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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 .

Contents 1 Early history 2 The system 2.1 Divisions 2.2 Electrification 2.3 Steamers 2.4 The routes 2.5 Rolling stock 2.6 Manchester Victoria station 3 Post-Grouping History 4 Trivia 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] 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).

[edit] The system

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

The Manchester to Bury route was also electrified.

[edit] 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 Derry

[edit] 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.

[edit] Rolling stock

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Post-Grouping History

The LYR was initially absorbed by the London and North Western Railway shortly before the Grouping, which involved the LNWR forming part of the new London Midland and Scottish Railway. The LMS did little to develop the former LYR routes. Nationalisation followed in 1948 followed by a period of rationalisation and modernisation. The LYR system has survived largely intact, although the following routes have been closed

Manchester to Bury (converted to Manchester Metrolink operation).

Bury to Accrington and Bacup

Most ex-LYR routes are now operated by Northern Rail. Manchester Victoria station has been rebuilt in a more modest form but retaining the former terminal building.

[edit] Trivia

The football team of the L&YR engineering works at Newton Heath, Manchester, evolved into Manchester United F.C..

[edit] See also

Caldervale Line: a service operated by Metro (West Yorkshire), which uses a large part of the former L&YR.

[edit] References

• Blakemore, Michael: The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. Ian Allan, 1984
• Coates, Noel: 150 Years of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. Hawkshill Publishing 1997
• Nock, O.S. (1969), The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway - A Concise History, Ian Allan, ISBN 0-71100-130-8

[edit] External links

• Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Society
• Map of the LYR

The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies v • d • e</div>
Great Western • London Midland & Scottish • London & North Eastern • Southern
GWR constituents: Great Western Railway • Cambrian Railways • Taff Vale Railway Barry Railway • Rhymney Railway • (full list) LNER constituents: Great Central • Great Eastern • Great Northern • Great North of Scotland Hull & Barnsley • North British • North Eastern • (Full list) LMS constituents: Caledonian • Furness • Lancashire & Yorkshire • Glasgow & South Western London and North Western • Midland • North Staffordshire • (Full list) SR constituents: London and South Western Railway • London, Brighton and South Coast Railway South Eastern Railway • London, Chatham and Dover Railway • (Full list)
See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923 - 1947 • List of companies involved in the grouping