Warrington and Newton Railway
Encyclopedia
The Warrington and Newton Railway (W&NR) was an early railway company in England
. It acted as a feeder to the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway
(L&MR), providing services from those two cities to and from Warrington. It was surveyed and engineered by George Stephenson
, and received its Act of Parliament on 4 May 1829.
The line opened on 25 July 1831 less than a year after the L&MR itself. The line ran for 4.5 miles (7.24 km) from a junction west of Newton-le-Willows
with the L&MR at Newton Junction
(now Earlestown
) to the original Dallam Lane terminus in Warrington
just north of the town centre, with a short south-western branch towards Bank Quay. A short south-eastern branch, provided for in its Act, was not opened until 1837.
The company had putative plans to extend north and south; effectively these were taken over by the newly formed Grand Junction Railway
(GJR), to form part of the route from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester (via the L&MR) and northwards through Wigan. After much manoeuvering on both sides the W&NR agreed on 4 February 1835 to be absorbed by the GJR on the basis of a one for one share exchange and a guarantee of 4% interest until the GJR declared dividends. This was confirmed by Act of Parliament of 12 June 1835. An end-on junction was built on the present route around the west side of Warrington, and a new station was built slightly to the north of today's Bank Quay station.
The central 2.5 mile (4 km) stretch of the original line between Bewsey and Winwick Junction (since expanded to four tracks wide) now forms part of today's West Coast Main Line
, therefore representing the very first part of the London to Glasgow route to be constructed.
The southernmost stub of the former main line survived for over a century as sidings serving a brewery, cable factory and steel mill, and the original station was used as a coal depot. Although both are now gone, the station building still exists as the 'Three Pigeons' hotel http://www.warrington.cwc.net/three-pigeons-june-2000.html on the corner of Tanners Lane and Dallam Lane at coordinates 53°23′36"N 2°35′46"W.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It acted as a feeder to the original Liverpool and Manchester Railway
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the world's first inter-city passenger railway in which all the trains were timetabled and were hauled for most of the distance solely by steam locomotives. The line opened on 15 September 1830 and ran between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester in North...
(L&MR), providing services from those two cities to and from Warrington. It was surveyed and engineered by George Stephenson
George Stephenson
George Stephenson was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who built the first public railway line in the world to use steam locomotives...
, and received its Act of Parliament on 4 May 1829.
The line opened on 25 July 1831 less than a year after the L&MR itself. The line ran for 4.5 miles (7.24 km) from a junction west of Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows
Newton-le-Willows is a small market town within the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it is situated about midway between the cities of Manchester and Liverpool, to the east of St Helens, to the north of Warrington and to the south of...
with the L&MR at Newton Junction
Earlestown railway station
Earlestown railway station is a railway station in Earlestown, Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, England. Since recent restoration of a platform for Warrington Bank Quay to Liverpool trains, it is one of the few "triangular" stations in Britain ....
(now Earlestown
Earlestown
Earlestown forms the western part of Newton-le-Willows, a town in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens, in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 Census the population was recorded as 10,274.-History:...
) to the original Dallam Lane terminus in Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...
just north of the town centre, with a short south-western branch towards Bank Quay. A short south-eastern branch, provided for in its Act, was not opened until 1837.
The company had putative plans to extend north and south; effectively these were taken over by the newly formed Grand Junction Railway
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...
(GJR), to form part of the route from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester (via the L&MR) and northwards through Wigan. After much manoeuvering on both sides the W&NR agreed on 4 February 1835 to be absorbed by the GJR on the basis of a one for one share exchange and a guarantee of 4% interest until the GJR declared dividends. This was confirmed by Act of Parliament of 12 June 1835. An end-on junction was built on the present route around the west side of Warrington, and a new station was built slightly to the north of today's Bank Quay station.
The central 2.5 mile (4 km) stretch of the original line between Bewsey and Winwick Junction (since expanded to four tracks wide) now forms part of today's West Coast Main Line
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
, therefore representing the very first part of the London to Glasgow route to be constructed.
The southernmost stub of the former main line survived for over a century as sidings serving a brewery, cable factory and steel mill, and the original station was used as a coal depot. Although both are now gone, the station building still exists as the 'Three Pigeons' hotel http://www.warrington.cwc.net/three-pigeons-june-2000.html on the corner of Tanners Lane and Dallam Lane at coordinates 53°23′36"N 2°35′46"W.