RARE Original Train Ticket
London and North Western Railroad
First Class Insurance Ticket
From London to Euston Station
dated 1878 - Perforated
For offer, an ORIGINAL piece of ephemera. Very Rare - Possibly the only one in existence. Fresh from an attic estate in Upstate / Western NY. Never offered on the market until now. Vintage, Old, antique, Original - NOT a Reproduction - Guaranteed !! This came with other items from the 1870s. Unusual and rare insurance ticket. E.O. St'n - L&NWR / L&NWRR. Dated perforated / pinhols - at left edge. In fairly good condition. Heavy crease down center, and wear - a couple other creases. Please see photos for details. If you collect British advertisement ad, Britain transportation related, 19th century Victorian advertising, rail history, etc., this is one you will not see again soon. A nice piece for your paper or ephemera collection. Perhaps some genealogy research information as well. Combine shipping on multiple bid wins! 246
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the world.
In 1923 it became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway, and, in 1948, the London Midland Region of British Railways: the LNWR is effectively an ancestor of today's West Coast Main Line.
History
LNWR office on The Quay, Waterford, Ireland, 1910
LNWR's initials carved in Portland Stone on one of Euston Station's entrance lodges
The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. This move was prompted in part by the Great Western Railway's plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham.[1] The company initially had a network of approximately 350 miles (560 km),[1] connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester.
The headquarters were at Euston railway station. As traffic increased it was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall, designed by Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It was 126 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (19 m) wide and 64 ft (20 m) high and cost £150,000[2] (equivalent to £14,030,000 in 2015).[3] The station stood on Drummond Street.[4] Further expansion resulted in two additional platforms in the 1870s, and four more in the 1890s, bringing the total to 15.[5]
The LNWR described itself as the Premier Line. This was justified as it included the pioneering Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830, and the original LNWR main line linking London, Birmingham and Lancashire had been the first big railway in Britain, opened throughout in 1838. As the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other railway company of its era.[1]
With the Grand Union Railway acquisition of the North Union Railway in 1846, the London and North Western Railway operated as far north as Preston.[6] In 1859 the London and North Western Railway amalgamated with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway
When the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway, amalgamated with Lancaster and Carlisle Railway in 1859 and this combined enterprise was leased to the London and North Western Railway, the company now had a direct route from London to Carlisle.[7]
In 1858 they merged with the Chester and Holyhead Railway and became responsible for the lucrative Irish Mail trains via the North Wales Main Line to Holyhead and handled the Irish Mail.[8]
On 1 February 1859 the company launched the limited mail service, which was only allowed to take three passenger coaches, one each for Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth. The Postmaster General was always willing to allow a fourth coach provided the increased weight did not cause time to be lost in running. The train was timed to leave Euston at 20.30 and operated until the GPO instituted its own post train, wholly of Post Office vehicles, in 1885.[9] On 1 October 1873 the first sleeping carriage ran between Euston and Glasgow, attached to the limited mail. It ran three nights a week in each direction. On 1 February 1874 a second carriage was provided and the service ran every night.[9]
In 1860 the company pioneered the use of the water trough designed by John Ramsbottom.[10][11] It was introduced on a section of level track at Mochdre, between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay.[9]
The erecting shop at the Crewe Locomotive Works ca. 1890
The company inherited a number of manufacturing facilities from the companies with which it merged, but these were consolidated, and in 1862 locomotive construction and maintenance was done at the Crewe Locomotive Works, carriage building was done at Wolverton and wagon building was concentrated at Earlestown.
At the core of the LNWR system was the main line network connecting London Euston with the major cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, and (through co-operation with the Caledonian Railway) Edinburgh and Glasgow. This route is today known as the West Coast Main Line. A ferry service also linked Holyhead to Greenore in County Louth, where the LNWR owned the 26-mile Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway, which connected to other lines of the Irish mainline network at Dundalk and Newry.[12]
The LNWR also had a main line connecting Liverpool and Manchester with Leeds, and secondary routes extending to Nottingham, Derby, Peterborough and South Wales.[13]
At its peak just before World War I, it ran a route mileage of more than 1,500 miles, and employed 111,000 people. In 1913 the company achieved a total revenue of £17,219,060 (equivalent to £1,528,040,000 in 2015)[3] with working expenses of £11,322,164[14] (equivalent to £1,004,740,000 in 2015).[3]
On 1 January 1922, one year before it amalgamated with other railways to create the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the LNWR amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and at the same time absorbed the North London Railway, the Dearne Valley Railway and the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company. With this, the LNWR achieved a route mileage (including joint lines, and lines leased or worked) of 2,707.88 miles (4,357.91 km).[15][16]
Successors
The LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish (LMS) railway when the railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923. Ex-LNWR lines formed the core of the LMS's Western Division.
Nationalisation followed in 1948, with the English and Welsh lines of the LMS becoming the London Midland Region of British Railways. Some former LNWR routes were subsequently closed, notably the lines running East to West across the Midlands (e.g. Peterborough to Northampton and Cambridge to Oxford), but others were developed as part of the Inter City network, notably the main lines from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Carlisle, collectively known in the modern era as the West Coast Main Line. These were electrified in the 1960s and 1970s, and further upgraded in the 1990s and 2000s, with trains now running at up to 125 mph. Other LNWR lines survive as part of commuter networks around major cities such as Birmingham and Manchester.
Acquisitions
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Anglesey Central Railway, 1876
Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway (partnership with the Midland Railway) 1873
Aylesbury Railway,[17] 1846
Bedford and Cambridge Railway, 1865
Birkenhead Railway, 1861 (jointly with GWR)
Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stour Valley Railway, 1847 (the Stour Valley Line)
Brynmawr and Blaenavon Railway, 1869
Brynmawr and Western Valleys Railway, 1902 (jointly with GWR)
Buckinghamshire Railway,[18] 1847
Cannock Chase Railway, 1863
Cannock Mineral Railway, 1869
Carnarvon and Llanberis Railway, 1870
Carnarvonshire Railway, 1870
Central Wales Railway, 1868
Central Wales and Carmarthen Junction Railway, 1891
Central Wales Extension Railway, 1868
Chester and Holyhead Railway, 1858
Cockermouth and Workington Railway, 1866
Conway and Llanrwst Railway, 1867
Cromford and High Peak Railway, 1862
Denbigh, Ruthin and Corwen Railway, 1879
Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway, 1869
Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway, 1867 (jointly with Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)
Hampstead Junction Railway, 1867
Harrow and Stanmore Railway, 1899
Huddersfield and Manchester Railway and Canal, 1847
Knighton Railway, 1863
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, 1921
Lancashire Union Railway, 1883 (jointly with Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, 1859
Leeds, Dewsbury and Manchester Railway, 1847
Ludlow and Clee Hill Railway, 1892 (jointly with GWR)
Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway, 1849 (jointly with Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway)
Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway, 1862
Nerquis Railway, 1866
Newport Pagnell Railway, 1875
North and South Western Junction Railway, 1871 (jointly with the Midland Railway and the North London Railway)
North London Railway, 1909 (NLR retained own Board)
Northampton and Peterborough Railway, 1846
Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Railway, 1862 (jointly with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway)
Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Railway, 1885 (jointly with Midland Railway, Caledonian Railway and Glasgow and South Western Railway)
Preston and Wyre Railway, 1847 (jointly with Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)
Rugby and Leamington Railway, 1848
Rugby and Stamford Railway, 1846
St George's Harbour, 1861
St Helens Canal and Railway, 1864
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, 1862 (jointly with GWR and West Midland Railway)
Shrewsbury and Welshpool Railway, 1864 (jointly with GWR from 1865)
Shropshire Union Railways and Canal, 1847
Sirhowy Railway, 1876
South Leicestershire Railway, 1867
South Staffordshire Railway, 1861
Stockport, Disley and Whaley Bridge Railway, 1866
Trent Valley Railway, 1847
Tenbury Railway, 1866 (jointly with GWR from 1869)
Vale of Clwyd Railway, 1867
Vale of Towy Railway, 1884 (jointly with GWR from 1889)
Warrington and Stockport Railway, 1859
Watford and Rickmansworth Railway, 1881
West London Extension Railway, 1859 (jointly with GWR, LSWR and LBSCR)
Whitehaven, Cleator and Egremont Railway, 1877 (jointly with Furness Railway from 1878)
Whitehaven Junction Railway, 1866
Locomotives
Illustration of a LNWR passenger locomotive, c. 1852
Main article: Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway
The LNWR's main engineering works were at Crewe (locomotives), Wolverton (carriages) and Earlestown (wagons). Locomotives were usually painted green at first, but in 1873 black was adopted as the standard livery. This finish has been described as "blackberry black".
Accidents and incidents
Major accidents on the LNWR include:-
On 26 March 1850, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Wolverton, Buckinghamshire due to the tampering of the safety valves. One person was injured.[19]
On 30 April 1851 a train returning from Chester Races broke down in Sutton tunnel, and the following train ran into it. Six passengers were killed.[9]
On 6 September 1851 a train run for the Great Exhibition returning from Euston to Oxford derailed at Bicester and six passengers were killed.[9]
On 6 March 1853, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Longsight, Lancashire. Six people were killed and the engine shed was severely damaged.[19]
On 27 August 1860 a passenger train collided with a goods train at Craven Arms and one passenger was killed.[9]
On 16 November 1860 the Irish night mail ran into a cattle train at Atherstone. The fireman of the mail train, and nine drovers in the cattle train were killed.[9]
On 11 June 1861, a cast-iron bridge collapsed under a freight train at Leek Wootton, Warwickshire. Both engine crew were killed.
On 2 September 1861 a ballast train came out of a siding onto the main line just past Kentish Town Junction without the signalman’s permission, and an excursion train from Kew ran past the signals and collided with it, resulting in the deaths of fourteen passengers and two employees.[9]
On 29 June 1867, a passenger train ran into the rear of a coal train at Warrington, Cheshire due to a pointsman's error which was compounded by the lack of interlocking between points and signals. Eight people were killed and 33 were injured.
On 20 August 1868, a rake of wagons ran away from Llandulas, Denbighshire during shunting operations. The wagons sucsequently collided with the Irish Mail at Abergele, Denbighshire. Kerosene being carried in the wagons set the wreck on fire. Thirty-three people were killed in what was then the deadliest rail accident to have occurred in the United Kingdom.
On 14 September 1870, a mail train was diverted into a siding at Tamworth station, Staffordshire due to a signalman's error. The train crashes through the buffers and ends up in the River Anker, killing three people.[20]
In 1870, a North Eastern Railway freight train overruns signals and is in collision with a passenger train at St. Nicholas Crossing, Carlisle, Cumberland. Five people are killed. The driver of the freight train was intoxicated.[20]
On 26 November 1870, a mail train is in a rear-end collision with a freight train at Harrow, Middlesex. Eight people are killed.[20]
On 2 August 1873, a passenger train derailed at Wigan, Lancashire due to excessive speed. Thirteen people were killed and 30 were injured.
On 22 December 1894, a wagon was derailed fouling the main line at Chelford, Cheshire. It was run into by an express passenger train, which was derailed. Fourteen people were killed and 48 were injured.
On 15 August 1895, an express passenger train was derailed at Preston, Lancashire due to excessive speed on a curve. One person was killed.[21]
On 12 January 1899, An express freight train was derailed at Penmaenmawr, Caernarfonshire due to the trackbed being washed away by the sea during a storm. Both locomotive crew were killed.[22]
On 15 August 1903, two passenger trains collided at Preston, Lancashire due to faulty points.[23]
On 15 October 1907, a mail train was derailed at Shrewsbury, Shropshire due to excessive speed on a curve. Eighteen people were killed.[24]
On 19 August 1909, a passenger train was derailed at Friezland, West Riding, Yorkshire. Two people were killed.[25]
On 5 December 1910, a passenger train was in a rear-end collision at Willesden Junction, London. Three people were killed and more than 40 were injured.[26]
On 17 September 1912, the driver of an express train misread signals at Ditton Junction, Cheshire. The train was derailed when it ran over points at an excessive speed. Fifteen people were killed.
On 14 August 1915, an express passenger train was derailed at Weedon, Northamptonshire due to a locomotive defect. Ten people were killed and 21 were injured.
On 11 November 1921, the boiler of a locomotive exploded at Buxton, Derbyshire. Two people were killed.[27]
Minor incidents include:-
In 1900, wagons of a permanent way train carrying sleepers were set on fire by the heat of the sun at Earlestown, Lancashire, destroying a number of them.[24]
Electrification
Main article: LNWR electric units
From 1909 to 1922, the LNWR undertook a large-scale project to electrify the whole of its London inner-suburban network.
Ships
The company also operated steamers on Windermere
Main article: List of London and North Western Railway ships
The LNWR operated a number of ships on Irish Sea crossings between Holyhead and Dublin, Howth or Kingstown. The LNWR also operated a joint service with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway from Fleetwood to Belfast and Derry.
Notable people
Chairmen of the Board of Directors
1846–1852 — George Glyn, later 1st Baron Wolverton
1852–1853 — Major-General George Anson
1853–1861 — Marquess of Chandos, later 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
1861 — Admiral Constantine Richard Moorsom
1861–1891 — Richard Moon, Sir Richard Moon from 1887
1891–1911 — The Lord Stalbridge
1911–1921 — Gilbert Claughton, Sir Gilbert Claughton from 1912
1921–1923 — Hon. Charles N. Lawrence, later Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate
Members of the Board of Directors
John Pares Bickersteth[28]
Michael Linning Melville [29]
Frederick Baynes[28]
John Albert Bright[28]
Ralph Brocklebank[28]
Sir Thomas Brooke, 1st Baronet[28]
Philip Henry Chambres[28]
William E. Dorrington[28]
Edmund Faber, 1st Baron Faber[28]
Alfred Fletcher[28]
Samuel Robert Graves[30]
Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh[28]
Theodore Julius Hare[28]
John Hick[31]
The Hon. A. H. Holland-Hibbert[28]
Sir William Houldsworth, 1st Baronet[28]
J. Bruce Ismay[28]
Lieut-Col. Amelius Lockwood, 1st Baron Lambourne[28]
The Hon. William Lowther[28]
Brigadier-General Lewis Vivian Loyd[28]
Miles MacInnes[28]
Edward Nettlefold[28]
David Plunket, 1st Baron Rathmore[28]
Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland[28]
Henry Ward[28]
General Managers
1846–1858 — Captain Mark Huish
1858–1874 — William Cawkwell
1874–1893 — Sir George Findlay
1893–1908 — Sir Frederick Harrison (knighted in 1902)
1909–1914 — Frank Ree
1914 — Robert Turnbull
1914–1919 — Guy Calthrop
1919–1920 — Isaac Thomas Williams
1920–1923 — Arthur Watson
Locomotive Superintendents and Chief Mechanical Engineers
Southern Division:
1846–1847 — Edward Bury
1847–1862 — James McConnell
North Eastern Division:
1846–1857 — John Ramsbottom
NE Division became part of N Division in 1857.
Northern Division:
1846–1857 — Francis Trevithick
1857–1862 — John Ramsbottom
LNWR No. 1881, a Webb 0-8-0 four cylinder compound – frontispiece from The Railway Magazine June 1903
Northern and Southern Divisions amalgamated from April 1862:
1862–1871 — John Ramsbottom
1871–1903 — Francis William Webb
1903–1909 — George Whale
1909–1920 — Charles Bowen Cooke
1920–1921 — Hewitt Pearson Montague Beames
1922 — George Hughes (ex-Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway)
Preservation
Sections of the former L&NWR are preserved as the Battlefield Line Railway, Nene Valley Railway and Northampton & Lamport Railway, the latter giving the name Premier Line to its quarterly journal.[32]
A section of the former L&NWR line and station buildings are preserved at Quainton near Aylesbury. It is administered by the Buckinghamshire Railway preservation Society and houses some original L&NWR rolling stock in the former Oxford Rewley Road station. It regularly runs steam trains using various locomotives.
See also
Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway
Nickey Line
Croxley Rail Link
Rail transport in Great Britain
Euston railway station or London Euston /ˈlʌndən.ˈjuːstən/ is a central London railway terminus and one of 19 stations managed by Network Rail.[4] It is the sixth busiest railway station in the UK.
Euston is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the busiest intercity passenger route in Britain and the main gateway from London to the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and parts of Scotland. Virgin Trains provides high-speed intercity services to these regions. Its most important long-distance destinations are Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow.
Euston is also the London terminus for London Midland trains providing local commuter and regional services via the WCML from London to Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire as well as long-distance services to the West Midlands county, Staffordshire and Cheshire. Euston is also the terminus for suburban services on the Watford DC Line operated by London Overground.
It is connected to Euston tube station and near to Euston Square tube station on the London Underground. It is a short walk from King's Cross Station, the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line, and St Pancras International Station for the Midland Main Line and for Eurostar to France, Belgium and the Netherlands. These stations are all in Travelcard Zone 1.