123-538: George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s , became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferred on him by Sydney Smith in 1844. Hudson played a significant role in linking London to Edinburgh by rail, carrying out the first major merging of railway companies (the Midland Railway ) and developing his home city of York into
246-740: A crossing of the river at the last moment in return for access for their carts over the intended railway bridge. The Manchester station was therefore fixed at Liverpool Road in Castlefield . The first contracts for draining Chat Moss were let in June 1826. The Rennies insisted that the company should appoint a resident engineer, recommending either Josias Jessop or Thomas Telford , but would not consider George Stephenson except in an advisory capacity for locomotive design. The board rejected their terms and re-appointed Stephenson as engineer with his assistant Joseph Locke . Stephenson clashed with Vignoles, leading to
369-529: A decision that had repercussions across the country and triggered the " railway mania of the 1840s". John B. Jervis of the Delaware and Hudson Railway some years later wrote: "It must be regarded ... as opening the epoch of railways which has revolutionised the social and commercial intercourse of the civilized world". At first trains travelled at 16 miles per hour (26 km/h) carrying passengers and 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) carrying goods because of
492-466: A difficult position with falling revenues, an economic depression and little scope for future shareholder dividends. In York, the local corporation led by George Leeman were demanding money for the Lendal Bridge project and many of Hudson's allies were unseated at local elections that year. The shareholders that had so fulsomely praised Hudson for the large dividends paid now lined up against him. In
615-476: A fixed signal was used, with red and white chequered boards on 12-foot high posts being turned to face trains from one direction if another train was ahead. In 1837 the London and Birmingham Railway conducted trials using a Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph to direct signalling and in 1841 held a conference to propose a uniform national system of coloured signals to control trains, but despite these advances elsewhere
738-647: A group of local businessman formed the Leeds and Bradford Railway company, with Hudson as chairman. An Act of Parliament was obtained in July 1843, to build a line from Leeds to Bradford via Shipley as well as a link to the North Midland Railway 's terminus at Hunslet Lane, to allow connections to the south. The railway opened on 1 July 1846 and was immediately leased by the Midland Railway at very favourable terms. There
861-422: A level of profitability that would never again be attained by a British railway company. The railway was purposefully designed for the benefit of the public, carrying passengers as well as freight. Shares in the company were limited to ten per person and profits from these were limited. Although the intention had been to carry goods, the canal companies reduced their prices, leading to a price war between them and
984-408: A long way, becoming bankrupt . After losing his Sunderland seat he was forced to live abroad to avoid arrest for debt, returning only when imprisonment for debt was abolished in 1870. Hudson's name is associated with financial wrongdoing, although others were at least partially guilty of similar practices. He never named any of his co-conspirators, although many of them turned their backs on him when
1107-515: A major railway junction. He also represented Sunderland in the House of Commons . Hudson's success was built on dubious financial practices and he frequently paid shareholders out of capital rather than money the company had earned. Eventually in 1849, a series of enquiries, launched by the railways he was chairman of, exposed his methods, although many leading the enquiries had benefited from and approved of Hudson's methods when it suited them. Hudson fell
1230-408: A meeting of the various companies and informed them he intended to build a line from Darlington to south of Durham where existing lines would complete the route through to Gateshead (located on the south side of the steep Tyne Valley). In August a second meeting was held where Hudson suggested the constituent railways should offer shares in the new railway to their existing shareholders. By December 1841
1353-549: A mile down the track to stop oncoming traffic. After the opening of the Warrington and Newton Railway four policemen were placed constantly on duty at Newton Junction , at the potentially dangerous points where the two lines met. Initially a gilt arrow was used to point towards Warrington to indicate that the points were set in that direction, with a green lamp visible from the L&;MR line being used to indicate this at night. Later
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#17328519176941476-480: A month the Midland Railway shareholders had set one up and Hudson had resigned. In April 1849 the Prance report (YNMR) revealed the wrongful valuation of the shares and Hudson had to pay back £30,000. Later that month he faced a hostile ECR inquiry (formed of men who had approved everything he did in previous years), after which he resigned. On 7 May, MP Francis Charteris alleged possible bribery of MPs and another inquiry
1599-516: A new station being built in York . In April – before full opening – Hudson declared a dividend of one guinea per share which, when questioned he confirmed had been paid out of the companies' capital. Some objected but both Meek and Joseph Rowntree defended the move although in later years the latter would be foremost amongst Hudson's critics. Opening to a junction on the Leeds to Selby line took place on 29 May 1839 and to Normanton on 1 July 1840 meaning London
1722-587: A prospectus in May 1844. Early in 1845 he and Hudson had a very public argument on Derby station (about raising capital) resulting in a serious rivalry. Hudson and the Midland Railway opposed the GNR in parliament and his involvement with the Eastern Counties Railway was designed to frustrate the GNR plans and build a competing route via Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire . Eventually Hudson realised he could not prevent
1845-603: A railway from London, using a junction of the London and Birmingham Railway at Rugby , through Derby and Leeds to Newcastle – but bypassing York. In fact, since 1833, plans had been advanced for three lines – the Midland Counties Railway from Rugby to Derby, the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway from Hampton in Arden just outside Birmingham to Derby, and the North Midland Railway from there to Leeds. In 1835
1968-484: A secondary line between the two cities—the southern route, the former Cheshire Lines Committee route via Warrington Central is for the moment the busier route. This however has already started to change (from the May 2014 timetable) with new First TransPennine Express services between Newcastle/Manchester Victoria and Liverpool and between Manchester (Airport) and Scotland (via Chat Moss, Lowton and Wigan). From December 2014, with completion of electrification (see below)
2091-465: A similar way on the North Midland Railway and an accident at Romford on 18 July 1846 led the satirical magazine Punch to petition Hudson to the effect that: "by reason of the misconduct, negligence and insobriety of drivers and sundry stokers, engineers, policemen, and others, your Majesty's subjects, various and several collisions, explosions and oversettings are continually taking place on
2214-536: A system of hand-held flags was developed, with a red flag being used to stop a train, green indicating that a train should proceed at caution, blue indicating to drivers of baggage trains that there were new wagons for them to take on and a black flag being used by platelayers to indicate works on the track. Any flag waved violently, or at night a lamp waved up and down, indicated that a train should stop. Until 1844 handbells were used as emergency signals in foggy weather, though in that year small explosive boxes placed on
2337-418: A variety of collisions and derailments. On 23 December 1832, a passenger train ran into the rear of another passenger train at Rainhill. A passenger was killed and several were injured. On 17 April 1836, a passenger train was derailed whilst travelling at 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) when an axle of a carriage broke. There were no fatalities. The original Liverpool and Manchester line still operates as
2460-527: Is supplemented by an additional all-stations service between Liverpool and Earlestown, which continues to Warrington Bank Quay . Between Warrington Bank Quay, Earlestown and Manchester Piccadilly, there are additional services (at least one per hour) operated by Transport for Wales , which originate from Chester and the North Wales Coast Line . In 2009, electrification at 25 kV AC was announced. The section between Manchester and Newton, including
2583-489: The Great Western Railway and the nascent Midland began to buy up strategic failed lines to expand their network. These lines could be purchased at a fraction of their real value as given a choice between a below-value offer for their shares or the total loss of their investment, shareholders naturally chose the former. Many middle-class families on modest incomes had sunk their entire savings into new companies during
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#17328519176942706-512: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (the L&M), opened in 1830 and proved to be successful for transporting both passengers and freight. In the late 1830s and early 1840s, the British economy slowed. Interest rates rose, making it more attractive to invest money in government bonds—the main source of investment at the time—and political and social unrest deterred banks and businesses from investing
2829-634: The London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway to form the London and North Western Railway . During the Industrial Revolution , huge tonnages of raw material were imported through Liverpool and carried to the textile mills near the Pennines where water, and later steam power, enabled the production of the finished cloth, much of which was then transported back to Liverpool for export. The existing means of water transport,
2952-558: The Manchester and Leeds Railway . The line opened on 4 May 1844 and Liverpool Road station was then used for goods traffic. On 8 August 1845, the L&MR was absorbed by its principal business partner, the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), which had opened the first trunk railway from Birmingham to Warrington in 1837. The following year the GJR formed part of the London and North Western Railway . The Liverpool and Manchester Railway
3075-577: The Mersey and Irwell Navigation , the Bridgewater Canal and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal , dated from the 18th century, and were felt to be making excessive profits from the cotton trade and throttling the growth of Manchester and other towns. Goods were transported between Liverpool and the factories around Manchester either by the canals or by poor-quality roads; the turnpike between Liverpool and Manchester
3198-550: The Midland Railway 's first chairman. Royal assent was given to the merger on 10 May 1844. In 1845, as a result of work by vice-chairman John Ellis , the Midland leased the Bristol and Gloucester Railway and Birmingham and Gloucester Railway and Hudson's railways linked Gateshead in the north with Bristol in the south. In May of that year a company was formed to build a line from Manchester via Buxton and Matlock to Ambergate on
3321-487: The North Eastern Railway ). These projects all required vast amounts of capital, all of which had to be raised from private enterprise. The speculative frenzy of the mania made people much more willing to invest the large sums required for railway construction than they had been previously or would be in later years. Even many of the routes that failed when the mania collapsed became viable (if not lucrative) when each
3444-529: The Oystermouth Railway near Swansea (1807). The original promoters are usually acknowledged to be Joseph Sandars , a rich Liverpool corn merchant, and John Kennedy , owner of the largest spinning mill in Manchester. They were influenced by William James . James was a land surveyor who had made a fortune in property speculation. He advocated a national network of railways, based on what he had seen of
3567-451: The Port of Liverpool and the cotton mills and factories of Manchester and surrounding towns. Designed and built by George Stephenson , the line was financially successful, and influenced the development of railways across Britain in the 1830s. In 1845 the railway was absorbed by its principal business partner, the Grand Junction Railway (GJR), which in turn amalgamated the following year with
3690-472: The rail transportation industry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further increased the price of railway shares, until the share price collapsed. The mania reached its zenith in 1846, when 263 Acts of Parliament for setting up new railway companies were passed, with
3813-481: The 1850s and 1860s saw smaller booms in railway construction, but these never reached anywhere near the scale of the mania—partly because of more thoughtful (if still very limited) government control, partly because of more cautious investors and partly because the UK railway network was approaching maturity, with none of the 'blank canvas' available to numerous companies as in the 1840s. Unlike some stock market bubbles , there
George Hudson - Misplaced Pages Continue
3936-484: The Bank of England increased interest rates. As banks began to re-invest in bonds, the money began to flow out of railways, undercutting the boom. The share prices of railways slowed in their rise, then leveled out. As they began to fall, investment stopped virtually overnight , leaving numerous companies without funding and numerous investors with no prospect of any return on their investment. The larger railway companies such as
4059-556: The ECR took over operations on the Norfolk Railway and leased the Newmarket and Chesterford Railway from October (this had only opened the previous March). In 1848 a pamphlet called "The bubble of the age" or "The fallacy of railway investment, Railway Accounts and Railway dividends" alleged that the dividends paid by Hudson's companies were paid out of capital rather than revenue. Hudson
4182-513: The GNR from getting to York so instead the York and North Midland built a branch in 1850 from Burton Salmon to Knottingley . The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway had built a branch (opened 1846) towards Doncaster which joined the GNR at Shaftholme Junction. Practicality won the day and the GNR abandoned their plans for entry into York via a new line and settled for running rights over the other two lines in order that their services could reach York. This
4305-486: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway continued to be controlled by policemen and flags until its merger with the Grand Junction Railway in 1845. On opening the L&MR represented a significant advance in railway operation, introducing regular commercial passenger and freight services by steam locomotives with significant speed and reliability improvements from their predecessors and horse carriages. The L&MR operation
4428-405: The Midland Railway meeting of 15 February 1849 there were calls for a committee of inquiry to be set up which Hudson managed to quash by threatening to resign. Five days later at the meeting of the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway two shareholders Horatio Love and Robert Prance revealed a number of shares had been sold to the company at a value far in excess of what they were actually worth and
4551-596: The Midland line just north of Derby. Hudson was on the board of directors with Lord George Cavendish as chairman. On 4 July 1845 the Midland leased the Erewash Valley line and bought the Sheffield and Rotherham Railway on 21 July. On 4 August the Midland line from Nottingham to Lincoln opened a month after the Midland had absorbed the Leicester and Swannington Railway (the Midland's oldest constituent railway). In 1843
4674-507: The Newcastle and Darlington Junction railway was formed with Hudson as chairman with work starting in 1842. The years 1843–1847 saw the various constituent railways purchased or merged into the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YNBR) On 23 May 1844 the construction of a high-level bridge across the Tyne was authorised and on 19 June the line opened through to Gateshead. Under Hudson's chairmanship
4797-592: The Newcastle to Carlisle line and in October the Maryport & Carlisle Railway. Hudson was appointed chairman of the ailing Eastern Counties Railway in 1845 and one of his first actions was to appoint David Waddington as his vice chairman. Hudson was interested in the ECR as he felt it offered an opportunity for an alternative route from York to London although the truth was the ECR had an appalling reputation for time keeping and safety at this time; Hudson immediately ordered
4920-700: The North and Midlands by amalgamating small railway companies and rationalising routes. He was also an MP, but ultimately failed because of his fraudulent practices of, for example, paying dividends from capital . As with other bubbles , the Railway Mania became a self-promoting cycle based purely on over-optimistic speculation. As the dozens of companies formed began to operate and the simple unviability of many of them became clear, investors began to realise that railways were not all as lucrative and as easy to build as they had been led to believe. Coupled to this, in late 1845
5043-458: The Tyne was opened and the following year Monkwearmouth Dock (Hudson was chairman of the dock company) opened in 1850. In 1852 the YNMR offered to let Hudson settle his outstanding liabilities to them for £50,000, which he rejected. The YNMR directors promptly went to court with three separate cases which proved a fatal blow to Hudson. Railway Mania Railway Mania was a stock market bubble in
George Hudson - Misplaced Pages Continue
5166-575: The York and Newcastle opened the Richmond branch on 11 September 1846 and took over the Hartlepool Dock & Railway on 12 October. It also leased the Clarence Railway from this time. The Durham and Sunderland Railway was absorbed 1 January 1847 and on 1 March the first section of the Newcastle and Berwick line opened with the through route to Tweedmouth opening on 1 July. On 1 August Hudson leased
5289-500: The York railway committee became the York and North Midland Railway (YNMR) and at Hudson's suggestion the new line would join the North Midland at Normanton a few miles south-east of Leeds. The YNMR received its Act of Parliament on 21 June 1836. and at its first official meeting Hudson was elected Chairman with other officers including James Meek , James Richardson and Richard Nicholson (Hudson's brother-in-law). At this time there
5412-511: The allegation that Hudson had used their money to build a private station at Londesborough Park on the Market Weighton line. As 1849 progressed, more was unearthed and by the autumn Hudson was being asked to repay £750,000. He sold Londesborough Park and then paid £200,000 off to the YNBR (chairman George Leeman) rather than face being taken to court. Despite this, in 1849 the railway bridge across
5535-425: The beneficiary was Hudson. This time the call for a committee of inquiry to be set up was successful. The Eastern Counties Railway Annual General Meeting was on 28 February and Hudson decided not to attend. Vice chair David Waddington faced the wrath of the shareholders (who had received a very small dividend) and promptly blamed the absent Hudson. Another committee of inquiry was set up under William Cash and within
5658-459: The bubble burst. George Hudson was born in Howsham , a small village about 12 miles from York , to John and Elizabeth Hudson on 10 March 1800. His mother died at the age of 38 in 1806 when George was six and his father two years later in 1808. He was brought up by older brothers William and John and after a cursory education he left Howsham at age 15. Beaumont (2003) suggests that this may have been
5781-432: The bubble collapsed and the companies called in the remainder of their due payments. The British government promoted an almost totally ' laissez-faire ' system of non-regulation in the railways. Companies had to submit a bill to Parliament to gain the right to acquire land for the line, which required the route of the proposed railway to be approved, but there were no limits on the number of companies and no real checks on
5904-420: The cable haulage was indisputable but the steam locomotive was still untried. The L&MR had sought to de-emphasise the use of steam locomotives during the passage of the bill, the public were alarmed at the idea of monstrous machines which, if they did not explode, would fill the countryside with noxious fumes. Attention was turning towards steam road carriages, such as those of Goldsworthy Gurney's and there
6027-436: The city being George Carr Glyn . In 1833 York businessmen formed a railway committee. The initial idea of this was to link York to Leeds to enable the city to enjoy cheaper coal and emulate the industrial success being enjoyed by Leeds, Bradford and other West Yorkshire towns. Hudson was treasurer of this group and subsequently subscribed for 500 shares becoming the largest shareholder. They retained John Rennie to survey
6150-537: The development of colliery lines and locomotive technology in the north of England. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company was founded on 20 May 1824. It was established by Henry Booth , who became its secretary and treasurer, along with merchants from Liverpool and Manchester . Charles Lawrence was the Chairman, Lister Ellis, Robert Gladstone, John Moss and Joseph Sandars were the Deputy Chairmen. A bill
6273-543: The drainage ditches either side of the railway. The railway over Chat Moss was completed by the end of 1829. On 28 December, the Rocket travelled over the line carrying 40 passengers and crossed the Moss in 17 minutes, averaging 17 miles per hour (27 km/h). In April the following year, a test train carrying a 45-ton load crossed the moss at 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) without incident. The line now supports locomotives 25 times
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#17328519176946396-600: The early days of the L&MR meant accidents were not uncommon. All were investigated by the L&MR board or Management Committee. Fatal accidents to travelling passengers were rare, the first two years seeing one for over a million passengers carried, though injuries were more commonplace. These were often caused by passengers failing to heed company regulations and advice. Staff accidents were more commonplace, with some staff preparing to take what later would be considered to be inadvisable risks and disregarding regulations. Locomotives, wagons and infrastructure were involved in
6519-414: The financial viability of a line. Anyone could form a company, gain investment and submit a bill to Parliament. Since many Members of Parliament (MPs) were heavy investors in such schemes, it was rare for a bill to not pass during the peak of the mania in 1846, although Parliament did reject schemes that were blatantly misleading or impossible to construct. Magnates like George Hudson developed routes in
6642-481: The firm became Nicholson and Hudson. By 1827 the company was the largest business in York. In 1827, his great-uncle Matthew Botrill fell ill and Hudson attended at his bedside. In thanks for this, the old man made a will leaving him his fortune of £30,000 (equivalent to £3,280,554 in 2023). In later years when exiled in France, Hudson acknowledged "it was the very worst thing that could have happened to me. It let me into
6765-457: The first to be fully timetabled ; and the first to carry mail . Trains were hauled by company steam locomotives between the two towns, though private wagons and carriages were allowed. Cable haulage of freight trains was down the steeply-graded 1.26-mile (2.03 km) Wapping Tunnel to Liverpool Docks from Edge Hill junction. The railway was primarily built to provide faster transport of raw materials, finished goods, and passengers between
6888-432: The formation of new business ventures and, importantly, had limited joint stock companies to a maximum of five separate investors. With these limits removed, anyone could invest money (and hopefully earn a return) on a new company, and railways were heavily promoted as a foolproof venture. New media such as newspapers and the emergence of the modern stock market made it easy for companies to promote themselves and provide
7011-581: The growing rail network. Although Fairbairn tested the girders before installation, not all were so well designed, and there were many examples of catastrophic failure in the years to come, resulting in the Dee bridge disaster of 1847 and culminating in the Tay Bridge disaster of 1879. The line was laid using 15-foot (4.6 m) fish-belly rails at 35 lb/yd (17 kg/m), laid either on stone blocks or, at Chat Moss, wooden sleepers . The physical work
7134-557: The huge sums of money required to build railways; the L&M cost £637,000 (£55,210,000 adjusted for 2015). By the mid-1840s, the economy was improving and the manufacturing industries were once again growing. The Bank of England cut interest rates, making government bonds less attractive investments, and existing railway companies' shares began to boom as they moved ever-increasing amounts of cargo and people, making people willing to invest in new railways. Crucially, there were more investors in British business. The Industrial Revolution
7257-487: The installation and deployment of a vast amount of fibre-optic telecommunications infrastructure, spurred on from the realisation that the same railway rights-of-way could make affordable conduits for fibre optics. Yet another boom occurred in the period 1995–2000, during the development of the Internet , when many companies were established to promote new services on the growing network. The dot-com bubble collapsed in 2000, and
7380-409: The latter resigning as resident Surveyor. The line was 31-mile (50 km) long. Management was split into three sections. The western end was run by Locke, the middle section by William Allcard and the eastern section including Chat Moss , by John Dixon. The track began at the 2,250-yard (2.06 km) Wapping Tunnel beneath Liverpool from the south end of Liverpool Docks to Edge Hill . It
7503-502: The levels of the track and how he calculated the cost of major structures such as the Irwell Viaduct. The bill was thrown out on 31 May. In place of George Stephenson, the railway promoters appointed George and John Rennie as engineers, who chose Charles Blacker Vignoles as their surveyor. They set out to placate the canal interests and had the good fortune to approach the marquess directly through their counsel, W. G. Adam, who
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#17328519176947626-405: The limitations of the track. Drivers could, and did, travel more quickly, but were reprimanded: it was found that excessive speeds forced apart the light rails, which were set onto individual stone blocks without cross-ties. In 1837 the original fish-belly parallel rail of 50 pounds per yard (24.8 kg/m), on sleepers started to be replaced. The railway directors realised that Crown Street
7749-539: The line and Hudson accompanied him, learning the practicalities of railway construction and of dealing with landowners. In spite of the success of the locomotive powered Liverpool and Manchester Railway on the other side of the Pennines , Rennie produced plans for a horse-drawn line (in 1834), and matters fell into abeyance. In the summer of 1834 Hudson met George Stephenson by chance in Whitby and they became friends and business associates. He learnt of Stephenson's dream of
7872-413: The line began to be used instead. Trains were controlled on a time interval basis: policemen signalled for a train to stop if less than ten minutes had elapsed since a previous train had passed; the signal to proceed at caution was given if more than ten minutes but less than seventeen minutes had passed; otherwise the all clear signal was given. If a train broke down on the line, the policeman had to run
7995-466: The line from Spofforth to Harrogate was completed. On 1 August the line linking Selby and Market Weighton was opened to traffic although it was a number of years before the line to Beverley was completed. A direct line to Leeds was also planned but following Hudson's downfall this was abandoned. Authorised in 1846 and abandoned in 1849 the only tangible evidence of this line is a railway viaduct built at Tadcaster . At this time, of course, each railway
8118-409: The line was carried out by James in 1822. The route was roughly the same as what was built, but the committee were unaware of exactly what land had been surveyed. James subsequently declared bankruptcy and was imprisoned that November. The committee lost confidence in his ability to plan and build the line and, in June 1824, George Stephenson was appointed principal engineer. As well as objections to
8241-457: The lines of other companies. In 1842 the North Midland Railway was in severe financial difficulty due to its high construction costs down to George Stephenson's insistence that the ruling gradient should be no more than 1 in 300. As a shareholder Hudson took over the inquiry into the situation and devised a scheme to radically reduce operating costs by reducing staff numbers and wages. Experienced staff were laid off and replaced and performance on
8364-431: The mania, and they lost everything when the speculation collapsed. The boom-and-bust cycle of early-industrial Britain was still in effect, and the boom that had created the conditions for Railway Mania began to cool and then a decline set in. The number of new railway companies fell away to almost nothing in the late 1840s and early 1850s, with the only new lines constructed being by the large companies. Economic upturns in
8487-470: The means for the general public to invest. Shares could be purchased for a 10% deposit, with the railway company holding the right to call in the remainder at any time. The railways were so heavily promoted as a foolproof venture that thousands of investors on modest incomes bought large numbers of shares, whilst only being able to afford the deposit. Many families invested their entire savings in prospective railway companies—and many of those lost everything when
8610-603: The meeting where this line was first mooted the Quaker Joseph Rowntree sounded a note of caution about the company accounts which Hudson glossed over. On 1 July 1845 the YNMR leased the Hull and Selby Railway and on 1 October that year the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway became joint lessee. The following year lines from Seamer to Filey and Hull to Bridlington were completed opening on 5 October and 6 October respectively. The link between Filey and Bridlington
8733-434: The much more extensive telecoms bubble in 2002 with the bankruptcies of Enron , WorldCom , Global Crossing and QWest, although some platform companies such as Google and Amazon grew and prospered, diversifying into backbone fibre networks and cloud computing services. Liverpool and Manchester Railway Manchester Line & stations shown as of 1845 The Liverpool and Manchester Railway ( L&MR )
8856-512: The other. Even in the 21st century, adjacent tracks on British railways tend to be laid closer together than elsewhere. The line opened on 15 September 1830 with termini at Manchester, Liverpool Road (now part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester ) and Liverpool Crown Street . The festivities of the opening day were marred when William Huskisson , the Member of Parliament for Liverpool,
8979-460: The pattern for European practice and practice in many other places. Even before the L&MR opened, connecting and other lines were planned, authorised or under construction, such as the Bolton and Leigh Railway . The best-known accident associated with the L&MR was the death of William Huskisson , hit by the locomotive Rocket on the opening day. Thereafter the pioneering and evolving nature of
9102-416: The payment of a generous dividend for the shareholders. Later investigation showed that while Hudson decided the levels of dividends to be paid to shareholders it was Waddington's job to doctor the traffic accounts to make it appear legally earned. Waddington also siphoned off £8,000 of the ECR's money into a parliamentary slush fund which strained relations between Hudson and Waddington. Hudson cut costs in
9225-525: The previous bill. From Huyton the route ran directly east through Parr Moss , Newton , Chat Moss and Eccles . In Liverpool, the route included a 1.25-mile (2.01 km) tunnel from Edge Hill to the docks, avoiding crossing any streets at ground level. It was intended to place the Manchester terminus on the Salford side of the River Irwell, but the Mersey and Irwell Navigation withdrew their opposition to
9348-510: The proposed route by Lords Sefton and Derby, Robert Haldane Bradshaw , a trustee of the Duke of Bridgewater 's estate at Worsley , refused any access to land owned by the Bridgewater Trustees and Stephenson had difficulty producing a satisfactory survey of the proposed route and accepted James' original plans with spot checks. The survey was presented to Parliament on 8 February 1825, but
9471-413: The proposed routes totalling 9,500 miles (15,300 km). About a third of the railways authorised were never built—the companies either collapsed because of poor financial planning, were bought out by larger competitors before they could build their line, or turned out to be fraudulent enterprises to channel investors' money into other businesses. The world's first recognizably modern inter-city railway,
9594-500: The railway suffered. On 12 January 1843 there was a serious accident at Barnsley with a single fatality. The following public outcry demanded changes to restore the NMR to its former operating efficiency. In his first six months Hudson managed to reduce operating expenses by £11,530 and increase revenue by £2,500. Like the NMR two of the other companies, the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway , that made up
9717-415: The railway. The line did not start carrying goods until December, when the first of some more powerful engines, Planet , was delivered. The line's success in carrying passengers was universally acclaimed. The experience at Rainhill had shown that unprecedented speed could be achieved and travelling by rail was cheaper and more comfortable than travel by road. The company concentrated on passenger travel,
9840-562: The railways and all my misfortunes since." Hudson became a prominent member of the York Board of Health and when cholera visited the city in 1832 Hudson distinguished himself as a spirited public servant visiting the sick and reporting on their welfare". From being a Methodist and a Dissenter , Hudson changed his allegiance to become a High Church Tory and became treasurer of the York Conservative Party in 1832. He supported
9963-410: The railways, your Majesty's dominion" During Hudson's time as chairman the ECR network expanded with the line from Ely North Junction to Peterborough opening on 14 January 1847 and from March to Wisbech on 3 May 1847. Later that year, on 17 August, the line from Cambridge to St Ives extending to March on 1 February 1848. On 2 October 1848 the line linking Maldon and Braintree opened. Also in 1848
10086-597: The result of the slump affecting agriculture in 1815, but there was also a payment of 12 shillings and 6 pence recorded in the Howsham poor book as being "received of George Hudson for bastardry". Hudson was apprenticed to Bell and Nicholson, a firm of drapers in College Street , York. He finished his apprenticeship in 1820, was taken on as a tradesman, and given a share in the business early in 1821. On 17 July that year he married Nicholson's daughter Elizabeth. When Bell retired,
10209-592: The route from London to York were in serious financial difficulty as they had fought a long " war of attrition " over fares. Hudson convinced the shareholders in a meeting in August 1843 that a merger between the three railways would save £325,000 per year operating costs and yield shareholder dividends of 5%. The merger was agreed in September 1843 despite some opposition from the Midland Counties directors, and Hudson became
10332-528: The same as the track gauge itself, so that it would be possible to operate trains with unusually wide loads up the middle during quiet times. Stephenson was criticised for this decision; it was later decided that the tracks were too close together, restricting the width of the trains, so the gap between tracks ( track centres ) was widened. The narrowness of the gap contributed to the first fatality, that of William Huskisson , and also made it dangerous to perform maintenance on one track while trains were operating on
10455-506: The scheme had stalled at Darlington having used up all the capital. The Board of Trade issued a report in 1841 favouring the West Coast route linking Carlisle and Lancaster rather than the East Coast although the report stated that "should parties be found to construct the line from Darlington to Edinburgh then the western route ought to be abandoned for the present". In April Hudson called
10578-649: The two routes between Manchester and Liverpool will have much the same frequency of service. On the original route, a new (May 2014) hourly First TransPennine Express non-stop service runs between Manchester Victoria and Liverpool (from/to) Newcastle), an hourly fast service is operated by Northern Rail , from Liverpool to Manchester, usually calling at Wavertree Technology Park , St Helens Junction , Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Oxford Road , and continuing via Manchester Piccadilly to Manchester Airport . Northern also operates an hourly service calling at all stations from Liverpool Lime Street to Manchester Victoria. This
10701-424: The two towns closed shortly after the railway opened as it was impossible to compete. Within a few weeks of the line opening, it ran its first excursion trains and carried the world's first railway mail carriages; by the summer of 1831, it was carrying special trains to the races. The railway was a financial success, paying investors an average annual dividend of 9.5% over the 15 years of its independent existence:
10824-550: The unsuccessful candidature of John Henry Lowther in the general election of 1832 and again in an 1833 bye-election. Although York was primarily a Whig city the influence Hudson had on the campaigns was being noticed. In 1833 it became possible for joint stock country banks to conduct their business in the City of London and he took a leading part in the establishment of the York Union Banking Company with its agent in
10947-509: The use of locomotives on this part of the line. To determine whether and which locomotives would be suitable, in October 1829 the directors organised a public competition, known as the Rainhill trials , which involved a run along a 1 mile (1.6 km) stretch of track. Ten locomotives were entered for the trials, but on the day of the competition only five were available to compete: Rocket , designed by George Stephenson and his son, Robert ,
11070-577: The vicarage. Thus he became the world's first widely reported railway passenger fatality. The somewhat subdued party proceeded to Manchester, where, the Duke being deeply unpopular with the weavers and mill workers, they were given a lively reception, and returned to Liverpool without alighting. A grand reception and banquet had been prepared for their arrival. The L&MR was successful and popular, and reduced journey times between Liverpool and Manchester to two hours. Most stage coach companies operating between
11193-615: The weight of the Rocket . The railway needed 64 bridges and viaducts, all built of brick or masonry , with one exception: the Water Street bridge at the Manchester terminus. A cast iron beam girder bridge was built to save headway in the street below. It was designed by William Fairbairn and Eaton Hodgkinson , and cast locally at their factory in Ancoats . It is important because cast iron girders became an important structural material for
11316-417: Was a division in the L&MR board between those who supported Stephenson's "loco-motive" and those who favoured cable haulage, the latter supported by the opinion of the engineer, John Rastrick . Stephenson was not averse to cable haulage—he continued to build such lines where he felt it appropriate—but knew its main disadvantage, that any breakdown anywhere would paralyse the whole line. The line's gradient
11439-580: Was a net tangible result from all the investment: a vast expansion of the British railway system , though perhaps at an inflated cost. Amongst the high number of impractical, overambitious and downright fraudulent schemes promoted during the mania were a good number of practical trunk routes (most notably the initial part of the Great Northern Railway and the trans-Pennine Woodhead route ) and important freight lines (such as large parts of what would become
11562-433: Was a relative of one of the trustees, and the support of William Huskisson who knew the marquess personally. Implacable opposition to the line changed to financial support. The second bill received royal assent as the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Act 1826 ( 7 Geo. 4 . c. xlix) on 5 May 1826. The railway route ran on a significantly different alignment, south of Stephenson's, avoiding properties owned by opponents of
11685-590: Was a separate company with its own infrastructure, rolling stock, even stations. This meant that, at each stage of the journey it was necessary to change trains and buy a new ticket. With his powerful influence and financial interest in so many railways, it was Hudson who played a great part in setting up the Railway Clearing House in 1842. This was an organisation set up to manage the allocation of revenue collected by pre-grouping railway companies of fares and charges paid for passengers and goods travelling over
11808-486: Was also a move that dissatisfied many Midland Railway shareholders. Initial services between York and London ran via Doncaster, Retford, Lincoln and Boston with the line through Grantham to Peterborough opening in 1852. As mentioned above the other early railway in York was the Great North of England Railway who had planned to build a railway through to Newcastle and onto Scotland. By 1841 their plans had foundered and
11931-456: Was also another railway being planned which would link York to Darlington called the Great North of England Railway . Its promoters hoped that it would be part of an East Coast route to Scotland and while initially favouring Leeds and York they eventually chose York as their southernmost destination although Hudson had little to do with this decision. Work started on the YNMR line in April 1837 with
12054-635: Was attacked by Midland shareholder and Liverpool shipowner J. H. Brankner in February 1849 over his fight with the GNR. This was then exacerbated by Hudson's agreement with the Great Northern to allow then to use the Burton Salmon route (see above) which many felt effectively sold them out. Hudson had been borrowing money at a high interest rate to keep some of his companies afloat. A payment of £400,000 had to be made in 1849; many of these companies were left in
12177-576: Was carried out by a large team of men, known as "navvies", using hand tools. The most productive teams could move up to 20,000 tonnes of earth in a day and were well paid. Nevertheless, the work was dangerous and several deaths were recorded. In 1829 adhesion-worked locomotives were not reliable. The experience on the Stockton and Darlington Railway was well-publicised, and a section of the Hetton colliery railway had been converted to cable haulage. The success of
12300-501: Was completed on 20 October 1847. On 20 August 1847 the YNMR line to Harrogate opened between Church Fenton and Spofforth and on 4 October the line from York to Market Weighton was completed. It is worth noting that Hudson had purchased the Londesborough Hall estate in September 1845 to partly to prevent the scheme of one of his bitter enemies George Leeman succeeding. On 8 May 1848 Hull Paragon station opened and on 20 July
12423-489: Was creating a new, increasingly affluent middle class . While earlier business ventures had relied on a small number of banks , businessmen and wealthy aristocrats for investment, a prospective railway company also had a large, literate section of population with savings to invest. In 1825 the government had repealed the Bubble Act , brought in during the near-disastrous South Sea Bubble of 1720, which had put close limits on
12546-729: Was derived from a George Stephenson recommendation that was accepted at an L&MR board meeting in July 1826: "Resolved that the width of the Wagon Way between the rails to be the same as the Darlington Road , namely 4 feet 8 inches clear, inside the rails". This enabled the Stephensons to test their locomotives on the lines around Newcastle on Tyne before shipment to Lancashire. The L&MR used left hand running on double track, following practice on British roads. The form of couplings using buffers, hooks and chains, and their dimensions, set
12669-496: Was described as "crooked and rough" with an "infamous" surface. Road accidents were frequent, including waggons and coaches overturning, which made goods traffic problematic. The proposed railway was intended to achieve cheap transport of raw materials, finished goods and passengers between the Port of Liverpool and east Lancashire , in the port's hinterland . There was support for the railway from both Liverpool and London but Manchester
12792-476: Was designed to concentrate the steep grades in three places, at either side of Rainhill at 1 in 96 and down to the docks at Liverpool at 1 in 50 ) and make the rest of the line very gently graded, no further than 1 in 880. When the line opened, the passenger section from Edge Hill to Crown Street railway station was cable hauled, as was the section through the Wapping Tunnel , as the act of Parliament forbade
12915-571: Was drafted in 1825 to Parliament, which included a 1-inch to the mile map of the railway's route. The first bill was rejected but the second passed as the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Act 1826 ( 7 Geo. 4 . c. xlix) in May the following year. In Liverpool 172 people bought 1,979 shares, in London 96 took 844, Manchester 15 with 124, 24 others with 286. The Marquess of Stafford held 1,000, making 308 shareholders with 4,233 shares. The first survey for
13038-428: Was easy for passengers to get down and stretch their legs, despite being instructed not to, particularly as there was an interval between the delayed passing trains. Huskisson decided to alight and stroll alongside the train, and on spotting the Duke decided to start a conversation. The Rocket was spotted heading in the opposite direction as people shouted at Huskisson to get back on the train. The Austrian ambassador
13161-470: Was found impossible to drain the bog and so the engineers used a design from Robert Stannard, steward for William Roscoe , that used wrought iron rails supported by timber in a herring bone layout. About 70,000 cubic feet (2,000 m ) of spoil was dropped into the bog; at Blackpool Hole, a contractor tipped soil into the bog for three months without finding the bottom. The line was supported by empty tar barrels sealed with clay and laid end to end across
13284-443: Was in the hands of the larger company that had purchased it. A total of 6,220 miles (10,010 km) of railway line were built as a result of projects authorised between 1844 and 1846—by comparison, the total route mileage of the modern UK railway network is around 11,000 miles (18,000 km). Railway and Canal Mania can be compared with a similar mania in the 1990s in the stock of telecom companies . The telecom mania resulted in
13407-472: Was killed. The southern line was reserved for the special opening train, drawn by the locomotive Northumbrian conveying the Duke of Wellington , the Prime Minister, in an ornamental carriage, together with distinguished guests in other carriages. When the train stopped for water at Parkside , near Newton-le-Willows , it was intended that the other trains should pass in review on the northern line. It
13530-570: Was largely indifferent and opposition came from the canal operators and the two local landowners, the Earl of Derby and the Earl of Sefton , over whose land the railway would cross. The proposed Liverpool and Manchester Railway was to be one of the earliest land-based public transport systems not using animal traction power. Before then, public railways had been horse-drawn, including the Lake Lock Rail Road (1796), Surrey Iron Railway (1801) and
13653-405: Was now linked by rail to York. On 9 November 1840 the YNMR leased the Leeds and Selby Railway for £17,000 per year and Hudson promptly closed the line so passengers had to use his route via Castleford . Other lines built by the YNMR under Hudson's chairmanship included those to Pickering and Scarborough both of which were authorised on 4 July 1844. The then isolated Whitby – Pickering Railway
13776-417: Was pulled back into the carriage, but Huskisson panicked. He tried to climb into the carriage, but grabbed the open door, which swung back, causing him to lose his grip. He fell between the tracks and the Rocket ran over his leg, shattering it. He is reported to have said, "I have met my death—God forgive me!" The Northumbrian was detached from the Duke's train and rushed him to Eccles , where he died in
13899-472: Was purchased by the YNMR on 30 June 1845 and when the York to Pickering line opened on 8 July 1845 there was a through route from York to Whitby. This was a logical choice for Hudson as he had property in Whitby and regarded the harbour as promising for development. The route to Scarborough – which Hudson declared would become the " Brighton of the north" – opened on the same day. It is however worth noting that at
14022-419: Was shown to be inaccurate. Francis Giles suggested that putting the railway through Chat Moss was a serious error and the total cost of the line would be around £200,000 instead of the £40,000 quoted by Stephenson. Stephenson was cross examined by the opposing counsel led by Edward Hall Alderson and his lack of suitable figures and understanding of the work came to light. When asked, he was unable to specify
14145-790: Was some concern here as Hudson was benefiting from this arrangement which he had initiated. Beaumont suggests it was this transaction that was where concerns started to grow about Hudson's methods. Later in 1846 the Midland line from Syston (north of Leicester) to Melton Mowbray was opened on 2 September and then a month later the Stamford to Peterborough section opened. It opened as a through route on 20 March 1848. Other Midland lines opened under Hudson's chairmanship included Skipton-Colne, Coalville-Burton and Nottingham to Kirkby (all opening 2 October 1849). Other LBR extensions included Shipley to Keighley on 16 March to Skipton on 8 September 1847. One quote often attributed (incorrectly) to George Hudson
14268-416: Was started. Hudson addressed parliament on 17 May but the damage was done. However, although Hudson was being scapegoated, others did not always escape. William Cash, who had called for and chaired the ECR enquiry, was revealed by that enquiry to be chair of a committee designed to frustrate one of their competitors. On 17 May Hudson resigned from the YNMR to avoid sacking and a committee was set up to look at
14391-485: Was studied by other upcoming railway companies as a model to aspire to. More recently some have claimed the operation was the first Inter-city railway, though that branding was not introduced until many years later and neither Manchester or Liverpool achieved city status until 1853 and 1880 respectively, nor would the distance between them qualify as long-haul . The subsequently widely adopted gauge of 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm )
14514-419: Was that he would make all railways come to York. Whereas there is no doubt he was instrumental in the fact that many railways did come to York he opposed the Great Northern's attempt to build a railway to York as it meant that this would offer a better through route to London. Edmund Denison MP was keen to promote a faster link from London to York via Doncaster and formed the London and York Railway issuing
14637-511: Was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively on locomotives driven by steam power , with no horse-drawn traffic permitted at any time; the first to be entirely double track throughout its length; the first to have a true signalling system;
14760-402: Was the first railway to have a system of signalling . This was undertaken by policemen, who were stationed along the line at distances of a mile or less. Initially these policemen signalled that the line was clear by standing straight with their arms outstretched. If the policeman was not present, or was standing at ease, this indicated that there was an obstruction on the line ahead. Gradually
14883-405: Was the only one to successfully complete the journey and, consequently, Robert Stephenson and Company were awarded the locomotive contract. The line was built to 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ( 1,435 mm ) ( standard gauge ) and double track . A decision had to be made about how far apart the two tracks should be. It was decided to make the space between the separate tracks
15006-479: Was the world's first tunnel to be bored under a metropolis. Following this was a 2-mile (3 km) long cutting up to 70 feet (21 m) deep through rock at Olive Mount , and a 712-foot (217 m) nine-arch viaduct, each arch of 50 feet (15 m) span and around 60 feet (18 m) high) over the Sankey Brook valley. The railway included the 4 + 3 ⁄ 4 -mile (7.6 km) crossing of Chat Moss. It
15129-482: Was too far away from the centre of Liverpool to be practical, and decided in 1831 to construct a new terminus at Lime Street . The tunnel from Edge Hill to Lime Street was completed in January 1835 and opened the following year. The station opened on 15 August 1836 before it had been completed. On 30 July 1842, work started to extend the line from Ordsall Lane to a new station at Hunts Bank in Manchester that also served
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