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Tuesday 30 Aug 2005

ARTICLE – CELEBRATING THE NORTH WEST’ S RAILWAY HERITAGE

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The 175th anniversary of the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester line – “The World’s First Passenger Railway” – is marked on September 15 2005. However, this was by no means the only historical event to take place in the North West and the region is often referred to as the birthplace of the Railway Age because it is so rich in railway heritage. The railway is often referred to as the Industrial Revolution’s greatest legacy because it had such a dramatic impact on the world we live in. It enabled citizens to travel across the country quickly and safely, and for goods to be transported at speed and in greater numbers. It helped Britain to become one of the richest countries in the world and contributed to the growth of its enormous empire. The first railway line opened between Stockton and Darlington in 1825 and it was the first public railway in the world to use steam locomotives. Between 1825 and 1833 contractors using horse-drawn coaches operated passenger trains but steam locomotives were only used to haul freight trains. However, the opening of the line between Manchester and Liverpool demonstrated the feasibility of rail travel as a viable public transport system and the Darlington line’s train company took the train traffic into it’s own hands and all trains were hauled by steam. “The World’s First Passenger Railway” The railway was commissioned when Joseph Cowlishaw, a Manchester corn merchant, Joseph Saunders, also a corn merchant from Liverpool and a wealthy estate agent and surveyor named William James formed a company, surveyed the most likely route and proposed the line was built. George Stephenson was employed to construct this new line and in 1825, the proposal was submitted to Parliament but was rejected. The following year, despite strong opposition and largely due to the intervention of leading engineers George and John Rennie, the proposal was re-surveyed and the bill was passed. George Stephenson supervised the building of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, with work starting in 1826 and was opened by the Duke of Wellington on September 15th 1830.  The railway line was a great success and in 1831 the company transported 445, 047 passengers and this quickly grew during the subsequent years. The line is the Godfather to the rail network we know today as its success demonstrated the need for other passenger lines to be built across the country and by 1860 over 10,000 miles of track had been built. It was the first full-scale inter-city railway exclusively powered by locomotives and provided a service for both passengers and freight. Its double track throughout and strict timetable formed the prototype for subsequent railways throughout the world. As a result of the new line the first station was built at Liverpool Road in Manchester and opened to the public on the line’s opening day.  It shares the title of first purpose built station with the terminus at Crown Street in Liverpool but since this structure is no longer there, it is now the world’s oldest. The station is no longer operational but is still standing and is now part of the city’s Museum of Science and Industry. The Rainhill trials October 1829 in Rainhill, 9 miles east of Liverpool, was the venue for the famous locomotive trials, which would decide the type of engine that would operate on the new railway. Entries had to meet strictly laid down specifications and had to complete tasks but the winner would win a prize of £500 (approximately £70,000 in today’s money). The trials were held over a number of weeks before approximately 12,000 spectators and with grandstands erected alongside the tracks, the atmosphere is described as similar to a race meeting. The winner was George Stephenson’s Rocket which hauled a specified load 40 times over a distance of one and three quarter miles, reaching a top speed of approximately 30 mph. The locomotive also demonstrated its ability to climb the nearby Whiston incline unaided, proving that static winding engines were unnecessary. The design proved to be the only one at the trials, which could be successfully developed further and its principles were embodied in all subsequent steam locomotives. Death of William Huskisson MP Unfortunately, the day the new line opened saw the first railway fatality when William Huskisson MP for Liverpool was struck by a train and fatally injured.  He had attended the event to show his support for the scheme and when the trains stopped to re-water at Parkside station, near Newton-le-Willows, he and other travellers, against instructions left the carriages and stood on the opposite track. Just at that moment the Rocket was seen approaching and as Huskisson tried to escape into his carriage, he fell on the track. His leg was badly mangled by the approaching train but despite being rushed for treatment, he died later that day. It was in fact George Stephenson, who rushed Huskisson for treatment on the Northumbrian engine. The station is no longer there but a memorial now stands on the spot where Huskisson was struck. Unfortunately the memorial was seriously vandalised in 1990 and the original tablet was removed and eventually transferred to the National Railway Museum in York. In early 2000 after a detailed report work began on the specialist restoration works of the memorial. In total the work took six months to complete. The memorial now has Grade II listing. Liverpool heritage Compared with Manchester, few historical buildings remain. Unfortunately the original station at Crown Street is long gone and Edge Hill is now one of the most historic railway locations in Liverpool. The original Wapping tunnels, which carried trains to Crown Street station, are now disused but trains today still pass through Olive Mount Cutting, constructed under the guidance of Stephenson. Sankey viaduct, situated 14 miles east of Liverpool is the earliest large railway viaduct and carries the Manchester to Liverpool line across the valley.  Work began on the building of the viaduct in 1828 from a design by George Stephenson. The viaduct consists of nine arches, each with a 50 ft span, which carries the track 70 ft above the valley floor.  The Grade I listed structure is still standing today and continues to carry several passenger trains plus freight trains every hour. Impact on the railway The railway changed Britain’s social habits and enabled economic growth. After the commercial success of the Manchester to Liverpool line privately funded companies laid thousands of miles of track. The peak year of railway investment was 1847, when more than a quarter of a million railway workers or ‘navvies’ were employed in this type of work. Manchester and Liverpool were already industrial centres in Britain but after the railway opened they boomed. Manchester especially grew and many people travelled there looking and expecting work - in 1801 the city had 75,000 residents but by 1851 there were 303,000. This was repeated in other cities across the country. After the railways were built the iron and steel, cotton, shipping and coal industries also boomed. Goods could now be transported quickly and cheaply to ports and then exported across the world. By the 1850s Britain was the supreme world trader and the City of London became the centre of the financial world. The value of British exports in the mid 1850s was more than seven times higher than in the 1780s, the Asian market was especially lucrative and was worth around £20 million. This dramatic change in the social and economic structure of Britain was aided and kick-started by the railways. It became the foundation for the industrial revolution and changed the British landscape forever.