Liverpool & Manchester Railway

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened on 15 September 1830, was the first inter-city passenger railway in the world — the moment at which the railway age truly began. Not the first railway to use steam locomotives, not the first to carry passengers, but the first to combine all the elements of what a railway would come to mean: a timetabled, steam-powered, commercially operated public service connecting two major cities, with a dedicated track, purpose-built stations, and a locomotive fleet capable of sustained scheduled operation. Everything that followed — the railway mania of the 1840s, the global spread of railway technology, the transformation of how humanity moves across the earth — flows from the L&MR's opening day.

The railway was promoted to break the Bridgewater Canal's monopoly on freight between the two cities and engineered by George Stephenson, whose son Robert Stephenson designed the locomotives. The Rainhill Trials of October 1829, run to select the motive power for the new line, produced one of the most dramatic competitive engineering events in history: five locomotives entered, Rocket won convincingly, and the basic anatomy of the steam locomotive — horizontal cylinders, multi-tube boiler, direct drive to the wheels — was established for the next 130 years. The opening day on 15 September 1830, attended by the Duke of Wellington and thousands of spectators, was marred by the death of William Huskisson MP, struck by Rocket at Parkside in the world's first railway fatality — a tragedy that could not dim the commercial and engineering triumph of a line that was carrying 1,200 passengers daily within two years.

The L&MR adopted Stephenson's Killingworth gauge of 4 ft 8½ in, which became through this decision the British standard gauge and ultimately the world standard for the majority of railways globally. The line's terminus at Liverpool Road, Manchester — the world's oldest surviving railway terminal building — is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry. The Museum of Liverpool documents the railway's foundational role in the city and the world. The L&MR amalgamated with the Grand Junction Railway in 1845, becoming part of the London and North Western Railway in 1846.

About

The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city passenger railway in the world, opened to traffic on 15 September 1830. The line connected Liverpool (Crown Street, later Lime Street) with Manchester (Liverpool Road, the world's earliest surviving terminal station) over a 35-mile route engineered by George Stephenson, with assistance from his son Robert Stephenson.

The L&MR was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 5 May 1826 to address the Bridgewater Canal's monopoly on freight between the two cities. Its construction involved many engineering firsts, the Sankey Viaduct, the Wapping Tunnel, and the wholly-floated Chat Moss embankment, and its locomotives, selected through the Rainhill Trials of October 1829, established the basic anatomy of the steam locomotive. The winning entry Rocket was followed by Northumbrian (1830), the first locomotive built specifically for passenger trains, and the Planet Class of 1830, which set the pattern for the next generation of British locomotives.

The opening day was famously marred by the death of William Huskisson MP, struck by Rocket while standing on the line at Parkside, generally cited as the world's first railway fatality. Despite this, the L&MR's commercial and engineering success was decisive: by 1832 it was carrying 1,200 passengers a day and turning the case for the railway age.

The L&MR adopted the standard gauge of 4 ft 8½ in that George Stephenson had used at Killingworth, fixing it as the British (and ultimately world) standard. The company amalgamated with the Grand Junction Railway in 1845 and the combined company became part of the LNWR in 1846.

Locomotives owned

Aeolus — An 1838 Robert Stephenson & Co. 0-4-0 supplied to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, part of the L&MR's second-generation freight fleet that supplemented the original Planet engines on heavy goods work.
Crampton — Thomas Russell Crampton's 1842 patented design for an express locomotive with a single pair of very large driving wheels mounted behind the firebox, allowing very large drivers (up to 8 ft) without raising the boiler centreline. Crampton engines were built in modest numbers for British railways but became enormously popular in France, Belgium and Germany — over 300 were built for Continental railways and the layout dominated French express locomotive practice into the 1860s.
Cycloped — Thomas Shaw Brandreth's eccentric entry to the Rainhill Trials of October 1829 — not a steam locomotive at all, but a horse-powered carriage in which a horse walked on a treadmill driving the wheels. Unsurprisingly disqualified on the first day; remembered as the most picturesque dead-end of the Rainhill competition.
North Star — An 1830 Robert Stephenson & Co. 0-2-2 built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, one of the post-Rocket generation of Stephenson engines that worked the world's first inter-city passenger railway from its 15 September 1830 opening. Not to be confused with the GWR broad-gauge North Star of 1837.
Northumbrian — Robert Stephenson's 1830 development of Rocket for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the engine that hauled the directors' inaugural train at the line's opening on 15 September 1830, and that carried the fatally-injured William Huskisson MP at speed to Manchester after his accident at Parkside. Northumbrian incorporated improvements over Rocket including a horizontal cylinder arrangement, a separate firebox more substantially water-jacketed, and a smokebox at the front of the boiler, all features that became standard on subsequent designs. No original survives.
Novelty — John Braithwaite and John Ericsson's 1829 locomotive, the lightest and fastest engine to compete in the Rainhill Trials of October 1829, but eliminated by repeated mechanical failures despite popular acclaim. Novelty represented a radically different approach to locomotive design from the Stephenson-Hackworth tradition: a vertical fire-tube boiler, a forced-draught fan, and a light-built running gear chosen for high speed rather than heavy haulage. The engine briefly reached 28 mph during the trials before bellows and joint failures stopped it. After Rainhill, Novelty worked on the St Helens & Runcorn Gap Railway until 1834. No original survives.
Perseverance — Timothy Burstall's 0-2-0 entry to the Rainhill Trials of October 1829. Damaged in transit to the trial site and only able to take part on the final day, when it could not reach the required speeds. Withdrew without completing the trials.
Phoenix — An 1830 Robert Stephenson & Co. 0-2-2 built for the Liverpool & Manchester Railway's opening fleet, broadly to Rocket pattern. Hauled some of the L&MR's first revenue trains in autumn 1830 and was rapidly superseded by the Planet class.
Planet Class — Robert Stephenson & Co.'s 1830 2-2-0 design that established the basic layout of the steam locomotive: inside cylinders mounted between the frames at the smokebox end, driving a cranked axle, with the boiler carried on a strong sub-frame. Planet itself was delivered to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in October 1830; over thirty Planet-pattern locomotives were built for British and overseas railways, making it the first true mass-production locomotive class.
Rocket — Robert Stephenson's 1829 locomotive, the engine that won the Rainhill Trials of October 1829 and inaugurated the modern railway age. Built by Robert Stephenson and Company at Newcastle to a design by Robert Stephenson with his father George Stephenson, Rocket combined three innovations that made it decisively faster and more reliable than its competitors: a multi-tube boiler with 25 copper firetubes, a separate firebox surrounded by water, and a blast pipe directing exhaust steam up the chimney to draw the fire. The engine won the Rainhill prize of £500 and the contract to supply locomotives to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, which opened the following year as the world's first inter-city passenger railway. The original engine survives at the Science Museum, London.
Sans Pareil — Timothy Hackworth's 1829 locomotive, the most powerful engine to compete in the Rainhill Trials of October 1829, but defeated by Rocket through inferior steaming and high coal consumption. Sans Pareil was Hackworth's bid to win the Liverpool & Manchester Railway's motive-power contract on the basis of raw power. The engine completed parts of the trials successfully but was less efficient than Rocket. Following Rainhill, Sans Pareil was sold to the Bolton & Leigh Railway, where it worked until approximately 1844. The engine survives in modified form and is currently displayed at the National Railway Museum, Shildon.

Founded	5 May 1826
Dissolved	16 July 1846
Country	England
Headquarters	Liverpool