London and North Western Railway

From Free net encyclopedia

The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) 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.

It was known as the 'Premier Line' - though disputed by many it may be thought that it deserved this title as 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.

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.

See Locomotives of the London and North Western Railway

Lines

• Canada Dock Branch from Edge Hill railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway through the northern Liverpool to Canada Dock in 1866.

External links

• London and North Western Railway Society

See also

• Rail transport in Great Britain
• UK topics
• The Nicky Line
• Victoria Tunnel

Major constituent railway companies of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway:

Caledonian | Furness | Lancashire & Yorkshire | Glasgow & South Western | London and North Western | Midland | North Staffordshire (Full list of constituents)