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Hawkshill Publishing 1997

External links

• Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society
• Map of the LYR