Description

The Manchester and Leeds Railway  built a line from Manchester to Normanton where it made a junction with the North Midland Railway, over which it relied on running powers to access Leeds The line followed the valley of the River Calder  for much of the way, making for easier gradients but by-passing many important manufacturing towns. Crossing the watershed between Lancashire and Yorkshire  required a long tunnel (Summit Tunnel). The line opened throughout in 1841.

Early on, it was realised that the initial route required expansion, and branches were built by the company or by new, sponsored companies. In Manchester steps were taken to make a railway connection with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway and a connecting line was built, including an important joint passenger station, at Hunt’s Bank, named Victoria Station.

The pace of expansion accelerated and in 1846 it was clear that the company’s name was no longer appropriate, and the opportunity was taken, when getting Parliamentary authority for further amalgamations, to change the name to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway; this took effect by Act of 9 July 1847.

The first terminus in Leeds used by the Manchester & Leeds Railway was at Hunslet Lane situated to the south of the City centre and shared with the Midland Railway. In 1846 the Midland Railway transferred most of its services to the centrally situated Wellington Station (later absorbed into Leeds City) which was built by the Leeds and Bradford Railway. The Manchester & Leeds Railway stayed at Hunslet Lane after 1846 but diverted most of its trains via the LNWR route through Batley. This crossed over the Midland Railway Leeds & Bradford line at Holbeck and terminated at a temporary station, about ​1⁄4 mile from Wellington, near the site of Leeds Central where the permanent structure was opened about 1851.

These prints are of excellent quality, scanned at high resolution andi if printed on A3 size paper, are suitable for framing.