London and North Western Railway.html
 
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Circa 1852 illustration of a LNWR passenger locomotive.
Circa 1852 illustration of a LNWR passenger locomotive.
LNWR No. 1881, a Webb 0-8-0 four cylinder compound - frontispiece from the The Railway Magazine June 1903.
LNWR No. 1881, a Webb 0-8-0 four cylinder compound - frontispiece from the The Railway Magazine June 1903.
LNWR's initials carved in Portland Stone on one of Euston Station's entrance lodges
LNWR's initials carved in Portland Stone on one of Euston Station's entrance lodges

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, and is effectively an ancestor of today's West Coast Main Line. During the late 19th century the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the world.

Contents

Overview

The LNWR was known as the 'Premier Line'. Though disputed by many, it may be thought that it deserved this title because the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first passenger railway in the world, was one of its ancestors through its merger with the Grand Junction Railway.

As the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other company. It served some of Britain's largest cities: Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, and (through co-operation with the Caledonian Railway) Edinburgh and Glasgow. It also handled the Irish Mail for the Government between Euston and Holyhead.

Minor lines

Acquisitions

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Locomotives

Main article: Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway

The LNWR's main engineering works were at Crewe (locomotives) and Wolverton (carriages and wagons). The locomotive livery is described as 'blackberry black'.

Electrification

Main article: LNWR electric units

From 1909-1922, the LNWR undertook a large-scale project to electrify the whole of its London inner-suburban network.

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.

Nationalisation followed in 1948, with 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 (eg Peterborough to Northampton and Cambridge to Oxford), but others were developed as part of the Inter City network, with the main lines from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Carlisle electrified in the 1960s and 1970s with trains now running up to 125 mph. Other lines survive as part of commuter networks around major cities such as Birmingham and Manchester.

Preservation

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/books/books-3/book-0323-aylesbury-railway.htm
  2. ^ http://disused-rlys.fotopic.net/c915644.html
  3. ^ http://www.nlr.org.uk/premline.htm

External links


The "Big Four" pre-nationalisation British railway companies
v • d • e

█ Great Western • █ London Midland & Scottish • █ London & North Eastern • █ Southern

GWR constituents: Great Western Railway • Cambrian Railways • Taff Vale Railway
Barry Railway • Rhymney Railway • (Full list)
LNER constituents: Great Central • Great Eastern • Great Northern • Great North of Scotland
Hull & Barnsley • North British • North Eastern • (Full list)
LMS constituents: Caledonian • Furness • Glasgow & South Western • Highland
Lancashire & Yorkshire • London and North Western • Midland • North Staffordshire • (Full list)
SR constituents: London and South Western Railway • London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
South Eastern Railway • London, Chatham and Dover Railway • (Full list)

See also: History of rail transport in Great Britain 1923 - 1947 • List of companies involved in the grouping


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