Leeds Northern Railway
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The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), originally the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from
Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
to Stockton via
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
and
Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological fin ...
. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for a line from Leeds to Thirsk, part of which opened in 1848, but problems building the Bramhope Tunnel delayed trains operating into Leeds until 1849. The Leeds and Thirsk Railway Company changed its name to the Leeds Northern Railway on 3 July 1851 before its line to Stockton opened. The company formed an alliance with the West Hartlepool Harbour & Railway and was involved in a price war with the
York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway The York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway (YN&BR) was an English railway company formed in 1847 by the amalgamation of the York and Newcastle Railway and the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. Both companies were part of the group of business interest ...
(YN&BR). A merger of the YN&BR with the LNR and the
York & 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 ...
was accepted by LNR shareholders, and by
Royal Assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
on 31 July 1854 the three companies merged to become the North Eastern Railway. Today, sections of the former Leeds Northern Railway line form the Harrogate Line between Leeds and Harrogate, and the Northallerton to Stockton Line.


Leeds and Thirsk Railway

In 1845 the provisional committee of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway submitted a
private bill Proposed bills are often categorized into public bills and private bills. A public bill is a proposed law which would apply to everyone within its jurisdiction. This is unlike a private bill which is a proposal for a law affecting only a single p ...
to
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
seeking permission to build a railway and in the same year the
Great North of England Railway The Great North of England Railway (GNER) was an early British railway company. Its main line, opened in 1841 was between York and Darlington, and originally it was planned to extend to Newcastle. Mergers In 1846 it was absorbed by the Newcastle ...
(GNER) presented a competing bill for a line to Leeds from a junction with its line at . The GNER withdrew its bill after it was leased by the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway, which was controlled by the railway financier
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 ...
. The ''Leeds and Thirsk Railway Act'' received
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
on 21 July 1845 and construction started on 20 October 1845. Mineral traffic was carried between Ripon and Thirsk on 5 January 1848, and this section officially opened on 31 May with public services starting the following day. The section between Weeton and Wormald Green opened on 1 September and was connected to the line at Ripon on 13 September. The Leeds and Thirsk Railway's station in
Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...
was at (initially called Harrogate) outside the town centre in the Crimple Valley. The
York & 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 ...
opened Harrogate station in the town centre at Brunswick, which was accessed via a line over the Crimple Viaduct. The Leeds and Thirsk Line passed under the viaduct en route to Starbeck. Although the station at Brunswick was more convenient, the Leeds and Thirsk offered a shorter journey to Leeds from Starbeck. Extension of the line into Leeds was delayed by problems encountered during the construction of the long Bramhope Tunnel. Tunnellers encountered large quantities of water that had to be pumped out and many workers died during its construction. A memorial in the form of a replica of the tunnel's northern portal is in Otley churchyard. The completed line opened on 9 July 1849 when three trains carried 2000 shareholders from Leeds to Thirsk and back. A temporary terminus opened on Wellington Street Leeds until services were accommodated at and then at the Midland Railway's Wellington Street station.


Extension to Stockton

The Leeds and Thirsk presented a bill in 1845–46 for a line from Wath (later ) to join the Stockton & Hartlepool Railway at . Under pressure from Hudson the route was changed so that the GNER would be used between Thirsk and Northallerton and this Act received
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
on 16 July 1846. The Leeds and Thirsk returned for permission for a direct line from Melmerby to Northallerton which was approved on 22 July 1848. The Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission to change its name to the Leeds Northern Railway on 3 July 1851. The
East & West Yorkshire Junction Railway The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a railway company established in 1846 between the Leeds and Thirsk Railway at Knaresborough and the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway near York, England. The company merged into the York and No ...
(E&WYJR) began constructing a line from York to Knaresborough in 1847, opening to a temporary station at Hay Park Lane on 30 October 1848 before being taken over by the York & North Midland on 1 July 1851. A Leeds Northern branch from Harrogate (now Starbeck) opened to on 4 August 1851, which was also served by the York & North Midland after completion of the E&WYJR viaduct over the
River Nidd The River Nidd is a tributary of the River Ouse in the English county of North Yorkshire. In its first few miles it is dammed three times to create Angram Reservoir, Scar House Reservoir and Gouthwaite Reservoir, which attract a total of aroun ...
on 1 October 1851. The northern end of the line between Leeds and Stockton passed under the York, Newcastle & Berwick Line, under a bridge that was built without interfering with the train services above. At
Yarm Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...
a
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
, designed by
Thomas Grainger Thomas Grainger FRSE (12 November 1794 – 25 July 1852) was a Scottish civil engineer and surveyor. He was joint partner with John Miller in the prominent engineering firm of Grainger & Miller. Life Grainger was born at Gogar Green near Ra ...
and John Bourne of Edinburgh, was built across the
River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...
. The line was opened formally on 15 May 1852 and public traffic started on 2 June 1852. The Leeds Northern opened their own station south of a junction with the Stockton to Hartlepool line; after the West Hartlepool Harbour & Railway diverted its services through this station in 1853 it was renamed North Stockton. A joint station with the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) opened at on 25 January 1853. After crossing to the south of the station, the railways each had two tracks running through the station and a single island platform was built between them and one side used by S&DR trains, the other by the Leeds Northern. Rather than allow trains to approach the platform line from either direction, the
Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...
inspecting officer ruled that trains approaching on a line without a platform must first pass through and then reverse into the platform line.


Locomotives


North Eastern Railway

In 1852, after the Leeds Northern Railway had reached Stockton and made an alliance with the West Hartlepool Harbour & Railway, a price war broke out with the York, Newcastle & Berwick Railway (YN&BR), the fare for between Leeds and Newcastle dropping to two shillings. T.E. Harrison, who had become General Manager and Engineer of the YN&BR, looked at merger of the YN&BR with Leeds Northern and York & North Midland as the answer. With a proposal that the shares of the three companies remain separate, replaced by Berwick Capital Stock, York Capital Stock and Leeds Capital Stock, and dividends paid from pooled revenue, the agreement of the three boards was reached in November 1852. The deal was rejected by the shareholders of the Leeds Northern, who felt their seven per cent share of revenue too low; joint operation was agreed instead of a full merger and Harrison appointed General Manager. The benefits of this joint working allowed Harrison to raise the offer to the Leeds Northern shareholders and by Royal Assent on 31 July 1854 the three companies merged and became the North Eastern Railway; with of line, becoming the largest railway company in the country. A curve connecting the line with the former GNER line at Northallerton was opened on 1 January 1856, and until 1901 Harrogate to Stockton trains were diverted via Thirsk and Northallerton, the line via Pickhill being operated as a branch. The former Leeds Northern station at Northallerton closed that year. The former Leeds Northern and York & North Midland lines in Harrogate were connected, the permission being given by an Act on 8 August 1859. The station at Brunswick was replaced by the current
Harrogate railway station Harrogate railway station serves the town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Located on the Harrogate Line it is north of Leeds. Northern Trains operate the station and provide local passenger train services, with a London North Easte ...
on a new line that branched from the Y&NMR line in town to the former Leeds Northern line north of Starbeck. Another new line, connecting from north of Pannal station to end of Crimple Viaduct, gave the former Leeds Northern Line access to this station. As a result of the
Railways Act 1921 The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
, on 1 January 1923 the North Eastern Railway became part of the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
(LNER). Britain's railways were nationalised on 1 January 1948 and the former York, Newcastle & Berwick lines were placed under the control of
British Railways 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 ...
.


Legacy

The Harrogate Line follows the former Leeds and Thirsk Line from Leeds to Pannal via the Bramhope Tunnel and crosses 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. ...
on the
Arthington Viaduct Arthington Viaduct, listed known as the Wharfedale Viaduct, carries the Harrogate Line across the Wharfe valley between Arthington in West Yorkshire and Castley in North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed structure. The viaduct was ...
. It joins the former Y&NMR Line and crosses the Crimple Viaduct. Services pass over the link between the 1882 Harrogate station and Starbeck station before taking the branch and crossing the Nidd Viaduct at Knaresborough and the E&WJR to York. The direct line between Pannal and Starbeck closed in 1951 and the line between Melmerby and Thirsk closed in 1959. The former Y&NMR Line to Church Fenton closed on 6 January 1964 to passengers and the Leeds Northern line from Starbeck to Northallerton closed to passengers in 1967, though a limited number of goods trains used this line to Ripon until 1969. Hornbeam Park railway station opened in Harrogate in 1992. The line from Northallerton to Stockton is still open, and used by passenger services from and to and , as well as services between and . Eighteen freight trains a day use the route to travel between the
East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
and
Teesside Teesside () is a built-up area around the River Tees in the north of England, split between County Durham and North Yorkshire. The name was initially used as a county borough in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Historically a hub for heavy manu ...
and
Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...
.


Notes and references


Notes


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Sources

* * * * * * * {{Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber North Eastern Railway (UK) Standard gauge railways in England Railway companies disestablished in 1854 Railway companies established in 1845