Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L & YR) was a British railway company that existed from 1847 to 1921. It was formed by the merger of several companies, of which the Manchester and Leeds Railway was the largest. The company was the only one of its time, the traffic flow from east to west or vice versa was. The L & YR owned 1650 locomotives and their stations were not more than five miles apart.
On January 1, 1922, the L & YR merged with the London and North Western Railway ( LNWR ). The Managing Director, the Secretary and the main mechanical engineer were occupied in the new company, mainly from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The LNWR after entry into force of the Railways Act 1921 part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway A year later.
The railway lines
The network consisted of several branches and alternative route segments, so you could not clearly say which was the main route of the L & YR. The routes were divided into three areas:
- Western Division Manchester to Blackpool and Fleetwood
- From Manchester to Bolton, Wigan, Southport and Liverpool; and from Manchester to Liverpool directly
- East Lancashire or Central Division from Manchester to Oldham, Bury, Rochdale, Todmorden, Accrington, Barnsley and Colne. This route also included a link to a regular service to London.
- Eastern Division Todmorden to Halifax, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Normanton (West Yorkshire ), Goole and Doncaster
While there were different routes between the Central and the Western Division, there was only one route between the Eastern and Central Division. That's why some routes crossed the Pennines between Lancashire and Yorkshire.
The locomotives
The locomotives were painted dark green ( with ornate copper alloy) and were covered by copper fireplaces. The panel was black and white. 1876, from dark green light green and the freight cars were kept in plain black. 1883 all locomotives were painted black. The panel was red from now on, and white at the Peron wagons and red in the freight cars.
Shipping
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was the largest railway company in the period before the big merger with a shipping network. 1913, the company had 26 ships in their possession and five more in the merger with the London and North Western Railway. The steamer brought goods from Liverpool to Drogheda in Ireland, from Hull to Bruges, and from Goole further to the larger European ports such as Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Rotterdam.
After the merger
Because of financial problems after the First World War, with the Railways Act 1921 around 160 railway companies in Britain combined to four companies, including the L & YR. The following train lines no longer exist today:
- From Manchester to Bury
- From Preston to Southport
- Bury and Accrington and back again
- And the Nordschleife - Blackburn to Burnley on Great Harwood and Padiham.
Most rail lines of the L & YR are now owned by Northern Rail. The formerly largest train station in the country, Manchester Victoria, which was owned by the company at that time, was modernized.
Others
The former football team of the branch in Manchester - Newton Heath, was one of the most successful football clubs in the world, Manchester United.