Manchester

Manchester was served by some of the largest pre-grouping companies, and until the Beeching era it still possessed four major passenger terminals and numerous goods depots.

The map shows the railway network in central Manchester at its height in the Edwardian era.

Click on the map to enlarge.  For a larger version in a new tab click HERE .

Stations

Naturally we begin with the first purpose-built railway station in the world.  The original eastern terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway was situated in Liverpool Road, Manchester and opened in September 1830.  Some 14 years later the station was too small to cope with the number of passengers.  So, when the L&MR was extended to link with the Manchester & Leeds Railway, Liverpool Road station was closed to passengers in May 1844 and trains diverted to the new Victoria station.

Manchester Victoria station was opened in January 1844 by the M&LR to replace their 1839 terminus at Manchester Oldham Road.  Although some of the 1844 buildings remain, much of station is the result of rebuilding to the design of William Dawes in 1909.  Major alterations were made at the eastern end to accommodate Manchester Metrolink taking over the Bury Line rail services in April 1992.

Oxford Road station was opened by the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway in July 1849.  In 1960 it was rebuilt to a strikingly modernist design by a team of W.R. Handley (LMR architect), Max Clendinning (designer) and Hugh Tomlinson (structural engineeer).  The MSJ&A also opened a “temporary” Knot Mill & Deansgate (sic) station on the same date.  The street level buildings were replaced in 1896 by the more substantial Knott Mill (sic) station structure shown.  From 1974 the station has been known simply as Deansgate.

Other Structures

Given the rapid urban growth of the city, many of Manchester’s railway lines were build on viaducts to avoid crossing city centre streets on the level.  There was also a network of canals to be avoided.  The Grade II listed Castlefield Viaducts are outstanding examples of Victorian civil engineering – the cluster of three structures comprises:

  • MSJ&A 1849 brick viaduct and iron bridges;
  • Cheshire Lines Committee 1876 brick and wrought iron truss girder viaduct; and
  • CLC/GNR 1894 lattice girder bridges.

More (but somewhat conflicting) information on the structures is given on the Wikipedia and Grace’s Guide websites.

Amongst the remarkable railway warehouses which have survived are:

  • Grade II* listed Great Northern Railway warehouse completed in 1899 with a canal dock beneath – the last major new railway warehouse to be built in Manchester; and
  • Grade I listed Liverpool & Manchester Railway warehouse opened in 1830 – the first railway warehouse in the world.

The latter, along with Liverpool Road passenger station featured in the photos at the beginning of this page, now form part of Manchester’s Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI).

More from MOSI

Robert Stephenson’s “Planet” locomotive of 1830 represented a major design change from his earlier (and more famous) “Rocket”, but was to become very much the indicator of how railway steam locomotives would develop.  In 1992 a working replica of “Planet” was built by the Friends of MOSI and is used to haul visitors in the “1830 Express” replicas of the crude 3rd Class carriages of that era.  However, the gentry could travel in slightly more style, as shown by the restored Manchester & Birmingham Railway First Class carriage of 1830.

An English Electric battery locomotive built in 1944 is shown shunting the “Planet” replica at the museum.  The locomotive originally entered service with the South Wales Electrical Power Distribution Co. at Upper Boat power station near Pontypridd where it was registered as No. 258.  It later worked at Bolton power station for the Central Electricity Generating Board.

More imposing is the South Africa Railways 3′ 6″ (1,067mm) gauge Beyer-Garratt locomotive built by Beyer, Peacock & Co. Ltd, Manchester.  The 8 SAR GL Class locos of 1929-30 were the most powerful of the type every built, irrespective of gauge. They were withdrawn in 1972.

Electric Traction

Into the late 1960s local passengers (and some longer distance ones) could travel by BR trains using three different electrification systems on four separate routes:

  • 1,200V dc third rail side contact installed in 1916 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway between Manchester & Bury;
  • 1,500V dc overhead on the Manchester South Junction & Altrincham Railway (joint LMS/LNER) from 1931 and on the Manchester-Sheffield-Wath (MSW) electrification started by the London & North Eastern Railway in 1935;
  • 25kV ac overhead between Manchester & Crewe installed by BR as the first stage of the WCML electrification in 1959.

This gallery mostly covers the 1,500V dc locomotives used on the MSW electrification which was interrupted by World War 2 and completed by BR in 1954.  Based on the famous LNER prototype (nicknamed “Tommy”), BR built 57 mixed traffic Bo-Bo locos designated EM1 (later Class 76) at Gorton Works between 1950 & 1953.  No.26020 is preserved in the National Railway Museum collection, and the cab of No.26048 “Hector” is at the Museum of Science & Industry (MOSI) in Manchester. 

In 1953/54 BR also built 7 higher powered Co-Co locos (designated EM2, nominally Class 77) to a similar design at Gorton Works for hauling express passenger trains between Sheffield and Manchester.  All 7 locos were withdrawn in 1968 and the following year sold to Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS – Dutch Railways).  As NS Class 1500 they continued in service until 1985.  Three EM2 locos are preserved, including No.27001/NS1505 “Ariadne” at MOSI.

Finally there are photos of AL3 & AL6 electric locomotives and AM4 & AM10 multiple units from the WCML 25kV ac electrification era.

 

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