Manchester Guardian Article 1899

Locomotive and Train Working around Manchester at the end of the 19th Century: London to Manchester Expresses

From The Mancunian

It is possible that at some future date, historians may interest themselves more in railway statistics than has yet been the case. The story - at the present juncture it might be termed that of the rise and fall - of the Manchester express service is certainly among those deserving of detailed contemporary attention.

Although from the year 1851 Great Northern trains had been permitted to run over the Sheffield Company's as far as Sheffield, up to the summer 1857 any through service between London and manchester was the monopoly of the London and North western. In July of that year, however, the celebrated "Fifty Years Agreement" was arranged between the Kings Cross and Sheffield directorates, thus establishing the first alternative route. The North Western timetables for that month show that there were six daily connections each way between Euston and Manchester, the best express taking 5hrs 35 mins. In view of this agreement, however, Captain Huish revised his company's timetables for August with a five hour express service; but to his amazement, the 1st of the month revealed that the invaders, with their fifteen miles longer route, had arranged for one taking only 5hrs 20 mins. Moreover, during the same month, the spirited running and punctuality of the great Northern company's trains between Kings Cross and Sheffield caused the new route to be largely patronised. But September saw Euston Square on the alert, for Captain Huish further accelerated and overhauled his service. Three extra fast services were added, bringing the total up to eleven, and the fastest timing was cut down to 4 hrs 40 mins. To this, the Great Northern and Sheffield allies answered by putting on two expresses each way accomplishing the journey in five hours. The following are the rival logs:-

London & North Western (9/1857)

Great Northern (9/1857)

Miles				Speed	Miles				Speed
	Euston	dep	5.00pm			Kings Cross	dep	5.00pm
82½	Rugby	arr	6.56pm	42.6	32	Hitchin	arr	5.38pm	50.5
		dep	7.01pm				dep	5.40pm
158	Crewe	arr	8.45pm	43.5	76¼	Peterborough	arr	6.35pm	48.2
		dep	8.50pm				dep	6.40pm
183	Stockport	arr	9.28pm	41.4	120	Newark	arr	7.32pm	50.4
		dep	9.30pm				dep	7.35pm
189	Manchester	arr	9.40pm	28.5	162½	Sheffield	arr	8.40pm	39.1
							dep	8.45pm
	Journey Speed	40.5mph			198¼	Guide Bridge	arr	9.50pm	33.4
	Running Average	42.3mph					dep	9.51pm
					203½	Manchester	arr	10.00pm	31.6

						Journey Speed	40.7mph
						Running Average	42.9mph

The engines used on the fine Great Northern service were "converted Cramptons" with single driving wheels 6ft 6ins in diameter, rebuilt by the then Superindent Mr Sturrocks. It was claimed that these locomotives were capable of performing on the narrow gauge what Brunel's broad gauge leviathans could do on the Great Western Company's main line between Paddington and Exeter. At this period the Manchester Arts Treasures Exhibition was attracting thousands of visitors from London: both routes accordingley had an additional incentive for making the journey as short as possible, while the Kings Cross officials also paid attention to the improvement of their rolling stock.

After the Manchester Exhibition had closed, the time by the Retford and Sheffield route slackened down to 5hrs 10mins, giving an inclusive rate of speed of 42mph between Kings Cross and Retford. This remained the best performance in England up till 1871 when the opening of the Midland route - and their time of 5hrs by three trains each way - led to the Great Northern re-accelerating to 4hrs 55mins, while the North Western still adhered to their 4hrs 40mins service. At this period and until 1880, when the Midland Company opened the Manchester Central Station, all three routes utilised the London Road terminus where, owing to the immense traffic, the resources of the working staff were taxed to their utmost.

From the 1st January 1883 the Great Northern directorate again forced the pace by reducing their time to 4hrs 30mins, when of course, the other two rivals had to follow suit. Throughout 1883, therefore, the triangular duel furnished the following results:-

Great Northern

Miles				Speed
	Manchester	dep	11.00am		Journey speed = 45mph. Average = 46¾mph
41	Sheffield	arr	12.01pm	40.5	Two trains each way like this. This
"		dep	12.05pm		service originated the run from Grantham
97¼	Grantham	arr	1.21pm	44.5	to London without a stop, for many years
		dep	1.26pm		the longest "break" in the world.
203½	Kings Cross	arr	3.30pm	51

Midland

Miles				Speed
	Manchester (C)	dep	3.45pm		Journey speed = 41¾mph. Average 45.17mph
31¼	Millers Dale	arr	4.32pm	40	Two other trains took 4hrs 40mins.
		dep	4.35pm
62½	Derby	arr	5.16pm	45.75
		dep	5.21pm
92	Leicester	arr	5.59pm	46.5
		dep	6.04pm
141½	Bedford	arr	7.06pm	48
		dep	7.10pm
161	Luton	arr	7.36pm	45
		dep	7.37pm
189½	Kentish Town	arr	8.13pm	47.5
		dep	8.16pm
191¼	St Pancras	arr	8.20pm

London and North Western

Miles				Speed
	Manchester LR	dep	11.15am		Journey speed = 42mph. Average 44.66mph
4¾	Stockport	arr	11.24am	32
		dep	11.25am
14	Alderley Edge	arr	11.40am	38
		dep	11.41am
31	Crewe	arr	12.06pm	40.8
		dep	12.15pm
106¼	Rugby	arr	1.50pm	47.5
		dep	1.58pm
183½	Willesden	arr	3.32pm	49.25
		dep	3.35pm
189	Euston	arr	3.45pm	33

Again, from 1st July 1884 the Great Northern reduced their time by the "Special Express" to 4hrs 15 mins. when their better situated opponents had to do likewise. The 2pm train from London Road stopped at Sheffield at 2.59 to 3.3pm and Grantham from 4.13pm to 4.17pm and reached Kings Cross at 6.15pm, a journey speed of 47.8mph. The Midland's 11.55am from Manchester Central ran non stop to Leicester 1.54pm/1.59pm, then stopped at Bedford 3.1pm/3.4pm and Kentish Town 4.3pm/4.6pm, reaching St Pancras at 4.10pm. Journey speed 45mph. Two up and one down ran on this timing. One down train was 5 minutes slower. One up and one down took 4hrs 45 mins.

The London and North Western's train now ran via Macclesfield as follows:-

Miles				Speed
	Manchester LR	dep	7.45am		Journey speed = 42.9mph
4¾	Stockport	arr	7.54am	32mph
		dep	7.55am
16½	Macclesfield	arr	8.13am	39.1mph
		dep	8.16am
24½	Congleton	arr	8.29am	36.9mph
		dep	8.30am
36	Stoke	arr	8.47am	40.5mph
		dep	8.49am
58	Rugeley Junc	arr	9.18am	45.4mph
		dep	9.20am
100	Rugby	arr	10.10am	50.4mph
		dep	10.15am
119¾	Blisworth	arr	10.38am	51.4mph
		dep	10.40am
177	Willesden	arr	11.47am	51.2mph
		dep	11.50am
182½	Euston	arr	12.00pm	33mph

Four years later, viz in 1888, the Midland ran one of its trains via Nottingham, and since this was for a long time the quickest train on the Midland system, its log may be shown in detail:-

Miles				Speed
	St Pancras	dep	2.00pm		Journey Speed = 46.3mph
72¼	Kettering	arr	3.22pm	53mph	Running average = 50.5mph
		dep	3.26pm
124	Nottingham	arr	4.25pm	52.6mph
		dep	4.30pm
171	Miller's Dale	arr	5.33pm	44.8mph
		dep	5.34pm
202¼	Manchester Central	arr	6.20pm	40.7mph

Subsequently, however, this excellent express reverted to the direct route via Leicester and Derby, eleven miles shorter. Nothing noteworthy again occurred in the Manchester - London services by any one of the three routes until the spring of 1898 when the North Western Company commenced running the 5.30pm down dining car express with only two intermediate stops. From the following 1st July, "breaks" of 128 miles between Willesden and Stafford by the 10.15am down and 138½ miles between Stoke and Willesden by the 12 noon up were also added.

On the 15th March 1899 the new Great Central route was opened for passenger traffic, leading to several important alterations in the Great Northern service. The King's Cross authorities were compelled to abandon the Manchester London Road terminus for the Central, distance from London via Retford 208 miles, while two of their down and all their up expresses were arranged to travel via Nottingham, a journey of 214 miles. The best time by the Retford route to Manchester now dropped back to 4hrs 32mins while the journey through Nottingham was scheduled to take from 4hrs 40mins to 4hrs 55mins. In its first batch of timetables, the Great Northern announced that until 30th June its trains would be run at "moderate speeds" only, and of the five expresses each way making up this preliminary service, two - the "Special Expresses" - took five hours, three took 5hrs 10mins and two took 5hrs 20mins. Another took 5hrs 30mins, one took 5hrs 40mins and yet another 5hrs 55mins. Again, from the 1st May 1899, the fact of the Great Northern and Great Central expresses tapping Nottingham led to the Midland converting their 9.00am down North express into a through Manchester connection via Nottingham.

With the 1st July 1899 timetable it was expected that the Great Central would level up at least one daily connection to the 4¼ hour standard; but the new line, while reinforcing its programme from five to eight trains each way, still adheres to the 4hrs 45mins limit. In the circumstances, it is not surprising to find that North Western declining any accelerations. This, then, is the up to date table of the "crack" Manchester to London expresses :-

Midland
9.00am from St Pancras, arriving Manchester Central 1.15pm; stopping at Kettering, Nottingham and Marple. Journey speed 47.5mph.

London and North Western
5.30pm from Euston, arriving Manchester London Road 9.45pm; stopping at Crewe and Stockport. Journey speed 44.4mph.

Great Northern
4.15pm from King's Cross, arriving Manchester Central 8.45pm; stopping at Grantham , Newark, Retford and Sheffield. Journey speed 46.2mph.

Great Central
1.30pm from Marylebone, arriving Manchester London Road 6.15pm; stopping at Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Journey speed 43.3mph.

The foregoing represents the best work done after 42 years of acute competition. The result being that Manchester and London have been brought only 30 minutes nearer to each other.

(The Manchester Guardian 14th August 1899)
(from the records of Walter Laidlaw)

This article first appeared in the Mancunian No.221 in March 2001

Last update January 2018. Comments welcome: website@manlocosoc.co.uk