Everything about The Grand Junction Railway totally explained
The
Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the
United Kingdom, which existed between
1833 and
1846. The line built by the company was the first trunk
railway to be completed in
England, and arguably the world's first long-distance railway.
Opening
Authorised by
Parliament in 1833 and designed by
George Stephenson and
Joseph Locke, it opened for business on
4 July 1837, running for 82 miles (132 km) from
Birmingham through
Wolverhampton (via
Perry Barr and
Bescot),
Stafford,
Crewe, and
Warrington, then via the existing
Warrington and Newton Railway to join the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway at a triangular junction at
Newton Junction. The GJR established its chief engineering works at
Crewe, moving there from
Edge Hill, near Liverpool.
Shortly after opening with a temporary Birmingham terminus at
Vauxhall, services were routed to and from
Curzon Street station, which it shared with the
London and Birmingham Railway (LBR) whose platforms were adjacent, providing a link between Liverpool,
Manchester and
London. The route between Curzon Street station and Vauxhall primarily consisted of the Birmingham Viaduct. It consisted of 28 arches, each wide and tall and crossed the
River Rea.
Mail trains
It was on this railway that the
sorting of mail en route was first done. Mail was first sorted in a converted horse-box, in January
1838, at the suggestion of Frederick Karstadt, a Post Office surveyor. Karstadt's son was one of two mail clerks who did the sorting. Later, carriages had a net attached, for catching mail bags at intermediate stations without stopping the train.
Mergers
In
1840 the GJR absorbed the
Chester and Crewe Railway shortly before it opened. Seeing itself as part of a grand railway network, it encouraged the development of the
North Union Railway which took the tracks onward to
Preston, and it also invested in the
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway and the
Caledonian Railway. In
1845 the GJR merged with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and consolidated its position by buying the North Union Railway in association with the
Manchester and Leeds Railway.
Profits
The GJR was very profitable, paying dividends of at least 10% from its opening and having a final capital value of over £5.75 million when it merged with the London and Birmingham Railway and
Manchester and Birmingham Railway companies to became the
London and North Western Railway in 1846, and the
London Midland and Scottish Railway in
1922.
The line today
Today, the lines which made up the GJR form the central section of the
West Coast Main Line.
Locomotives of the GJR
» Main article: Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway
One locomotive
Columbine has been preserved at the
Science Museum (London). This was GJR No. 49 and LNWR No. 1868
(External Link
)
The GJR in popular culture
- In the 2007 adaptation of Cranford, a (fictitious) railway line owned by the Grand Junction Railway is the subject of gossip when the railway line bypasses the village of Cranford.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Grand Junction Railway'.
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