The Leeds and York Railway was a proposed railway line, promoted in the mid 1840s, intended to connect York and Leeds. The line lost a significant promoter, the

Manchester and Leeds Railway The Manchester and Leeds Railway was a British railway company that 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 ...

in 1845/6 as a result of a non-competition arrangement between that company and the

York and North Midland Railway The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) was an English railway company that opened in 1839 connecting York with the Leeds and Selby Railway, and in 1840 extended this line to meet the North Midland Railway at Normanton near Leeds. Its first c ...

. The York and North Midland Railway successfully promoted a rival line in the same session of parliament, and obtained an act for its construction in 1846. The only part of either scheme that was ever constructed was the Tadcaster Viaduct, built by the Y&NMR on a short spur from the Y&NMR's existing Church Fenton to Harrogate branch. This was completed by 1848 before the Y&NMR decided to abandon construction of the line.

History

Leeds and York Railway

The Leeds and York Railway was promoted in the 1840s, during the

Railway Mania Railway Mania was an instance of a stock market bubble in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in the 1840s. It followed a common pattern: as the price of railway shares increased, speculators invested more money, which further incre ...

; the line formed an alternative route from Leeds to York, starting in Wellington Street (Leeds), passing

Seacroft Seacroft is an outer-city suburb/township consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the LS14 Leeds postcode area, around east of Leeds city centre. It sits in th ...

Thorner Thorner is a rural village and civil parish in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England, located between Seacroft and Wetherby. It had a population of 1,646 at the 2011 Census. Etymology The name of Thorner is first attested in the 1086 Do ...

, Clifford Moor, and crossing the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

near Thorp Arch continued via

Walton Walton may refer to: People * Walton (given name) * Walton (surname) * Susana, Lady Walton (1926–2010), Argentine writer Places Canada * Walton, Nova Scotia, a community ** Walton River (Nova Scotia) *Walton, Ontario, a hamlet United Kingdo ...

, Syningthwaite, Bilton, Hutton Wandesley,

Rufforth Rufforth is a village in the unitary authority of the City of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies about west of York. The village is mentioned in the ''Domesday Book''Acomb to York. The line was shorter than the existing route between the two cities ( York and North Midland and Leeds and Selby lines). An associated scheme the

York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway The York, Hull and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a proposed railway line, promoted in the mid 1840s, intended to connect York to the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The line was not built, instead an alternative proposal, the ...

was also proposed, connecting towns in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

; together they represented a potential strong competitor to

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...

's railway network in Yorkshire. In 1845 the Leeds and York company gained the support of the

, which decided to take up shares in the company on the condition that the line would use the station of the proposed West Riding Union company; the company also determined to support the Leeds and York in their obtaining an act of parliament. In late 1845 the York and North Midland Railway company and the Manchester and Leeds company entered into a non-competition arrangement as part of an agreement between the two firms on the leasing of the

Hull and Selby Railway The Hull and Selby Railway is a railway line between Kingston upon Hull and Selby in the United Kingdom which was authorised by an act of 1836 and opened in 1840. As built the line connected with the Leeds and Selby Railway (opened 1834) at Selby ...

. Part of the agreement was that the M&L would withdraw its support from both the York-Leeds and York-Hull schemes. The new agreement with the Y&NMR was contradictory to the previous one with the proponents of the Leeds and York and York and Hull schemes, and the board of the M&L withdrew their support and connection to the scheme in November 1845. The Leeds and York refused an offer to return the shares, and the M&L was required to take up 5,000 £25 shares. Rival schemes between Leeds and York were also proposed in the same period, including the Leeds, York and Midland Railway, and the Leeds Extension of the York and North Midland Railway, both of which followed a route via

Aberford Aberford is a village and civil parish on the eastern outskirts of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 1,059 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,180 at the 2011 Census. It is situated eas ...

and

Tadcaster Tadcaster is a market town and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England, east of the Great North Road, north-east of Leeds, and south-west of York. Its historical importance from Roman times onward was largely as the ...

a few miles to the south of the Leeds and York company's plans.

York and North Midland Railway Leeds extension

The Y&NMR applied for an act for a railway over its proposed route in 1845, starting from a junction with the

Leeds and Selby Railway The Leeds and Selby Railway was an early British railway company and first mainline railway within Yorkshire. It was opened in 1834. As built, the line ran west/east between two termini, Marsh Lane station, Leeds and Selby railway station. The ...

near

Cross Gates Cross Gates (often spelled Crossgates) is a suburb in east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The area sits between Seacroft and Swarcliffe to the north, Whitkirk and Colton to the south, Killingbeck to the west and Austhorpe to the south east ...

and continuing roughly north-east to make a connection with the Y&NMR's Church Fenton to Harrogate line south of

. The route then ran north for approximately 1 mile, before bearing east across the River Wharfe to meet the York and North Midland's main line at Copmanthorpe, and thence to York. The Y&NMR's line was successful in parliament over the rival Leeds and York Railway scheme. An act, the "York and North Midland Railway (Leeds Extension) Act" (Victoria 9/10, Cap.89) was obtained in 1846, for a line of with power to raise capital of £360,000 and a further third in loans.

John Towlerton Leather John Towlerton Leather (1804–1885) was a British civil engineering contractor. In his early career was employed by the Sheffield Waterworks company, and involved in the construction of several dams. He entered private practice in 1839, init ...

was contracted to build the Tadcaster-York section, a viaduct at Tadcaster was completed before the work was abandoned after the end of the

. (See §Viaduct.) In its 1849 report to shareholders the company reported: In 1849 the Y&NMR applied for deviation of and abandonment of the original section from Tadcaster to York (Copmanthorpe), passed as part of the "York and North Midland Railway Act" of 1849. No line was completed along the route, either by the Leeds and York, York and North Midland or other companies. A shorter route from Leeds to York was opened in 1869, via a cut off from

Micklefield Micklefield is a village and civil parish east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Garforth, Aberford and Brotherton and is close to the A1 Motorway. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough. The population as of the 2011 ...

Church Fenton Church Fenton or Kirk Fenton is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. It is about east of Leeds, about south-east from Tadcaster and north from Sherburn in Elmet. Neighbouring villages include Barkston ...

.From the Leeds and Selby Line to the former

Line to York.

Tadcaster Viaduct

The Tadcaster Viaduct (also known as the Virgin Viaduct, or Virgin Bridge) was constructed as part of the northern section of the Leeds-York Line. The viaduct was constructed of 11 arches, 7 west of the river, 2 east of the river, and 2 wider arches across the

; made of

magnesian limestone The Magnesian Limestone is a suite of carbonate rocks in north-east England dating from the Permian period. The outcrop stretches from Nottingham northwards through Yorkshire and into County Durham where it is exposed along the coast between Ha ...

with millstone grit arch

voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...

s. Earthworks were constructed for a

triangle junction In railroad structures, and rail terminology, a wye (like the'' 'Y' '' glyph) or triangular junction (often shortened to just "triangle") is a triangular joining arrangement of three rail lines with a railroad switch (set of points) at each c ...

connection to the Harrogate-Church Fenton line immediately northwest of

Tadcaster railway station Tadcaster railway station was on the Harrogate to Church Fenton Line in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England. History The station opened in 1848 as part of the Harrogate to Church Fenton Line of the York and North Midland Railway. Another li ...

; the viaduct crossed the river upstream and north of the town. From 1882 or '83 to 1955 there was a siding across the viaduct which was used to supply corn and later coal to Ingleby's Mill on the east bank of the river. After 1901 the Mill was converted to a power station for the Tadcaster Electricity Company. The siding, known as the Ingleby's Mill branch closed in 1959. In 1980 the viaduct was acquired by the town council from

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

. The structure was listed in 1985.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

{{coord, 53.8885, -1.2645, display=title Abandoned rail transport projects in the United Kingdom Rail transport in West Yorkshire Rail transport in North Yorkshire Railways authorised but not built in the United Kingdom