107-742: The East Coast Joint Stock (ECJS) was a fleet of passenger railway coaches in the UK jointly owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), the North Eastern Railway (NER) and the North British Railway (NBR). These were the main operators of the East Coast Main Line prior to the creation of the London and North Eastern Railway at grouping in 1923. The GNR, NER and NBR, together with
214-553: A London and York Railway was submitted to the 1845 session of Parliament. There were 224 railway bills in that session, and the Board of Trade was instructed to set up a committee to assess groups of proposed lines; the committee became known as the Five Kings. When the London and York Railway scheme came before the parliamentary committees, Hudson set up such a protracted series of objections that
321-543: A celebrity. Anglo-Scottish travel on the East Coast Main Line became commercially important; the GNR controlled the line from London to Doncaster and allied itself with the North Eastern Railway and the North British Railway so as to offer seamless travel facilities. The main line railways of Great Britain were "grouped" following the Railways Act 1921 into one or other of four new larger concerns. The Great Northern Railway
428-531: A constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway . Early railways in Scotland had been mainly involved with conveyance of minerals, chiefly coal and limestone in the earliest times, a short distance to a river or coastal harbour for onward transport. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway (E&GR) in 1842 showed that a longer distance general purpose railway could be commercially successful. During
535-630: A cramped site close to the North Bridge, and the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway extended their line from their terminus at Haymarket to meet the NBR. The new station was operated jointly, and was simply called "the Edinburgh station" or "the North Bridge station". It also came to be referred to as "the General station", and much later it was named " Waverley station ". The English railway entrepreneur George Hudson
642-580: A dividend of 2.5%. In April 1856, the independent Selkirk and Galashiels Railway opened its line, to be worked by the NBR; this was followed in July 1856 by the Jedburgh Railway , connecting with the NBR at Roxburgh and also worked by the NBR. The Selkirk line was absorbed by the NBR in 1859, and the Jedburgh Railway in 1860. Hodgson reiterated Learmonth's statement that extending from Hawick to Carlisle
749-427: A failed scheme. At this time George Hudson , a railway financier, was exceptionally skilled in promoting railways and having them built, and most particularly of neutralising or destroying any opposition or competition to his lines. His methods were not always respectable. Some promoters wanted to build a railway from London to York, and after much negotiation with promoters of other lines that might connect or compete,
856-536: A junction with the Great North of England Railway, just south of York Station. Also included in the act was a loop from Werrington Junction, north of Peterborough, via Spalding to Boston, Lincoln to Gainsborough and back on to the main line at Bawtry. Land acquisition proved to be difficult; in particular, the King's Cross site was occupied by a smallpox hospital. The freeholder demanded an impossibly large price to vacate, and
963-478: A notice, stating the intention to make a 5.5% preference share issue in the amount of £1,875,625 (equivalent to £219,477,900 in 2023), covering all the financial liabilities of the company. On 22 December the Glasgow Herald carried an eight-line report that the interim chairman had stood down, and that John Stirling of Kippendavie had been appointed chairman. Amid the fireworks of railway management, in 1866
1070-404: A number of reasons, not all connected with railways, there was a massive slump in the following year, and investment money, especially for railway projects already authorised, became almost impossible to get. The Great Northern Railway directors had a dauntingly large railway network to build, and they had to prioritise the parts of their authorised network which they would start to construct. In
1177-670: A problem. In 1863 the BW&;LR changed its title to the West Yorkshire Railway, and in that year both it and the LB&;HJR agreed to be absorbed by the GNR; this was authorised by an act of Parliament in 1865. The GNR was therefore able to consolidate a substantial network in West Yorkshire, bringing Wakefield, Leeds, Bradford and Halifax into its area of influence. However, trains from Doncaster still had to rely on running powers over
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#17330938152181284-513: A separate terminal at London Road, Nottingham. This opened on 3 October 1857. The GNR leased the Ambergate company from 1 August 1861. On 14 October 1852 King's Cross station was at last brought into use, and the Maiden Lane temporary station was closed. King's Cross had two large sheds, familiar to the present day, but only two passenger platforms, the later platforms 1 and 8. The intervening space
1391-400: A shareholders meeting in 1851 it was pointed out that when the company's network had been 89 miles in extent revenue had been £39,304. Now the network was 146 miles and revenue was £39,967 (equivalent to £5,527,460 in 2023). Huge sums were being written off in failed ventures, while equally huge sums were being sought for new ones. Some shareholders remembered George Hudson's offer of 8% for
1498-488: A temporary station at Grantham . It now connected into the GNR at Grantham, opening the connection on 2 August 1852; it was worked by the GNR. The Ambergate company relied on running powers into the Midland Railway station at Nottingham, but there were considerable disputes about the matter for many years, and the GNR had difficulty in getting access. To resolve the situation the Ambergate company built its own line into
1605-580: A through rail service without change of train via Carstairs since March 1848. The fastest trains between Edinburgh and London on both routes then took a little over 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours; the East Coast journey included the two transshipments, at the Tweed and the Tyne. and the cheaper steamship service between Leith and London still took the bulk of the passenger traffic. Mineral traffic, in particular coal from
1712-504: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) The Great Northern Railway (GNR) was a British railway company incorporated in 1846 with the object of building a line from London to York . It quickly saw that seizing control of territory was key to development, and it acquired, or took leases of, many local railways, whether actually built or not. In so doing, it overextended itself financially. Nevertheless, it succeeded in reaching into
1819-730: Is now owned by the London and North Eastern Coach Association (LNERCA) and located at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway ; three vehicles from the Royal Train, built in 1908 and which are now part of the National Collection : the two Royal Saloons – no. 395 (built for the use of King Edward VII ) and no. 396 (for the use of Queen Alexandra and Princess Victoria ) – both of which had been withdrawn in 1978; and brake van no. 109 (originally no. 82), which had run until 1961. This United Kingdom rail transport related article
1926-591: The North British Railway Act 1844 ( 7 & 8 Vict. c. lxvi). The Newcastle and Berwick Railway was building its line, and in time they would form part of a through chain of railways between Edinburgh and London. This had been a race against competing railways: the main competitor was the Caledonian Railway , which planned to build from both Edinburgh and Glasgow to Carlisle, there linking with English railways that were building northwards. However
2033-682: The Border Union Railway ) and the act of Parliament permitting the acquisition of the Carlisle minor railways received royal assent. On the same day the Border Counties Railway was authorised; it had been supported by Hodgson, who saw access to Newcastle independently of the North Eastern Railway . It was absorbed by the NBR in 1860. The construction of the Border Union Railway was slow; goods operation from Carlisle to Scotch Dyke, not far from Longtown, started on 11 October 1861, and
2140-565: The City of Glasgow Union Railway were eased. (At one time there had been thoughts of the NBR using a considerably expanded terminus on the line in alliance with the Glasgow and South Western Railway , but the cost would have been huge and it was not now possible to proceed. The Shareholders' Meeting of 12 September 1867 was told that arrangements had been made to deal with the £1,875,625 (equivalent to £209,777,300 in 2023) of debt already identified; but
2247-596: The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the Scottish Central Railway , which between them owned the railway lines connecting London (King's Cross) and Perth via York , Edinburgh (Waverley) and Stirling came to an agreement in November 1855 regarding "the East Coast Route" and how the traffic over that route was to be obtained and shared. At first, the carriages used for the through services were provided by
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#17330938152182354-687: The Lothian coalfield, was the largest source of revenue, although delivery to the West Coast harbours and the developing iron smelting industry in the Monklands was problematical. The Chairman of the North British Railway was John Learmonth. From the outset he had seen that expansion of the North British Railway was the way forward, and with allies on the Board he had invested heavily, both personally and through
2461-575: The Settle and Carlisle line in 1875 (for goods: passenger traffic started in 1876), that the North British had a willing English partner at Carlisle. After two years of construction, the Berwickshire Railway opened part of its line from St Boswells to Dunse (later spelt Duns) in 1865. The line was worked by the NBR and formed a continuous route with the earlier Dunse branch. The Berwickshire Railway
2568-570: The 1845 session, the Caledonian Railway was authorised. The Caledonian was to prove a bitter rival. The Edinburgh and Perth Railway failed to get parliamentary authorisation. The line to Hawick was to use the route of the obsolescent Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway , a horse-operated line with a non-standard gauge of sleeper-block track, and a large sum had to be allocated to converting that line to main line standards. All these plans for expansion were committing huge sums of money even before
2675-500: The BW&LR, on 10 October 1857, the LB&HJR opened a direct line from Ardsley on the BW&LR to Laisterdyke, near Bradford. This was an extension of its Gildersome mineral line; although steeply graded this formed an additional through route for GNR trains. Both the LB&HJR and the BW&LR constructed (or obtained approval to construct) some branches within their area of influence. There were branches to Batley, opened by each company separately in 1864. Perhaps more significant
2782-463: The Bradford and Thornton Railway and the associated Halifax, Thornton and Keighley Railway. These were built by the GNR at huge expense, with daunting engineering features. They opened progressively from 1876 to 1884. A loop line through Pudsey from Bramley to Laisterdyke was created, opening in 1893, as an extension of an earlier dead end line. North British Railway The North British Railway
2889-495: The Caledonian was unable to secure enough subscriptions to present a bill to Parliament in 1844 and held over to the following year. The chairman of the North British Railway, John Learmonth, saw that capturing as much territory as possible for the North British was essential in the competitive struggle. He prepared plans to build a second main line from Edinburgh to Carlisle through Hawick , and also attempted to gain control of
2996-627: The Dalkeith line connections around Edinburgh were made, including feeding the Leith line and the Musselburgh line directly from the main line at Portobello and Wanton Walls respectively. From July 1861, the Peebles Railway line was leased. In 1862, a greater prize was acquired: the Edinburgh and Northern Railway had expanded from its origins and now, as the Edinburgh, Perth And Dundee Railway, it connected
3103-578: The Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway and the Monkland Railways, and the following day the merged company was absorbed by the North British. Although some commentators had expected that the E&;GR might have absorbed the NBR, the reality was that the new board consisted of 13 former NBR directors and two E&G men. The NBR habitually ran trains on Sundays and started doing so on the E&GR main line, which had not. This ignited fresh protests from Sabbatarians but
3210-461: The Edinburgh and Perth Railway company, which was itself preparing plans for its line. In the 1845 session of Parliament Learmonth secured authorising acts of Parliament for numerous branch lines, mostly to forestall incursion by competitors. In addition, the first part of the line to Carlisle, the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway, was authorised: it was nominally independent, but in fact the shares were all owned by Learmonth and other NBR directors. Also in
3317-521: The GNR and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway. Now at last the GNR had the line it sought. On 1 January 1847 the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway came into existence by the merger of some smaller lines. The GNR had been granted running powers from Retford to Sheffield and in 1850 it informed the MS&;LR that it was to run passenger trains from Lincoln from 7 August 1849. The GNR
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3424-563: The GNR got access to Bradford and Halifax. Another independent railway, the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway opened its line between Wakefield (the present-day Kirkgate station) and junctions near Leeds, on 3 October 1857. The GNR and the L&;YR had running powers over the new line, and this enabled the Great Northern Company to route its Doncaster to Leeds trains by this route, using
3531-403: The GNR opened a new locomotive works at Doncaster in 1853, replacing earlier facilities at Boston. The authorised network of the GNR had included the line from Doncaster to York. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was building from Knottingley to a junction at Askern, near the present-day Shaftholme Junction north of Doncaster, and mutual running powers had been agreed. The line was opened to
3638-661: The Great Northern had just obtained power to run its trains to Wakefield and to Methley on the way to Leeds. The directors decided to build the Loop Line first, as that was the easiest to complete in order to start earning income. The first portion of the Great Northern Railway was opened on 1 March 1848. It was actually on the leased East Lincolnshire Railway line, from Great Grimsby to Louth . Five trains ran each way every weekday, and on from Grimsby to New Holland on
3745-455: The L&YR from Askern to Wakefield. The junctions near Leeds were with the LB&HJR at Wortley, forming a triangle and enabling through running towards either Leeds or Bradford. This development allowed the GNR to avoid using the hostile Midland Railway track at all, and allowed a direct entry to Leeds Central station, avoiding the awkward reversal on the Thirsk line. A week after the opening of
3852-504: The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (between Askern Junction and Methley), and the Midland Railway (between Methley and Leeds). On reaching Leeds the trains ran forward onto the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, and then reversed into the central station at Leeds. The South Yorkshire, Doncaster and Goole Railway opened its line from Doncaster to Barnsley on 1 January 1851. The GNR had running powers over
3959-514: The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway between Askern Junction and Wakefield. The solution was on the horizon, when the West Riding and Grimsby Railway opened its line between Wakefield and Doncaster. It was to make an eastward branch to Thorne, justifying the Grimsby reference in its title. It opened its line on 1 February 1866 and on the same day the hitherto independent concern became the joint property of
4066-416: The Loop Line via Lincoln at the expense of the so-called Towns Line, the direct line from Peterborough to Doncaster. When this work was pressed forward, a number of difficulties presented themselves, including failure of a contractor. However, the line opened for goods traffic on 15 July 1852, and for passengers on 1 August 1851. The Towns Line ran from Werrington Junction north of Peterborough to Retford, where
4173-539: The MS&LR connected by a spur, known as the Lincoln Curve. There were flat crossings at Newark with the Midland Railway and at Retford with the MS&LR main line. A south to west curve was laid in at Retford, enabling a GNR service to Sheffield. The Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway had been formed to connect the manufacturing districts of Manchester with the port of Boston, and had opened in 1850 between Colwick Junction, near Nottingham, and
4280-633: The NBR stuck to its position on the matter. As well as the railways mentioned, the merger gave the North British a share of the City of Glasgow Union Railway which was then under construction. When complete, that line would give the North British access shipping berths on the Clyde at General Terminus over the General Terminus and Glasgow Harbour Railway . The NBR grew to have, by the summer of 1865, about 450 mi (720 km) of route, almost equally divided between double- and single-track. In addition it
4387-429: The North British Railway shareholders on the advice of their chairman. Parliament had declined to authorised the NBR line throughout to Carlisle, and for the time being Hawick was to be the southern terminus, although the plan to construct to Carlisle later was made manifest. As the Edinburgh end was to use the old Edinburgh and Dalkeith alignment, some connections between the NBR and that line had to be made, as well as
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4494-563: The River Humber , by alliance with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway . This was followed by the opening from Louth to Firsby on 3 September 1848. On 2 October 1848, the line was opened from Firsby to a temporary station at Boston. The GNR opened a section of its own line from Stockbridge and Askern , and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway opened from Knottingley . There
4601-699: The Royston and Hitchin Railway, the East Lincolnshire Railway (Boston to Great Grimsby; both authorised, but neither yet built) and the Boston, Stamford and Birmingham Railway (never built). It also took about a third-of-a-million-pounds-worth of shares in the South Yorkshire Railway . 1846 was a peak year for railway scheme authorisations, fuelled by the feverish hunt for quick riches in railway shares. For
4708-574: The Smith-Barlow Commission, deliberated for some time and presented an ambiguous report, and public opinion had moved on: numerous schemes for railways were proposed, not all of them practicable. During this frenzy, a group of businesspeople formed the North British Railway Company to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick (later named Berwick-on-Tweed with a branch to Haddington . They got their authorising act of Parliament,
4815-525: The St Leger race meeting. It was a priority for the GNR to get access to the great manufacturing towns of West Yorkshire, to which it had been denied its own connection in Parliament. Leeds was the first to be reached. A Central station at Leeds was authorised on 22 July 1848. It was joint with three other companies, and GNR trains first reached it on 1 October 1848. GNR trains ran from Doncaster to Leeds over
4922-418: The accommodation of particular districts, so that it will in a great measure rest with the local interests, whether or not such works shall be immediately proceeded with. Building on the improved relations with the Caledonian, Kippendavie reached a revenue sharing arrangement with that company on 16 January 1868; the agreement included refrain from opposing time extension on NBR projects that had been delayed by
5029-445: The accounts from year to year so as to show to the shareholders and divide among them a revenue which was not in existence and was known not to have been earned; but it was a careful and most ingenious fabrication of imaginary accounts, begun and carried on from time to time for the purpose of supporting the falsified half yearly statements of revenue and the general misrepresentation of affairs The board resigned, only four remaining for
5136-509: The board, and operating expenses were down to 44%. At a special shareholders' meeting on 15 July 1856 he announced that the company's money bill, the North British Railway (Finance and Bridge) Act 1856 ( 19 & 20 Vict. c. lxiii), had been passed, enabling the company to issue shares and to pay down debt with the money raised: he announced, somewhat prematurely, that the company was free from debt. The Ordinary Shareholders would get
5243-474: The coalfields of Nottinghamshire , Derbyshire and Yorkshire , as well as establishing dominance in Lincolnshire and north London . Bringing coal south to London was dominant, but general agricultural business, and short- and long-distance passenger traffic, were important activities too. Its fast passenger express trains captured the public imagination, and its Chief Mechanical Engineer Nigel Gresley became
5350-625: The company are under obligations to construct new lines, involving a further amount of £2,600,000. It s essential to limit this liability... but [the Directors] do not consider an indiscriminate abandonment of works to be desirable. Accordingly provision is made in the Finance Act for constituting certain of the unexpected works into separate undertakings... It is to local parties that the Directors look for subscriptions to construct branch lines, required for
5457-521: The company in 1847, which had been refused. It was noted that the Caledonian Railway was equally determined to enlarge its system, but was doing so by leasing smaller companies, avoiding a large payment at the beginning. In early 1852, a new preference share issue failed, and at the Shareholders' meeting in March two directors resigned, and Learmonth was forced to declare that he too would go in due course. This
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#17330938152185564-434: The company was already considerable, and a further million of money was authorised by an act of 1853. Another demand on financial resources was willingly undertaken: the installation of the electric telegraph, at first at the southern end of the system. It was soon used for signalling trains through the tunnel sections, and by 1856 it was used throughout as far north as Hitchin. Reflecting the anticipated focus of operations,
5671-420: The company, in subscriptions to other railways. In some cases this was to extend the system profitably, but in many it was simply to keep rival lines, especially the Caledonian Railway, out. For some time shareholder opinion was with him, but over time disquiet took hold when the scale of the commitments was disclosed. In 1851, North British Railway £25 shares were trading at £6 (equivalent to £830 in 2023). At
5778-613: The company. Nonetheless, the company successfully reached Carlisle, where it later made a partnership with the Midland Railway . It also linked from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee, but for many years the journey involved a ferry crossing of the Forth and the Tay. Eventually the North British built the Tay Bridge , but the structure collapsed as a train was crossing in high wind. The company survived
5885-423: The construction of the E&GR, the money market had eased somewhat and a rapid development of long-distance railways took place in England. Scottish promoters began to consider how central Scotland could be connected to the growing English network, and a government commission was established to determine the approved route. It was assumed for some time that only a single route was commercially viable. The commission,
5992-430: The different companies, but in 1860 representatives of the GNR, NER and NBR met to agree the setting up of "a common East Coast stock of passenger carriages", which was finalised in August–September 1860. There were to be fifty carriages, costing a total of £13,450, to be apportioned according to the respective mileages of the companies which operated the London-Edinburgh services: GNR £6,425; NER £5,080; NBR £1,945. The ECJS
6099-400: The entire line was opened for goods trains on 23 June 1862 and for passengers on 1 July 1862. The Border Counties Railway opened throughout on the same dates. The Border Counties joined the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway (N&CR) at Hexham. The North Eastern Railway wished to absorb the N&CR, and the NBR agreed to withdraw its opposition in an exchange of running powers. The NBR acquired
6206-454: The finance committee to the true state of the NBR's finances. A new preference share issue had flopped, and it proved impossible to pay debenture interest and preference share guaranteed dividends. Evidently it was intended to pay the dividend out of new capital; North British ordinary shares fell overnight by 8% after this revelation. Widespread financial impropriety and falsification of accounts were disclosed, all laid at Hodgson's door, and this
6313-422: The financial turmoil. By 1869, the Caledonian and the NBR were once again at loggerheads; the main issue now was the Waverley Route, and the proportion of traffic attributable to it. It emerged that the Caledonian had secretly concluded a pact with the London and North Western Railway in 1867; the arrangement excluded the North British from nearly all goods traffic, and its revelation damaged good feeling: indeed
6420-418: The full opening of the Border Union Railway, passenger trains had terminated at the Canal station of the Port Carlisle Railway. By 1864 the line was double track throughout and from 1 July 1864 the passenger trains were diverted over the Caledonian Railway connecting line, to terminate in Citadel station. The financial position was somewhat better and a 2% dividend on ordinary shares was announced in August. There
6527-435: The junction and used the MS&LR station at Gainsborough. A junction was made with the MS&LR line at Durham Ox Junction, Lincoln, some time after 3 April 1848, and sanctioned by Parliament retrospectively. The direct line between Peterborough and Doncaster was known as the Towns Line. The first part of it was opened between the MS&LR station at Retford and Doncaster on 4 September 1849. A proper station at Doncaster
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#17330938152186634-436: The line, and started running passenger trains to Barnsley, and mineral trains to and from Horbury. On 1 August 1854, the independent Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway (LB&HJR) opened its line between Leeds and Bowling Junction, close to Bradford, where it made a connection with the L&YR. The LB&HJR had running powers over the L&YR to Halifax, and the GNR were granted running powers over this line, so
6741-495: The main line was ready. At last on 22 June 1846 the line to Berwick and Haddington was open to the public. There were five trains daily, with an additional ten short journeys between Edinburgh and Musselburgh . A Sunday service was operated, in the face of considerable opposition from those of a religious point of view. At first the Newcastle and Berwick Railway was not ready, and passengers and goods to London had to be conveyed by road from Berwick to Newcastle. From 1 July 1847 it
6848-413: The main line. Hodgson's faith in the Carlisle connection was equally ill-founded; facilities for through bookings and working south of Carlisle were refused. The capital commitment again swamped the financial resources of the company and the dividend sank to 1%. The Border Union Line, which soon became known as the Waverley Route opened in stages from 1861, opening throughout on 1 August 1862. There
6955-447: The matter had to go before a jury. This, and the subsequent removal of the hospital to new premises, would incur a huge delay. The GNR board decided to make a temporary London terminal at Maiden Lane . The company undertook some extraordinary commitments at this time. It arranged to purchase the Stamford and Spalding Railway; this would form a loop from north of Peterborough back on to the GNR Loop Line near Crowland ; and leases at 6% of
7062-434: The merging of several of the old "coal railways" operating around Airdrie and Coatbridge . Their main business was still mineral traffic, and although their operating costs were high, they made a comfortable profit. On 4 July 1865, an act of Parliament, the Edinburgh and Glasgow and Monkland Railways Amalgamation Act 1865 ( 28 & 29 Vict. c. ccxvii) was passed authorising the merger and it took place on 31 July between
7169-422: The moribund Port Carlisle Dock and Railway Company and the Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock Company . These lines had a Carlisle station, a connecting line to the Caledonian Railway at Carlisle Citadel station, and a west coast port, at Silloth. On 21 July 1859 the act of Parliament, the Border Union (North British) Railways Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. xxiv), for the Carlisle Extension (now labelled
7276-399: The new line from Monktonhall to Dalkeith via Smeaton opened, as did the Blane Valley Railway . Passenger services on the latter did not start until 1867, in common with the opening of the Esk Valle Railway . The company now sought to grow revenues on the existing network. A rapprochement was reached with the Caledonian Railway—Kippendavie came from that railway's Board—and commitments to
7383-404: The outset the Great Northern Railway had been anxious to acquire local railways or at least make arrangements with them, in order to expand the company's territory. In 1852 the shareholders expressed their displeasure at the volume of financial commitments implied by these, but the Chairman Edmund Denison continued his policy, without showing his hand. The company had prioritised construction of
7490-418: The permanent bridges were inaugurated, by Queen Victoria , although some working over temporary structures had already taken place. The station at Edinburgh was located in a depression between the Old and New Towns; this had early been a disreputable and insanitary swamp called the Nor' Loch, although steps had been taken to provide ornamental gardens on part of the area. The North British Railway obtained
7597-471: The places in its title, albeit with a ferry crossing of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay . The EP&DR also had a branch from Stirling to Dunfermline, through highly productive coalfields, and it had already absorbed the Fife and Kinross Railway and the Kinross-shire Railway . In the same year the North British absorbed the West of Fife Railway and Harbour Company , giving further access to mineral-bearing areas and to Charlestown Harbour. Since
7704-502: The powers over the BCR line into Newcastle. This seemed a hugely important goal, although the route over the two Borders lines was long and arduous. The exchange was that the NER got running powers from Berwick to Edinburgh. If Hodgson believed that this was an equitable exchange, he was soon rid of the belief, for the NER was now able to run through line goods and passenger trains right in to Edinburgh on
7811-432: The project ran out of parliamentary time in that session. The London and York Railway scheme was submitted to the 1846 session of Parliament; some other schemes for railways to the north had by now fallen by the wayside, and their supporters joined the London and York project; reflecting that, the proposed company name was altered to the Great Northern Railway . George Hudson continued to use his dubious methods to frustrate
7918-526: The public on 6 June 1848, between Knottingley and Askern. This was extended on 7 June 1848 over the GNR to Stockbridge, a place on the Bentley Road between Askern and Doncaster. The GNR stretch amounted to 2 miles 45 chains. Stockbridge was later renamed Arksey. The GNR further extended southwards to a temporary station immediately north of the River Don at Doncaster; it opened on the following 5 August in time for
8025-457: The sake of continuity, and the previous statement of accounts and the declared dividend were reversed. No dividend was paid and warrants bearing 4% interest "until paid" were issued in their place, The meeting was naturally lengthy and at times stormy; a verbatim report occupied two and a half pages of the Glasgow Herald the next day. On 12 December 1866, the interim Chairman of the Company published
8132-496: The scheme, but on 26 June the Great Northern Railway Act 1846 ( 9 & 10 Vict. c. lxxi) was given royal assent . Numerous branches earlier proposed had been deleted, but the main line was approved. Authorised capital was £5.6 million. The company had spent £590,355 on parliamentary expenses. The authorised line was from London ("Pentonville") via Huntingdon, Peterborough, Grantham, Retford, Doncaster and Selby to
8239-469: The second half of 1847, the directors, owing to the state of the Money Market... decided to abstain from letting the works from Doncaster to York. But at the end of July a further small contract was let to Messrs. Peto & Betts for the works from ... Doncaster, northwards to Askern, with the object of forming an "end-on" junction there with the branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company, over which...
8346-546: The setback and opened a second Tay Bridge, followed soon by the Forth Bridge , which together transformed the railway network north of Edinburgh. Early on, mineral traffic became dominant and brought in much more revenue than the passenger services. At the grouping of the railways in 1923, the North British Railway was the largest railway company in Scotland, and the fifth largest in the United Kingdom. In that year it became
8453-472: The train service started on 1 October 1848. The York and North Midland Railway was urging the GNR to use the Y&;NMR line from Knottingley to York, shortly to be opened, and to abandon the GNR's plans for its own line to York. After considerable deliberation, the GNR agreed to this on 6 June 1850. By arrangement with the MS&LR the GNR started running trains between Lincoln and Sheffield on 7 August 1850;
8560-415: The trains were routed over the MS&LR from Sykes Junction, a few miles north of Lincoln. The London (Maiden Lane) to Peterborough line was ready for a demonstration opening run on 5 August 1850, and it was opened to the public on 7 August 1850; eight passenger trains were run each way daily, with three on Sundays. On 8 August 1850 trains started running through from London to York. The Maiden Lane terminal
8667-485: The upgrading of the E&DR line, doubling the single line section beyond Dalkeith , and construction of a new viaduct over the River South Esk and Dalhousie. After the NBR had formally purchased the Edinburgh and Hawick Railway, first openings took place in 1847 but it was not until 1 November 1849 that the line was open throughout to Hawick. For the time being Learmonth's objective of a line reaching Carlisle, which
8774-468: The use of Victoria, but then made an outright payment of £25,000 to secure permanent half-rights to the station. From 1859 GNR trains also ran to Huddersfield via Sheffield and Penistone. From 1866 the Great Northern Railway had the control it wanted in West Yorkshire. A number of additional branches were built; perhaps the most important was the Dewsbury branch. A Dewsbury terminus opened in 1874, but this
8881-445: Was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh , Scotland. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick. The line opened in 1846, and from the outset the company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two chairmen leaving
8988-416: Was a competing Caledonian Railway Bill. Hodgson used the mutual rebuff to try to form an alliance with the Caledonian, building and operating the line jointly. His objective was obviously to achieve access through Carlisle southwards, but the Caledonian saw through that and turned him down. The NBR presented a fresh bill for the Carlisle line in the 1859 session. Hodgson had agreed a takeover arrangement with
9095-472: Was a constituent of the London and North Eastern Railway , which took control at the beginning of 1923. Although many local lines have been closed, much of the network is active today. In 1836, a railway to be called the Great Northern Railway was proposed. It was to run from Whitechapel in east London via Cambridge and Lincoln to York. However, this was a stupendously ambitious project for such an early date, and Parliament turned it down. By 1844 there
9202-432: Was a formal opening on 5 June 1848 and a public opening two days later; at that stage the L&YR operated the passenger trains. On 5 August 1848 the GNR section was extended south to a temporary Doncaster station, and a goods service was operated. Part of the Loop Line was soon ready, and 58 miles from Walton Junction (near Peterborough, on the newly opened Midland Railway ) to Lincoln opened on 17 October 1848. The line
9309-454: Was a priority. The water was muddied by the Caledonian Railway's stated intention to build its own branch from Carlisle to Hawick, and then by the independent Border Counties Railway . This was a speculative line from Hexham, on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway , striking north into presumed mineral-rich areas. It was authorised in 1854, and opened as far as Chollerford in 1858; its significance
9416-428: Was built and ready by the middle of 1851. By this means, the GNR was able to start a service between London and Leeds using running powers and agreements over other lines in a roundabout routing northward from Retford; George Hudson tried to repudiate his earlier undertaking to permit this, but at this time his disgraceful methods had come to light, and he had resigned from the Midland Railway and several other boards;
9523-518: Was double except for a mile at Boston, which was made double track by a deviation on 11 May 1850. Captain Wynne viewed the line from Lincoln to Gainsborough on 29 March 1849, but refused permission to open until signals were provided at the swing bridge at Brayford Mere (Lincoln); the line opened on 9 April 1849 when they had been provided. The route made a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at Gainsborough; GNR trains reversed at
9630-502: Was expanding his portfolio of railways and in 1847 his York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway were close to completing the English portion of a route from London to Edinburgh. Hudson made an offer to purchase the North British Railway (through the medium of his own companies) for 8% on the NBR capital. Hudson's offer placed a high value on the NBR, but it was rejected by
9737-462: Was followed by a through line to Batley via a new Dewsbury through station, opened in 1880. From 1867, the GNR launched into an expensive and ultimately unremunerative entry into the hilly terrain west of Bradford and north of Halifax. This started with the Halifax and Ovenden Junction Railway, a short line in the northern heights of Halifax, opened in 1874, jointly with the L&YR. This was followed by
9844-412: Was hardly a tenable position and on 13 May 1852 he resigned. James Balfour took over, but Balfour was not well suited to the role and he had little influence on the course of the North British. He too left the company, and in 1855 Richard Hodgson took over. His task was formidable; no dividend was paid to ordinary shareholders for some time. By September 1856, Hodgson had routed an opposing faction on
9951-551: Was heavily supported by the NBR, probably as a strategic measure to keep the Caledonian Railway out of the district. The NBR absorbed it in 1876. Due to Hodgson's improved management in the period to 1862, the financial position was greatly improved. Dividends on ordinary shares up to 3% became regular. Geographical expansion was limited to funding the Parliamentary deposits of prospective friendly branch line companies, with provisional agreements to work their lines. Some changes to
10058-566: Was later to become the Waverley Route , was on hold. The NBR obtained Parliamentary authority in 1846 to build numerous branches off its main line and off the Hawick line. Not all of these were built, but in addition to the Haddington branch, which had opened contemporaneously with the main line, several were opened in the period to 1855. These were: The Caledonian Railway had been able to offer
10165-412: Was limited intermediate population, and the Caledonian Railway frustrated attempts to arrange through workings, or even through bookings, for passengers, and goods traffic was diverted away from the NBR. The NBR made use of its fortuitous connection to Silloth to ship goods onwards, but for the time being the line was of doubtful value considering its expense. It was not until the Midland Railway completed
10272-651: Was more excitement to come: the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway had for years seemed to be on the point of joining in with the Caledonian Railway, but now it seemed that it, together with the Monkland Railways , would join the NBR. The Edinburgh and Glasgow had a considerable system, including the Stirling to Dunfermline line and the Bathgate and Morningside line; moreover it was working the Glasgow, Dumbarton and Helensburgh Railway . The Monkland Railways had been formed in 1848 by
10379-429: Was not made welcome at Sheffield, but a change of policy from 1856 brought some changes. In particular from 1 August 1857 the GNR "Manchester fliers" started running. They were worked by GNR locomotives through to Sheffield, and covered the 203 miles (325 km) from King's Cross to Manchester London Road via Sheffield in 5hr 20min, soon to be cut to an even five hours. Until February 1859 the GNR paid £1,500 per annum for
10486-601: Was occupied by carriage sidings. At the end of 1852 it was considered that the company had achieved its objectives as originally conceived, with the line opened from King's Cross over both the Towns Line and the Loop, into Yorkshire. Four passenger trains ran from Kings Cross to York, one of them first class only and one parliamentary train . The directors of the company continued to seek to consolidate occupation of territory, without necessarily building new lines. The capitalisation of
10593-694: Was only one trunk railway from London to the north of England: the London and Birmingham Railway was in an uneasy alliance with the Grand Junction Railway , which in turn connected with the North Union Railway which connected to Preston and Fleetwood . Scottish travellers made use of a steamer service from Fleetwood to Ardrossan . This was the period of the Railway Mania , when myriad schemes, not all of them realistic, were promoted, and anyone could get rich quickly if they were not caught with
10700-516: Was open between Tweedmouth (opposite Berwick on the south side of the River Tweed ) and Newcastle upon Tyne. The North British Railway was able to advertise a train service from Edinburgh to London, although passengers and goods needed to be conveyed by road across the Tweed at Berwick, and across the River Tyne at Newcastle: the two river bridges were still under construction. It was not until 1850 that
10807-453: Was opened on 21 October 1850; this was extended to Shepreth on 3 August 1851. Captain Mark Huish had been appointed General Manager of the London and North Western Railway on its formation in 1846. Huish was a skilful railway diplomat, and while his methods were generally more proper than Hudson's, they were aggressive in finding means of disadvantaging competitors, such as the GNR. From
10914-500: Was referred to by the company as "King's Cross". A through train to Edinburgh was run from 2 September 1850; the train ran via Peterborough, Boston, Lincoln, Retford, Doncaster, Knottingley, Milford Junction and York, thence by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (not yet open on a direct route). Goods traffic started on the main line from 12 December 1850, and the Hitchin to Royston line
11021-403: Was reported to a Special General Meeting on 14 November 1866. Hodgson did not attend; instead he sent a letter of resignation, and blamed bad headaches for preventing him from being present. John Balfour, the former chairman, took the chair for the meeting. The Committee of enquiry submitted a lengthy report, which included the statement that there had been not merely deliberate falsification of
11128-596: Was set up in 1861 when it comprised 50 coaches; there were 63 in 1865, and 89 in 1873. On 21 May 1872, 36 coaches were allocated to services running between London (King's Cross) and Edinburgh (Waverley); 17 to services between London and Glasgow (Queen Street); and 24 to services between London and Aberdeen. A number of former ECJS vehicles remain extant on various heritage railways and at the NRM , some being over 100 years old. These include: Dining Car no. 189, built in 1894, withdrawn in 1927 and transferred to departmental use, which
11235-419: Was the decision to connect to the L&YR station at Bradford (later Bradford Exchange). The LB&HJR station was a terminus, called Adolphus Street, and the connection towards Halifax by-passed it. A new curve was built of that connecting line to allow trains to enter the L&YR terminus; this started on 7 January 1867. Train movements at the throat of the L&YR station were frequent, and congestion became
11342-407: Was the potential to enter the area between Carlisle and Hawick: in 1857 it presented a bill to Parliament to join the Hawick line. That was not successful, but Hodgson caused the NBR shareholders to vote £450,000 (equivalent to £54,224,300 in 2023) for the Carlisle extension from Hawick; such was his power of persuasion. However the bill presented to Parliament in the 1858 session was rejected, as
11449-465: Was working another 40 mi (64 km) of single track for independent companies. In 1866, comparison with the Caledonian Railway showed that company to be in better shape: In the spring of 1866, Hodgson declared a 3% dividend on ordinary shares, but the share price continued to decline. In the Autumn of 1866 Hodgson was again proposing a dividend of 3% but a new company secretary, John Walker, alerted
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