







Read the series of articles about The London and North Western Railway from One Hundred Years of British Railways in 'The Engineer' here:
- No I London and North Western Railway - The Engineer 1924/09/12
- No II London and North Western Railway - The Engineer 1924/09/19
- No III London and North Western Railway - The Engineer 1924/09/26
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was a railway company that existed between 1846 and 1922 and is an ancestor of today's West Coast Main Line. It was created by the merger of three railway companies: -
1846 July 16th. The London and North Western Railway was incorporated under its present title. Headquarters were at Euston Railway Station.
1847 The line from Rugby through Nuneaton and Lichfield was opened, saving many miles. The Huddersfield and Manchester Railway was acquired.
1848 The Dunstable Railway was opened
1850 The Coventry and Nuneaton Railway was opened
1851 The Rugby and Leamington branch was opened
1852 The Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway was opened and leased to the LNWR. The Bangor and Carnarvon Railway was opened.
1854 The full length of the Warrington and Stockport Railway was opened (leased to the LNWR in 1860).
1857 Part of the Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway was opened
1858 Acquired the Chester and Holyhead Railway. The South Staffordshire extensions to Cannock and to Norton were opened; the Watford and St. Albans branch was opened; the Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway was opened. The Vale of Clwyd Railway from Rhyl to Denbigh was opened (absorbed by the LNWR in 1868).
1860 The Hampstead Junction Railway was opened (acquired by LNWR in 1863). The first stage of the Central Wales Railway was opened.
1861 Acquired the South Staffordshire Railway
1862 The Southern Division was amalgamated with the Northern Division; the decision was taken to concentrate locomotive work at Crewe.
1863 Acquired the Conway and Llanwrst Railway
1864 The Shrewsbury and Welshpool Railway, which had been worked by the LNWR, was transferred to LNWR and the GWR jointly in 1864.
1868 Engineer is William Baker. [1]
1869 The Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway was opened
1870 The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway was leased to the LNWR and GWR jointly.
1873 Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway, jointly owned with the Midland Railway, was opened.
1874 The Harborne branch was opened (operated by the LNWR)
1875 See 1875 Number of Locomotives where they are listed first with 2,019 locomotives
1876 Acquired the Sirhowy Railway
1888 See Locomotive Stock June 1888 where they are listed first with 2,323 locomotives.
1889 General Manager is George Findlay; Mechanical Engineer is Francis W. Webb. Civil Engineer is Francis Stevenson.[2]
1907 Gained permission to widen the line between Euston and Watford
1908 The line is 1,719 miles in length, while 114 miles are partly owned. [3]
c.1909 New lines built from Euston to Watford which would eventually be worked by electric trains[4]
1912 The main line was widened between the western portal of Kensal Green tunnel and the northern end of Harrow Station
1913 Widening of the main line from north of Harrow to Bushey.
1920 Sir Thomas Williams retires from his position as General Manager. Arthur Watson succeeded him.[5]
1920 Captain Hewitt Beames and Mr F. W. Dingley divide duties to replace C. J. Bowen Cooke as joint directors of the company.[6]
1920 Won the contract for shipping the Irish Mails between Holyhead and Kingstown[7]
1922 January 1st. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was amalgamated with the LNWR.[8]
1923 Total route mileage was 2,667.5 miles
1923 The LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) when the railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923.
The LNWR's main engineering works were at Crewe Works (locomotives) and the Wolverton Works (which concentrated on carriages and wagons from 1877). The locomotive livery is described as 'blackberry black'.
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ 1868 Bradshaw's Railway Manual
- ↑ 1889 Bradshaw's Railway Manual
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ The Engineer 1909/08/13
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/12/17.
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/11/26
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/12/03
- ↑ The Engineer 1921/04/01
- [1] Wikipedia