LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY

The 'Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway' (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was unique amongst the pre-grouping companies in that its main traffic flow was to and from east and west.
The intensity of its service was reflected in the 1,650 locomotives that it owned and that one third of its 738 signal boxes controlled junctions which averaged out at 1 in every 3 ½ miles. No two stations were more than 5⅛ miles apart and its 1904 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 amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway on 1st January 1922, the general manager, secretary and chief mechanical engineer positions of the expanded company being taken by L&Y men. The company was a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

Contents

Pre-grouping history

The system

Liveries

Locomotives

Carriages

Goods stock

Electrification

Liverpool area

The Holcombe Brook branch

Manchester area

Shipping

Post-grouping history

Manchester Victoria station

Sport

See also

References

External links

Pre-grouping 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 system

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;

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★ 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. It also included the connection to the LNWR at Stockport for through traffic to London.

★ ''Eastern Division'':

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★ Todmorden to Halifax, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Normanton, Goole, and Doncaster.
Whereas there were various lines between the Central and Western Divisions there was only one route between the Eastern and Central Divisions. This 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.

Liveries

Locomotives

L & Y Locomotives were originally painted dark green with ornate brass work 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 start of 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 red only, or none, for goods locomotives

Carriages

Coaching stock was originally painted teak, changing in 1875 to an overall light brown. In 1879 it was decided 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.

Goods stock

Wagons were unpainted until 1902 except for the ironwork which was black. After 1902 it was painted dark grey. The illiterate symbol of an inverted solid triangle within a circle was replaced from 1902-3 with the letters LY. Break/Brake vans were black and special traffic wagons were painted in various colours e.g. Gunpowder- red, Fish – white, Butter – pale blue etc.
.

Electrification

The L&Y was the first in the country to electrify a mainline route.

Liverpool area

The 4th Rail system was used at 600vdc, although it was later converted to 3rd Rail.

★ Liverpool Exchange - Southport and Crossens: 22nd March 1904

★ Liverpool - Aintree (two routes): July and December 1906

★ Southport - Meols Cop railway station: 1909

★ Aintree - Ormskirk: 1913
Suburban lines in the Liverpool area were electrified to reach a total of 37 route miles:

The Holcombe Brook branch

In 1912 Dick, Kerr & Co.‘s Preston factory were considering tendering for a Brazilian contract and approached the L&Y to use the branch for test purposes at Dick, Kerr’s expense. The line from Bury, Bolton Street Station to Holcombe Brook was electrified with the overhead 3.5kvdc system , rolling stock was also supplied at their cost. After prolonged trials the trains entered public use on 29 July 1913. The L&Y purchased the equipment and stock on the successful completion of the trials in