1.
Caledonian Railway (Brechin)
–
This line was built by the Aberdeen Railway in the 1840s. It closed for traffic during the early 1950s with final closure undertaken by British Rail in 1981. The two railway stations have also been refurbished, however, there is still hope of seeing the CR Brechin extended a further 3 1⁄2 miles to Dubton, bringing it up to a total of 7 1⁄2 miles in length. This is a long term aim which would require the re-instatement of a short length of track. Steam locomotives Peckett 0-4-0ST no.1376 BAC No1, built in 1915, Peckett 0-6-0ST no.1889 Menelaus, built in 1934. Barclay 0-6-0ST no.2107 Harlaxton, built in 1941, returned to service in Summer 2016. Stored out of use at Bridge of Dun, stored out of use at Bridge of Dun. Stored out of use at Bridge of Dun, ivatt BR 2-6-0 Class 2MT 2-6-0 no. Undergoing overhaul on a site at Bridge of Dun. Diesel locomotives Ruston 48DS 4wDM no, operational, painted maroon with wasp stripes. Stored out of use at Bridge of Dun, stored out of use at Bridge of Dun. Yorkshire Engine Company 0-4-0 no.212 Royce, built in 1958, yorkshire Engine Company 0-4-0 no.211 Rolls, built in 1956. BR 0-6-0 Class 08 no.3059 Brechin City, built in 1954, BR Bo-Bo Class 25 no.25072. Official website Caledonian Railway Diesel Group Video and annotation of Bridge of Dun railway station http, //www. br46464. co. uk/
2.
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
–
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, the resulting company was an unwieldy construction, with numerous interests other than railway operation. Besides being the worlds largest transport organisation, it was also the largest commercial enterprise in the British Empire, the LMS also claimed to be the largest joint stock organisation in the world. In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles of railway, under the Transport Act 1947, along with the other members of the Big Four British railway companies, the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways. The LMS was the largest of the Big Four railway companies serving routes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the LMS operated services in and around London, the Midlands, the North West of England, Mid/North Wales and Scotland. The company also operated a network of lines in Northern Ireland. The LMS operated a number of lines jointly with the main railway companies. Most of these were situated at or near the boundaries between two or more of the companies, but there were notable examples which extended beyond this hinterland zone. Together with the London and North Eastern Railway, the LMS ran the former Midland, exceeding 183 miles, this was the largest jointly-operated network in Great Britain in terms of route mileage, and extended from Peterborough to the East Anglian coast. The M&GN was wholly incorporated into the LNER in 1936, the LMS also operated a significant joint network with the Southern Railway, in the shape of the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. This network connected Bath and Bournemouth, and wound its way through territory nominally allocated to a railway company. Through the former Midland Railway holdings, the LMS, together with the Great Northern Railway, the SR and the LMS were mainly overlapping on the West London Line. The London to Birmingham corridor was fiercely contested with the LMS running expresses over its West Coast Main Line via Rugby, the LMS was also the only one of the Big Four companies to operate rail services in Northern Ireland, serving most major settlements in the region. On 1 July 1903, the Midland Railway took over the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, in 1912, the Midland Railway purchased the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway which operated between London Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness, with a loop serving Tilbury. This part of the later came under the control of the LNER, although this particular route. This arrangement did however provide a choice for residents of Southend, the LMS was the minority partner in the Cheshire Lines Committee. In Ireland there were three railways, Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway 26.5 miles Northern Counties Committee 265, for all railways see List of constituents of the LMS. Generally, the Midland prevailed, with the adoption of many Midland practices such as the livery of Crimson Lake for passenger locomotives, notable was the continuation of the Midland Railways small-engine policy
3.
Track gauge
–
In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
4.
Standard gauge
–
The standard gauge is a widely used railway track gauge. Approximately 55% of the lines in the world are this gauge, all high-speed rail lines, except those in Russia, Uzbekistan, and Finland, are standard gauge. The distance between the edges of the rails is defined to be 1435 mm except in the United States. It is also called the UIC gauge or UIC track gauge, as railways developed and expanded, one of the key issues was the track gauge to be used. The result was the adoption throughout a large part of the world of a gauge of 1435 mm. In North East England, some lines in colliery areas were 4 ft 8 in. All these lines had been widened to standard gauge by 1846, parts of the United States, mainly in the Northeast, adopted the same gauge, because some early trains were purchased from Britain. However, until well into the half of the 19th century, Britain. The American gauges converged as the advantages of equipment interchange became increasingly apparent, notably, all the 5 ft broad gauge track in the South was converted to standard gauge over the course of two days beginning on 31 May 1886. See Track gauge in the United States, snopes categorized this legend as false, but commented that. It is perhaps more fairly labelled as True, but for trivial, the historical tendency to place the wheels of horse-drawn vehicles approximately 5 feet apart probably derives from the width needed to fit a carthorse in between the shafts. Others were 4 ft 4 in or 4 ft 7 1⁄2 in, the English railway pioneer George Stephenson spent much of his early engineering career working for the coal mines of County Durham. He favoured 4 ft 8 in for wagonways in Northumberland and Durham, the Hetton and Springwell wagonways also used this gauge. Stephensons Stockton and Darlington railway was primarily to transport coal from mines near Shildon to the port at Stockton-on-Tees. The initial gauge of 4 ft 8 in was set to accommodate the existing gauge of hundreds of horse-drawn chaldron wagons that were already in use on the wagonways in the mines. The railway used this gauge for 15 years before a change was made to 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge, George Stephenson used the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge for the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, authorised in 1826 and opened 30 September 1830. The success of this led to Stephenson and his son Robert being employed to engineer several other larger railway projects. Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, authorised 1824 and opened 1825, used 4 ft 6 in, Dundee and Newtyle Railway, authorised 1829 and opened 1831, used 4 ft 6 1⁄2 in
5.
Glasgow
–
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
6.
Scotland
–
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
7.
Edinburgh
–
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
8.
Aberdeen
–
Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands. During the mid-18th to mid-20th centuries, Aberdeens buildings incorporated locally quarried grey granite, since the discovery of North Sea oil in the 1970s, other nicknames have been the Oil Capital of the World or the Energy Capital of the World. The area around Aberdeen has been settled since at least 8,000 years ago, the city has a long, sandy coastline and a marine climate, the latter resulting in chilly summers and mild winters. Aberdeen received Royal Burgh status from David I of Scotland, transforming the city economically, the traditional industries of fishing, paper-making, shipbuilding, and textiles have been overtaken by the oil industry and Aberdeens seaport. Aberdeen Heliport is one of the busiest commercial heliports in the world, in 2015, Mercer named Aberdeen the 57th most liveable city in the world, as well as the fourth most liveable city in Britain. In 2012, HSBC named Aberdeen as a business hub and one of eight super cities spearheading the UKs economy. The Aberdeen area has seen human settlement for at least 8,000 years. The city began as two separate burghs, Old Aberdeen at the mouth of the river Don, and New Aberdeen, a fishing and trading settlement, the earliest charter was granted by William the Lion in 1179 and confirmed the corporate rights granted by David I. In 1319, the Great Charter of Robert the Bruce transformed Aberdeen into a property-owning, granted with it was the nearby Forest of Stocket, whose income formed the basis for the citys Common Good Fund which still benefits Aberdonians. The city was burned by Edward III of England in 1336, but was rebuilt and extended, the city was strongly fortified to prevent attacks by neighbouring lords, but the gates were removed by 1770. During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms of 1644–1647 the city was plundered by both sides, in 1644, it was taken and ransacked by Royalist troops after the Battle of Aberdeen and two years later it was stormed by a Royalist force under the command of Marquis of Huntly. In 1647 an outbreak of plague killed a quarter of the population. In the 18th century, a new Town Hall was built and the first social services appeared with the Infirmary at Woolmanhill in 1742 and the Lunatic Asylum in 1779. The council began major road improvements at the end of the 18th century with the main thoroughfares of George Street, King Street, gas street lighting arrived in 1824 and an enhanced water supply appeared in 1830 when water was pumped from the Dee to a reservoir in Union Place. An underground sewer system replaced open sewers in 1865, the city was incorporated in 1891. Although Old Aberdeen has a history and still holds its ancient charter. It is an part of the city, as is Woodside. Old Aberdeen is the location of Aberdon, the first settlement of Aberdeen
9.
Carlisle, Cumbria
–
Carlisle is a city and the county town of Cumbria. Historically in Cumberland, it is also the centre of the City of Carlisle district in North West England. Carlisle is located at the confluence of the rivers Eden, Caldew and it is the largest settlement in the county of Cumbria, and serves as the administrative centre for both Carlisle City Council and Cumbria County Council. At the time of the 2001 census, the population of Carlisle was 71,773, ten years later, at the 2011 census, the citys population had risen to 75,306, with 107,524 in the wider city. The early history of Carlisle is marked by its status as a Roman settlement, the castle now houses the Duke of Lancasters Regiment and the Border Regiment Museum. In the early 12th century, Henry I allowed the foundation of a priory in Carlisle, the town gained the status of a city when its diocese was formed in 1133, and the priory became Carlisle Cathedral. The introduction of textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution began a process of transformation in Carlisle. This, combined with its position, allowed for the development of Carlisle as an important railway town. Nicknamed the Great Border City, Carlisle today is the cultural, commercial and industrial centre for north Cumbria. It is home to the campuses of the University of Cumbria. The former County Borough of Carlisle had held city status until the Local Government Act 1972 was enacted in 1974, what is known of the ancient history of Carlisle is derived mainly from archaeological evidence and the works of the Roman historian Tacitus. The earliest recorded inhabitants were the Carvetii tribe of Britons who made up the population of ancient Cumbria. According to Boethius and John of Fordun, Carlisle existed before the arrival of the Romans in Britain and was one of the strongest British towns at the time, in the time of the emperor Nero, it was said to have burned down. The Roman settlement was named Luguvalium, based on a name that has been reconstructed as Brittonic *Luguwaljon, of Luguwalos. This walled civitas, possibly the one in northwest Britain. In the year 79, the two Roman generals Cn, petillius Cerealis advanced through Solway as they continued their campaign further north. As a result, it is likely that control was achieved at Carlisle over anti-imperial groups. This is possibly indicated from the reconstruction of the fort at Carlisle in 83 using oak timbers from further afield, at this time the Roman fort was garrisoned by a 500-strong cavalry regiment, the Ala Gallorum Sebosiana
10.
West Coast Main Line
–
The West Coast Main Line is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail, regional rail, the core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow, with branches diverging to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, totalling a route mileage of 700 miles. Services from London to North Wales and Edinburgh also run via the WCML and it is one of the busiest freight routes in Europe, carrying 40% of all UK rail freight traffic. The line is the rail freight corridor linking the European mainland through London and South East England to the West Midlands. The line has been declared a strategic European route and designated a priority Trans-European Networks route, other traffic is limited to 110 mph. The route between Rugby and Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stafford was the main line until the Trent Valley Line was built in 1847. A further branch at Carstairs links Edinburgh to the WCML, providing a connection between the WCML and the East Coast Main Line. This legacy means the WCML has limitations as a main line, with lower maximum speeds than the East Coast Main Line route. The WCML was not originally conceived as a trunk route. After the completion of the successful Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, and so this is how the early stages of the WCML evolved. The first stretch of what is now the WCML was the Grand Junction Railway connecting Liverpool and Manchester to Birmingham, via Crewe, Stafford, the following year the London and Birmingham Railway was completed, connecting to the capital via Coventry, Rugby and the Watford Gap. Three other sections, the North Union Railway, the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway, another important section, the North Staffordshire Railway, which opened its route in 1848 from Macclesfield to Stafford and Colwich via Stoke-on-Trent also remained independent. Poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that trains did not run until 1867. The route to Scotland was marketed by the LNWR as The Premier Line, because the cross-border trains ran over the LNWR and Caledonian Railway, through trains consisted of jointly owned West Coast Joint Stock to simplify operations. The first direct London to Glasgow trains in the 1850s took 12.5 hours to complete the 400-mile journey, the final sections of what is now the WCML were put in place over the following decades by the LNWR. To expand capacity, the line between London and Rugby was widened to four tracks in the 1870s, as part of this work, a new line, the Northampton Loop was built, opening in 1881, connecting Northampton before rejoining the main line at Rugby. The route came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway on 1 January 1923 when railway companies were grouped, the LMS competed fiercely with the rival LNERs East Coast Main Line for London to Scotland traffic. As part of the 1955 modernisation plan, the line was modernised and electrified in stages between 1959 and 1974, the first stretch to be electrified was Crewe to Manchester, completed on 12 September 1960
11.
Bo'ness and Kinneil Railway
–
The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway is a heritage railway in Boness, near Edinburgh, Scotland. Boness railway station is the nucleus of the planned Scottish Railway Museum, as with almost all of the preserved lines in Britain, diesel shunters are predominantly used to move rolling stock and locomotives around the yard at Boness. Former main-line diesel locomotives are abundant on the Boness Railway, the DMUs do not see much service. The SRPSs stock at Boness includes 67 passenger and light freight coaches and it is one of the most varied collections in the U. K. A small collection of LNER coaches reside at Boness, though most of the collection has yet to be restored, two of the railways Norwegian coaches were originally restored and used on passenger trains, though they have since been grounded for other purposes. The SRPS owns some of the last surviving HR coaches in existence today, none of the SRPSs LMS coaches are currently in operational condition. Caledonian Railways stock was used with the CR 0-4-4T, but has seen little use of late due to the loco being out of traffic. As with the LMS and Caledonian coaches, none of the North British Railway coaches are in service on passenger trains. The BR Mk1s were an abundant type of coach on the mainline in the days of BR steam. Today Mk1s make up over 95% of all Boness trains, generally made of three or four of them in Carmine/Cream, SRPS LMS Maroon, or Green/Cream, the Boness and Kinneil Railways stock includes rare, or even unique, builds for special purposes. Due to a lack of loops mid-journey, demonstration freight trains are restricted to the yard at Boness, in the days of steam wagons like these would have been used to transport coal across the country and into England and Wales. Brake vans are used either in front of, or behind trains. Tankers were originally designed for the transportation of liquids. 2000 re-make of The Railway Children, filmed on the Bluebell Railway using No.673 Maude, the railway themed episode of Bits and Bobs. 2008 re-make of The 39 Steps, featured on the MacAulay and Co. radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland. Location of railway scenes from Case Histories, BBC One,2011 Ken Loach The Angels Share at Birkhill Station for the opening with Actor Gary Maitland as Albert. Still Game one of the Episode Big Yin ending scene when Big Innes Clive Russell on the train, the film The Railway Man, starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is based on the autobiography of Eric Lomax. Made in 2013, it was released in January 2014, in the 2012 film Cloud Atlas, Jim Broadbents character Timothy Cavendish alights at the station
12.
London and North Western Railway
–
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the world, the company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. This move was prompted in part by the Great Western Railways plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham, the company initially had a network of approximately 350 miles, connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. The headquarters were at Euston railway station, as traffic increased it was greatly expanded with the opening in 1849 of the Great Hall, designed by Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It was 126 ft long,61 ft wide and 64 ft high, the station stood on Drummond Street. Further expansion resulted in two platforms in the 1870s, and four more in the 1890s, bringing the total to 15. The LNWR described itself as the Premier Line, as the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other railway company of its era. With the Grand Union Railway acquisition of the North Union Railway in 1846, in 1858 they merged with the Chester and Holyhead Railway and became responsible for the lucrative Irish Mail trains via the North Wales Main Line to Holyhead and handled the Irish Mail. On 1 February 1859 the company launched the limited mail service, the Postmaster General was always willing to allow a fourth coach provided the increased weight did not cause time to be lost in running. The train was timed to leave Euston at 20.30 and operated until the GPO instituted its own post train, wholly of Post Office vehicles, on 1 October 1873 the first sleeping carriage ran between Euston and Glasgow, attached to the limited mail. It ran three nights a week in each direction, on 1 February 1874 a second carriage was provided and the service ran every night. In 1860 the company pioneered the use of the water trough designed by John Ramsbottom and it was introduced on a section of level track at Mochdre, between Llandudno Junction and Colwyn Bay. At the core of the LNWR system was the main line network connecting London Euston with the cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. This route is known as the West Coast Main Line. The LNWR also had a line connecting Liverpool and Manchester with Leeds. At its peak just before World War I, it ran a route mileage of more than 1,500 miles, in 1913 the company achieved a total revenue of £17,219,060 with working expenses of £11,322,164. With this, the LNWR achieved a route mileage of 2,707.88 miles, the LNWR became a constituent of the London, Midland and Scottish railway when the railways of Great Britain were merged in the grouping of 1923. Ex-LNWR lines formed the core of the LMSs Western Division, nationalisation followed in 1948, with the English and Welsh lines of the LMS becoming the London Midland Region of British Railways
13.
Thomas Brassey
–
Thomas Brassey was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building much of the worlds railways in the 19th century. By 1847, he had built about one-third of the railways in Britain and this included three-quarters of the lines in France, major lines in many other European countries and in Canada, Australia, South America and India. He also built the structures associated with railways, including docks, bridges, viaducts, stations, tunnels. As well as engineering, Brassey was active in the development of steamships, mines, locomotive factories, marine telegraphy. The Brassey family traced back to a Norman ancestor from the town of Brécey in Lower Normandy who crossed to England with William the Conqueror in 1066. Initially their home was at Bulkeley, near Malpas in Cheshire, at some time, and certainly by 1663, the family moved to Manor Farm in Buerton, a small settlement in the parish of Aldford,6 miles south of Chester. Thomas Brassey was the eldest son of John Brassey, a prosperous farmer, Thomas Brassey was educated at home until the age of 12, when he was sent to The Kings School in Chester. Aged 16, he became an apprentice to a land surveyor and agent. Lawton was the agent of Francis Richard Price of Overton, Flintshire, during the time Brassey was an apprentice he helped to survey the new Shrewsbury to Holyhead road, assisting the surveyor of the road. While he was engaged in work he met the engineer for the road. When his apprenticeship ended at the age of 21, Brassey was taken into partnership by Lawton, forming the firm of Lawton, Brassey moved to Birkenhead where their business was established. Birkenhead at that time was a small place, in 1818 it consisted of only four houses. The business flourished and grew, extending into areas beyond land surveying, at the Birkenhead site a brickworks and lime kilns were built. The business either owned or managed sand and stone quarries in Wirral, amongst other ventures, the firm supplied the bricks for building the custom house for the port which was developing in the town. When Lawton died, Brassey became sole manager of the company and sole agent and it was during these years that he gained the basic experience for his future career. Brasseys first experiences of civil engineering were the construction of 4 miles of the New Chester Road at Bromborough, during that time he met George Stephenson, who needed stone to build the Sankey Viaduct on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Stephenson and Brassey visited a quarry in Storeton, a village near Birkenhead, in 1835 Brassey submitted a tender for building the Penkridge Viaduct, further south on the same railway, between Stafford and Wolverhampton, together with 10 miles of track. The tender was accepted, the work was completed
14.
North British Railway
–
The North British Railway was a British railway company, based in Edinburgh. It was established in 1844, with the intention of linking with English railways at Berwick, the line opened in 1846, and from the outset the Company followed a policy of expanding its geographical area, and competing with the Caledonian Railway in particular. In doing so it committed huge sums of money, and in doing so incurred shareholder disapproval that resulted in two leaving the company. Nonetheless the Company successfully reached Carlisle, where it made a partnership with the Midland Railway. It also linked from Edinburgh to Perth and Dundee, but for years the journey involved a ferry crossing of the Forth. Eventually the North British built the Tay Bridge, but the structure collapsed as a train was crossing in high wind, the company survived the setback and opened a second Tay Bridge, followed soon by the Forth Bridge, which together transformed the railway network north of Edinburgh. Early on, mineral traffic became dominant and brought in more revenue than the passenger services. At the grouping of the railways in 1923, the North British Railway was the largest railway company in Scotland, in that year it was a constituent of the new London and North Eastern Railway. Early railways in Scotland had been involved with conveyance of minerals—chiefly coal. The opening of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in 1842 showed that a longer distance general purpose railway could be commercially successful, during the construction of the E&GR, the money market had eased somewhat and a rapid development of long distance railways took place in England. Scottish promoters began to consider how central Scotland could be connected to the growing English network, and it was assumed for some time that only a single route was commercially viable. During this frenzy, a group of businesspeople formed the North British Railway Company to build a line from Edinburgh to Berwick (later named Berwick-on-Tweed with a branch to Haddington and they got their authorising Act of Parliament in 1844. The Newcastle and Berwick Railway was building its line, and in time they would part of a through chain of railways between Edinburgh and London. However the Caledonian was unable to secure subscriptions to present a Parliamentary Bill in 1844. The Chairman of the North British Railway, John Learmonth, saw that capturing as much territory as possible for the North British was essential in the competitive struggle, in the 1845 session of Parliament Learmonth secured authorising Acts for numerous branch lines, mostly to forestall incursion by competitors. Also in the 1845 session, the Caledonian Railway was authorised, the Caledonian was to prove a bitter rival. The Edinburgh and Perth Railway failed to get Parliamentary authorisation, all these plans for expansion were committing huge sums of money even before the main line was ready. At last on 22 June 1846 the line to Berwick and Haddington was open to the public, there were five trains daily, with an additional ten short journeys between Edinburgh and Musselburgh
15.
Glasgow and South Western Railway
–
The Glasgow and South Western Railway was a railway company in Scotland. It served an area of south-west Scotland between Glasgow, Stranraer and Carlisle. It was formed on 28 October 1850 by the merger of two railways, the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway and the Glasgow, Dumfries. Already established in Ayrshire, it consolidated its position there and extended southwards, in 1923 the G&SWR formed a constituent of the London Midland and Scottish Railway group. Much of the network remains active at the present day, Glasgow commuting particularly has developed, many of the earlier mineral workings, and branches constructed to serve them, have ceased, and many local passenger stations in rural areas have closed. In 1921 the G&SWR had 1,128 miles of line, in the early 1830s, there were already several mineral railways operating in Scotland, local in extent, they were mostly built to serve coal mines and other mineral activity. The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway was authorised in 1838, the GPK&AR had anticipated constructing its authorised line and then the extension, but by 1846 there was a frenzy of competing schemes that threatened to destroy the Companys core business. Few of these were realistic, but the GPK&AR itself felt obliged to promote numerous branches, many of them tactical, in order to keep competing schemes out. This period of promotion was followed by a slump, when money was difficult to come by. Enthusiasm for a connection to English railways continued, however, and was intensified by the promotion of other schemes to link central Scotland and England. Interests friendly to the GPK&AR formed the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway to extend from the extremity of the GPK&AR to Carlisle. This route became known as the Annandale Route, however more realistic expectations emerged later, and by Acts of 1846 and 1847 it was determined that the two companies would merge when the GD&CR had completed construction of its line. The GPK&AR extended as far as Horsecleugh and the GD&CR reached a junction there. Accordingly on 28 October 1850 the G&SWR was formed, although this was described as a merger, the reality was that the penniless GD&CR was dissolved, its operation was taken over by the GPK&AR, and the latter company changed its name to the G&SWR. The GPK&AR had been working the GD&CRs line for it since it opened, the trains on the Dumfries line now ran through to Carlisle, an arrangement having been made with the Caledonian Railway to permit this. However the CR did not encourage the G&SWR and only on 1 March 1851 was a booking clerk given accommodation at Carlisle Citadel passenger station, the CR ensured that all traffic between south of Carlisle and Glasgow or Edinburgh was routed over its own line. The accounts for the first half year, produced in March 1851, showed gross income for the six months to be £87,186, the Company owned 72 engines,171 passenger coaches, and 2,416 non-passenger vehicles. A pooling agreement was finalised in 1853 which mitigated some of the worst toll charges, the agreement included a comprehensive limitation on encroachment by either railway into the others territory
16.
Caledonian Steam Packet Company
–
The Caledonian Steam Packet Company provided a scheduled shipping service, carrying freight and passengers, on the west coast of Scotland. Formed in 1889 to complement the services of the Caledonian Railway, in 1973, they were merged with MacBraynes as Caledonian MacBrayne. Rival railway companies, the Caledonian Railway, the North British Railway, the CR failed to attract private ship owners to their new extension from Greenock to the fishing village of Gourock. The CR began operating steamers on its own account in 1889, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company was formed as a packet company in May 1889, with Captain James Williamson as secretary and manager. Nominally an independent company, they bought the ships needed to operate services to. On withdrawal of the Wemyss Bay Steamboat Company in 1890, CSP took over services to Rothesay, Largs, in June 1890, they established a service to Arran from the Lanarkshire and Ayrshire Railway railhead at Ardrossan. In the years followed, there was significant investment in piers. At the same time the NBR also amalgamated with other railways to create the London and North Eastern Railway, in 1935, Williamson-Buchanan Steamers was taken over by the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. In 1945, the Caledonian Steam Packet Company took responsibility for the Kyleakin to Kyle of Lochalsh ferry, with nationalisation in 1948, the LMS and LNER fleets were amalgamated as Clyde Shipping Services, under the control of the British Transport Commission. In 1957 a reorganisation restored the Caledonian Steam Packet Company name, the headquarters remained at Gourock pierhead. At the end of December 1968 management of the Caledonian Steam Packet Company passed to the Scottish Transport Group, the MacBrayne service from Gourock to Ardrishaig ended on 30 September 1969, leaving the Clyde services entirely to the Caledonian Steam Packet Company. On 1 January 1973 the Caledonian Steam Packet Co
17.
Railways Act 1921
–
The provisions of the Act took effect from the start of 1923. The British railway system had been built up by more than 100 railway companies, large and small, and often, particularly locally, in competition with each other. The parallel railways of the East Midlands and the rivalry between the South Eastern Railway and the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway at Hastings were two examples of local competition. During World War I the railways were under State control, which continued until 1921, the form of the Act was developed by former North Eastern Railway executive, the Minister of Transport, Eric Campbell Geddes. Geddes favoured privately owned regional monopolies through amalgamations, and suggested increased worker participation from pre-war levels, in his 9 March 1920 Cabinet paper Future Transport Policy, he proposed five English groups, a London passenger group, and separate single groupings for Scotland and Ireland. Geddes proposals became the 1920 white paper Outline of Proposals as to the Future Organisation of Transport Undertakings in Great Britain and this suggested the formation of six or seven regional companies, additionally it suggested worker participation on the board of directors of the company. The white paper was opposed by the Railway Companies Association and MPs representing railway companies interests, the move to greater worker participation was strongly opposed by the RCA, but supported by the Labour Party. Worker-directors were not included in the act, being replaced by agreed negotiating mechanisms. The regional groups initially proposed were five in England, and a Scottish regional group, Railways serving London were intended to form a separate regional group, but this amalgamation was delayed and took place in 1933. In 1921 the white paper Memorandum on Railways Bill, suggested four English regional groups, Scottish railway companies wished to be incorporated into British groupings, and the RCA proposed five British regional monopolies including the Scottish businesses. Part 1 of the act dealt with the terms and procedure of the amalgamations of railway companies, the constituents and subsidiaries of the four groups were set out in the first schedule of the act. Companies that had not formed a scheme by 1923 would be amalgamated under terms decided by a tribunal. The state control of the railways which began under war conditions during World War I were to continue under the Ministry of Transport Act 1919 for a two years. The Act took effect on 1 January 1923, on that date most of the mergers took place, some had taken place during the previous year. The February 1923 issue of The Railway Magazine dubbed the new companies as The Big Four of the New Railway Era, a number of joint lines remained outside the Big Four, continuing to be operated as jointly by successor companies. The London suburban railway companies, such as the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, later legislation under the London Passenger Transport Act 1933 amalgamated these and London area bus and tram operations into the London Passenger Transport Board. Other exempted railways were light railways authorised under the Light Railways Act 1896, and similar lines, although some such lines still chose to join the Groups
18.
Monkland Canal
–
The Monkland Canal was a 12 1⁄4-mile-long canal designed to bring coal from the mining areas of Monklands to Glasgow in Scotland. In the course of a long and difficult process, it was opened progressively as short sections were completed. Locks were later constructed linking the two sections, and the canal was connected to the Forth and Clyde Canal, giving additional business potential. Maintaining an adequate supply was a problem, and later an inclined plane was built at Blackhill, in which barges were let down and hauled up. Originally intended as a measure to be used in summer only. Much of the route now lies beneath the course of the M8 motorway, the eastern end of the final extent of the canal is at Calderbank, south of Woodside Drive, where there were coal pits, the canal was fed there from the North Calder Water. A reservoir was created at Hillend to sustain the canal in the dry season, the canal ran close to the north side of the North Calder Water, passing more coal pits at Faskine and Palacecraig, then turning north there. Palacecraig was later the southern extremity of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway, the canal passed under the road at Sikeside, from where it is nowadays in culvert. Turning west it passed under what is now Locks Street, Coatdyke, there was a lock to the east of the road, and a basin and second lock to the west of it. This location was called Sheepford Locks, and was the extremity of the canal as originally built. A branch canal called Dixons Cut was later built from the basin southwards to Dixons Calder Ironworks, the canal then continued westward, a little to the south of the Airdrie to Coatbridge main road. It passed south of the present-day Main Street area of Coatbridge and it was built to serve coal pits and then extended to serve the Dundyvan Ironworks with a complex of railway trans-shipment sidings at its termination. The main canal then ran fairly straight from the present-day A725 roundabout at the east end of Coatbridge Main Street to the Sunnyside Street roundabout. It was originally planned to serve coal pits, but it was unfinished in 1830 when the Baird Brothers established their Gartsherrie Ironworks at its termination. Continuing westward, the canal originally crossed the Gartsherrie Burn on Cotes Bridge. The aqueduct collapsed and had to be repaired in 1858, the canal then ran broadly west between Bank Street and West Canal Street, then turning a little more northerly from Blairhill Street, south of the present King Street, as far as Blair Street. There was an 80-yard tunnel under Bank Street and Buchanan Street, onwards from Blair Bridge the canal is open again, the route here arcs northward towards and through the Drumpellier estate, passing north of Drumpellier Home Farm. The estate had a bridge connecting the northern area, the canal then heads west again, with a short northerly spur serving coal pits at Drumpellier, continuing under the present-day railway line, and under the Cuilhill Road bridge
19.
Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway
–
The Monkland and Kirkintilloch Railway was an early mineral railway running from a colliery at Monklands to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch, Scotland. It was built to enable the transport of coal to market. It connected with the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch, giving onward access not only to Glasgow, the development of good ironstone deposits in the Coatbridge area made the railway successful, and the ironstone pits depended at first on the railway. Horse traction was used at first, but steam locomotive operation was later introduced, passengers were later carried, and briefly the M&KR formed a section of the principal passenger route between Edinburgh and Glasgow. In 1848 the Company merged with two adjoining railway lines to become the Monkland Railways, which in turn were absorbed by the Edinburgh, a short length of the original route remains in use in the Coatbridge area. There was also some extraction of ore in the area. The Monkland Canal had opened in 1794, and provided a stimulus to the coalpits in Monkland. Arising solely on its tolls on coal, a group of interested businessmen promoted the Monkland & Kirkintilloch Railway to link the coal pits and iron works to the Forth and Clyde Canal at Kirkintilloch. If coal and minerals were transshipped there, they could not only Glasgow, escaping the monopoly of the Monkland Canal. The scheme obtained parliamentary authority on 17 May 1824, with capital of £32,000. Construction started by contract the following month, the engineer for the scheme was Thomas Grainger, in his first large undertaking, he had previously been chiefly engaged in road schemes. It was built to the gauge of 4 ft 6 in, and as other coal railways opened up in the area in connection with the line. It is not known why Grainger chose this gauge, whatever the reason, he inadvertently caused huge disadvantage to the M&KR and several other coal railways in Central Scotland. The line is quoted to have opened in October 1826, but the north of Gartsherrie at least must have opened during May 1826. At first the railway did not own wagons or horses to pull them and it was only from 1835 that the company started to acquire its own fleet of wagons. The M&KR operated successfully from its opening, revenue was £704 in 1826, £2,020 in 1827, the price of coal in Glasgow fell markedly, as much due to the weakening of the cartel previously in force. However the bulk of coal arrived in Glasgow by the Canal—about 89% in 1830 and this is nine miles from the Cross at Glasgow, and two miles west of Airdrie. From this point the line continues due north for a quarter of a mile
20.
Ironstone
–
This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely banded, nonbanded, and noncherty sedimentary rocks of post-Precambrian age. The Precambrian deposits, which have a different origin, are known as banded iron formations. Freshly cleaved ironstone is usually grey, the brown external appearance is due to oxidation of its surface. Ironstone, being a rock is not always homogeneous, and can be found in a red and black banded form called tiger iron. Sometimes ironstone hosts concretions or opal gems, Ironstone occurs in a variety of forms. The various forms of ironstone include siderite nodules, deeply weathered saprolite, i. e. Ironstone, although widespread, is a limited source of iron. Historically, most of British iron originated from ironstone, but it is now used for this purpose because it is far too limited in quantity to be an economic source of iron ore. Its iron quality is in its resistance to chipping, not in any ingredient in its manufacture, the stone can also be used as a building material. Examples include the churches at Kirby Bellars and South Croxton in Leicestershire. Iron ore Iron-rich sedimentary rocks Oxfordshire Ironstone Railway
21.
David Mushet
–
David Mushet was a Scottish engineer, known for his inventions in the field of metallurgy. Mushet was born on 2 October 1772 in Dalkeith near Edinburgh and he was educated at Dalkeith Grammar School. When Mushet was a boy, his father established a foundry at Croft Street in Dalkeith and he would sometimes accompany him at the ironworks and it was on these visits that the first seeds of his lifelong obsession with iron-making were sown. Mushet left school at the age of 19, but did not go to work at his fathers foundry, instead, being good at mathematics, he began work as an accountant at the Clyde Iron Works near Glasgow. Alongside his bookkeeping duties, he read extensively on the subject of making and, after a staff reduction was made in 1793. At first, these were encouraged by his employers, and he even taught assaying to the son, but later. In 1800, he patented a process to make cast steel from wrought iron and his employers, becoming jealous of him, dismissed him from the Clyde Iron Works in the same year. The following year, with the help of partners, he bought and rebuilt the Calder Iron Works and it was here he made his second great discovery, in 1801, he demonstrated that Black-band Ironstone, could be used to economically produce iron. By 1805 Mushet had published some thirty papers in Philosophical Magazine, in his book, Man of Iron - Man of Steel, historian Ralph Anstis writes that Mushet was now looked up to as an authority both at home and abroad on matters connected with iron and steel making. Not unnaturally, perhaps, he was becoming dissatisfied with the limitations imposed by the Calder Iron Works and, restive for wider experience and greater opportunities, in 1805 Mushet moved to Derbyshire, to become manager of the Alfreton Ironworks. While working there, he joined the Geological Society and wrote several articles on iron which were published in magazines and encyclopaedias. However, he did not enjoy perfect relations with his colleagues, in 1808 Mushet was approached by Thomas Halford, a wealthy investor from London, who owned two furnaces at Whitecliff, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. Halford was having difficulty with the quality and quantity of iron being produced at his works, in February 1810 he moved to Coleford to take up full-time management of the Whitecliff works, buying a quarter share of the business. Some weeks later he was joined by his wife, Agnes, Mushet ran the furnaces at Whitecliff for six months, but then quickly disengaged himself from the partnership. He was not known to act impulsively, and the reasons for this decision are not fully known, during this time he carried out experiments in a stone barn, in a field adjoining his house. In 1815, he discovered a way to produce refined iron directly from the blast furnace, without the use of a separate refinery, some of the iron produced was in fact steel, and for ten years he shaved using a pair of razors made at this time. In 1818/9 he built a foundry at Darkhill, in the Forest of Dean, although he did produce significant quantities of iron for sale there, the larger part of the works was given over to research and experimental production. He was appointed a director of the British Iron Company in 1826 although not without misgivings among some of the shareholders as to his suitability for such a post
22.
Hot blast
–
Hot blast refers to the preheating of air blown into a blast furnace or other metallurgical process. As this considerably reduced the fuel consumed, hot blast was one of the most important technologies developed during the Industrial Revolution, hot blast also allowed higher furnace temperatures, which increased the capacity of furnaces. As first developed, it worked by alternately storing heat from the flue gas in a firebrick-lined vessel with multiple chambers. This is known as regenerative heating, hot blast was invented and patented for iron furnaces by James Beaumont Neilson in 1828 at Wilsontown Ironworks in Scotland, but was later applied in other contexts, including late bloomeries. Later the carbon monoxide in the gas was burned to provide additional heat. James Beaumont Neilson, previously foreman at Glasgow gas works, invented the system of preheating the blast for a furnace and he, with partners including Charles Macintosh, patented this in 1828. Initially the heating vessel was made of iron plates, but these oxidized. On the basis of a January 1828 patent, Thomas Botfield has a claim as the inventor of the hot blast method. Neilson is credited as inventor of hot blast because he won patent litigation, Neilson and his partners engaged in substantial litigation to enforce the patent against infringers. The spread of technology across Britain was relatively slow. By 1840,58 ironmasters had taken out licenses, yielding a royalty income of £30,000 per year, by the time the patent expired there were 80 licenses. In 1843, just after it expired,42 of the 80 furnaces in south Staffordshire were using hot blast, other advantages of hot blast were that raw coal could be used instead of coke. In Scotland, the poor black band ironstone could be profitably smelted. It also increased the output of furnaces. In the case of Calder ironworks from 5.6 tons per day in 1828 to 8.2 in 1833, early hot blast stoves were troublesome, as thermal expansion and contraction could cause breakage of pipes. This was somewhat remedied by supporting the pipes on rollers and it was also necessary to devise new methods of connecting the blast pipes to the tuyeres, as leather could not longer be used. Ultimately this principle was applied even more efficiently in regenerative heat exchangers, such as the Cowper stove, independently, George Crane and David Thomas, of the Yniscedwyn Works in Wales, conceived of the same idea, and Crane filed for a British patent in 1836. They began producing iron by the new process on February 5,1837, Crane subsequently bought Gessenhainers patent and patented additions to it, controlling the use of the process in both Britain and the US
23.
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
–
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was a railway opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in the United Kingdom. Jervis of the Delaware and Hudson Railway some years later wrote, as opening the epoch of railways which has revolutionised the social and commercial intercourse of the civilized world. Trains were hauled by steam locomotives between the two towns, though private wagons and carriages were allowed. Cable haulage of trains was down the steeply-graded 1. 26-mile Wapping Tunnel to Liverpool Docks from Edge Hill junction. The railway was built to provide faster transport of raw materials, finished goods. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first public transport system on land which did not use animal traction power. Up to then, the rail systems for public use had been, Horse-drawn plateways, such as the Lake Lock Railroad, Surrey Iron Railway. Railways that used a mix of steam and horse-drawn traffic, such as the Stockton and Darlington Railway, or a mix of cable and horse haulage, often described as the Grand British Experimental Railway the success or failure of which would decide plans for all future railways. The L&MR was intended to achieve cheap transport of raw materials, finished goods, huge tonnages of textile raw material were imported through Liverpool and carried to the textile mills near the Pennines where water and then steam power enabled the production of the finished cloth. There was support for the railway from the towns at either end, the original promoters are usually acknowledged to be Joseph Sandars, a rich Liverpool corn merchant, and John Kennedy, then owner of the largest spinning mill in Manchester. They were influenced to do this by William James, now something of a forgotten figure, James was a land surveyor who had made a fortune in property speculation. He advocated a national network of railways, based upon what he had seen of the development of colliery lines, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Company was founded on 24 May 1823. It was established by Henry Booth, who became its secretary and treasurer, along with merchants from Liverpool. Charles Lawrence was the Chairman, Lister Ellis, Robert Gladstone, John Moss, a bill presented in 1825 to Parliament was rejected, but it passed in May the following year. In Liverpool 172 people took 1,979 shares, in London 96 took 844, the Marquess of Stafford had 1,000, giving 308 shareholders with 4,233 shares. The initial survey for the line was carried out by William James and, Robert Stephenson departed for South America and William James became bankrupt. Consequently, in 1824 George Stephenson was appointed engineer in their place, by this time, he was taking on too much. As Robert was absent, George left checking the survey to subordinates, upon presentation to Parliament in 1825 it was shown to be inaccurate
24.
London and Birmingham Railway
–
This is about the 19th century railway company. For the 21st century train operating company, see London Midland, the London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway. The 112-mile railway line which the company opened in 1838 between London and Birmingham was the first intercity line to be built into London and it is now the southern section of the West Coast Main Line. The line was engineered by Robert Stephenson and it started at Euston Station in London, went north-north-west to Rugby, where it turned west to Coventry and on to Birmingham. It terminated at Curzon Street Station, which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway, soon afterwards a rival company was formed by Francis Giles whose line would have been through the Watford Gap and Coventry. Neither company obtained backing for its scheme, and in late 1830 the two decided to merge. The new company appointed Robert Stephenson chief engineer, and he chose the route through Coventry, the prospectus for the London and Birmingham Railway offered the following inducements to potential investors, The company was created with an initial capitalisation of £5,500,000. Much of the funds came from Lancashire, where great profits were being made in the cotton industries. The construction of the line was the subject of opposition by landowners. Turbulent public meetings were held in West Hertfordshire towns to protest against the project, the anatomist Sir Astley Cooper was also in attendance, intent on preventing the new railway from cutting across his Gadebridge Estate. The L&BR Companys first application for an Act of Parliament to construct the line was rejected in 1832, due to pressure from landowners and road, the railway route proposals through Hertfordshire were modified and in May 1833 a second act was approved and the line received the royal assent. Construction began in November of that year, in particular, he suggested that the effort to build the Great Pyramid of Giza amounted to the lifting of 15,733,000,000 cubic feet of stone by 1 foot. The railway, excluding a string of tasks – drainage, ballasting. The pyramid involved, he says, the effort of 300,000 men or 100,000 for twenty years, the railway involved 20,000 men for five years. The line had been planned to open at the time as the Grand Junction Railway which entered Birmingham from the north. However great difficulty in constructing the Kilsby Tunnel in Northamptonshire delayed the opening, the first part of the line between Euston Station and Boxmoor opened on 20 July 1837. The line was fully opened on 17 September 1838 with the first passenger train from London to Birmingham arriving that day. The first London to Birmingham trains took 5 1⁄2 hours to complete the 112 1⁄2 mile journey, the railway opened from Euston on 20 July 1837, the stationary engines and rope haulage did not commence until 27 September, and handled all trains from 14 October 1837
25.
Southern Uplands
–
The Southern Uplands are the southernmost and least populous of mainland Scotlands three major geographic areas. The term is used both to describe the region and to collectively denote the various ranges of hills and mountains within this region. An overwhelmingly rural and mainly agricultural region, the Southern Uplands are partly forested, the Southern Uplands consist mainly of Silurian sedimentary deposits deposited in the Iapetus Ocean from 400–500 million years ago. The Caledonian orogeny is named for Caledonia, a Latin name for Scotland, the majority of the rocks are weakly metamorphosed coarse greywacke. Levels of deformation associated with these faults is highly variable, but is pervasive in the finer-grained sediments, secondary mineralisation has further altered these Lower Palaeozoic rocks which are hosts for some distinctive springs, some of which have been exploited for tourism, such as those around Moffat. There are several ranges of hills and mountains within the Southern Uplands, from east to west these are, Cheviot Hills straddling the eastern end of the Anglo-Scottish border. Tweedsmuir or Manor Hills south of Tweedsmuir, Lowther Hills between Clydesdale/Annandale and Nithsdale. Carsphairn and Scaur Hills between Nithsdale and the Glenkens, Galloway Hills west of the Glenkens. Although the summits are not as high as many in the Scottish Highlands nor other famous mountain regions, parts of the Southern Uplands are remote and mountainous, containing about 120 Marilyns. The region is drained by rivers, the most important of which are Scotlands third and fourth longest, the River Clyde at 106 mi. Several significant rivers drain southwards into the Solway Firth and Irish Sea including the River Cree, River Dee, River Nith, River Annan, there are numerous lochs in the Southern Uplands, particularly in the west. The largest is Loch Ken which arises from the damming of the Water of Ken, to the east of Moffat is the largest natural body of water in the Southern Uplands, St. Marys Loch together with the adjacent Loch of the Lowes and nearby Loch Skeen. There are several reservoirs in the vicinity including Megget Reservoir, Talla Reservoir. The area has a diversity of species and habitats. The uplands support black and red grouse, mountain hares, raptors such as eagles and hen harriers. The western hills are home to red deer, roe deer, the western forests have one fifth of the Scottish population of red squirrels. Ospreys are present at St Marys Loch and along the River Tweed, brown trout are common in many burns and a number of the rivers in the area have populations of sea trout, salmon and otters. The two unitary authorities of Dumfries and Galloway in the west and the Scottish Borders in the east cover almost all of the Southern Uplands, along its northern margins, the councils of South Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and East Lothian extend into the region
26.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
–
Berwick-upon-Tweed is a town in the county of Northumberland. It is the northernmost town in England and it is located 2 1⁄2 miles south of the Scottish border, at the mouth of the River Tweed on the east coast. It is about 56 miles east-south east of Edinburgh,65 miles north of Newcastle upon Tyne and 345 miles north of London, the United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Berwicks population as 12,043. A civil parish and town council were created in 2008, Berwick was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which was annexed by England in the 10th century. The area was for more than 400 years central to historic border wars between the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and several times possession of Berwick changed hands between the two kingdoms, the last time it changed hands was when England retook it in 1482. Berwick remains a market town and also has some notable architectural features, in particular its medieval town walls, its Elizabethan ramparts. The name Berwick is of Old English origin, and is derived from the term bere-wīc, combining bere, meaning barley, Berwick thus means barley village or barley farm. In the post-Roman period, the area was inhabited by the Brythons of Bryneich, later, the region became part of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia. Bernicia later united with the kingdom of Deira to form Northumbria, Berwick remained part of the Earldom of Northumbria until control passed to the Scots following the Battle of Carham of 1018. The town itself was founded as an Anglo-Saxon settlement during the time of the Kingdom of Northumbria, between the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the land between the rivers Forth and Tweed came under Scottish control, either through conquest by Scotland or through cession by England. Berwick was made a burgh in the reign of David I. A mint was present in the town by 1153, while under Scottish control, Berwick was referred to as South Berwick in order to differentiate it from the town of North Berwick, East Lothian, near Edinburgh. Berwick had a hospital for the sick and poor which was administered by the Church. Dated at Edinburgh June 8, in the 20th year of his reign, Berwicks strategic position on the Anglo-Scottish border during centuries of war between the two nations and its relatively great wealth led to a succession of raids, sieges and takeovers. William I of Scotland invaded and attempted to capture northern England in 1173-74, after his defeat, Berwick was ceded to Henry II of England. It was later back to William by Richard I of England in order to raise funds for his Crusade. Berwick had become a town by the middle of the 13th century. In 1291–92 Berwick was the site of Edward I of Englands arbitration in the contest for the Scottish crown between John Balliol and Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, the decision in favour of Balliol was pronounced in the Great Hall of Berwick Castle on 17 November 1292
27.
East Coast Main Line
–
The East Coast Main Line is a 393-mile long railway link between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington and Newcastle, electrified along the whole route. Services north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness use diesel trains, the main franchise on the line is operated by Virgin Trains East Coast. The route forms a key artery on the side of Great Britain and is broadly paralleled by the A1 trunk road. It links London, the South East and East Anglia, with Yorkshire and it also carries key commuter flows for the north side of London. It is important to the health of several areas of England and Scotland. It also handles cross-country, commuter and local services. The route has ELRs ECM1 - ECM9, the line was built by three railway companies, each serving their own area, but with the intention of linking up to form the through route that became the East Coast Main Line. In 1923 the three companies were grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway and this later became part of British Railways in 1948. The Selby Diversion was opened in 1983 and diverged from the original ECML at Temple Hirst Junction, north of Doncaster, the ECML has been the backdrop for a number of famous rail journeys and locomotives. The line was worked for years by Pacific locomotives designed by Gresley, including the famous steam locomotives Flying Scotsman. Mallard achieved a record speed for a steam locomotive, at 126 miles per hour. It made the run on the Grantham-to-Peterborough section, on the descent of Stoke Bank, steam locomotives were replaced by Diesel electrics in the early 1960s, when the purpose-built Deltic locomotive was developed by English Electric. The prototype was successful and a fleet of 22 locomotives was built, the Class 55s were powered by two Napier Deltic engines originally developed for fast torpedo boats, with the three crankshaft triangular configuration of the engines giving the Deltic name. Their characteristic throaty exhaust roar and chubby body outline made them unmistakable, the Class 55 was for a time the most powerful diesel locomotive in service in Britain, at 3,300 hp. Just after the Deltics were introduced, the first sections of the East Coast Main Line were upgraded to allow 100 miles per hour running. The first length to be cleared for the new higher speed was a 17 miles stretch between Peterborough and Grantham on 15 June 1965, the second was 12 miles between Grantham and Newark. A prototype of the HST, the Class 41 achieved 143 mph on the line in 1973, a secondary factor was that the signalling technology of the time was insufficient to allow detection of two broken rails on the line on which the train was operating. Locomotives have operated on the ECML at speeds of up to 161.7 mph in test runs. 3A equipment and this included the Hertford Loop Line
28.
Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway
–
The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway was a railway in Scotland that provided train services between Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ayr. It opened its first line, between Glasgow and Ayr in 1839 -1840, the section between Glasgow and Paisley was made jointly with the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway. Later it built a line from Dalry via Kilmarnock to Cumnock, linking there with the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway, the two companies merged to form the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The original main line from Glasgow to Ayr, and the line from Kilmarnock to Carlisle, are in use today, although many intermediate stations and these coal railways used horse traction and short cast iron rails on stone block sleepers. The key technical advance was that they used edge rails, the guidance was provided by flanges on the wheels of the wagons and these lines showed the way forward. In 1831 the Ardrossan Railway opened, it too was a line using stone block sleepers. It was conceived as a means of developing Ardrossan Harbour as the sea port for Glasgow, accordingly, the line was truncated, and only reached a terminal at Kilwinning and collieries east of that town. When the Grand Junction Railway was authorised in 1833, it was possible to consider that railways might one day link central Scotland and the south of England. Miller proposed a route from Tradeston, in Glasgow at the end of Glasgow Bridge, through Paisley. The cost was to be £550,000 and a 10% return could be expected, notwithstanding the south-westerly course of the line, plotting a direct route was easy, but gradients were severe, earthworks would be formidable, and there was much less intermediate business. Gale was a rival canal companys engineer, and was hardly impartial and it was necessary to bring in someone to settle the matter, George Stephenson gave a report supporting Millers choice of route. Raising capital proved straightforward, and it was possible to present a Bill for the line in the 1837 session of Parliament, there was strenuous opposition from river and canal interests, but this was overcome. At the time the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway was also promoting its line and it became obvious that Parliament would be hostile to the formation of two adjacent lines, so it was determined to build the line jointly as far as Paisley. Both the GPK&AR and the GP&GR received the royal assent on 15 July 1837, the Glasgow, Paisley Kilmarnock and Ayr Railway Act authorised share capital of £625,000, and £208,300 in loans. The line was to be constructed simultaneously from each end, to prevent the experience of the Ardrossan Railway which failed to build the end of its authorised line. The gauge of the new line was not yet determined, although the estimates had been prepared on the basis that it would not exceed 6 feet. Many of Grainger and Millers lines had been to a gauge of 4 ft 6in, the Dundee and Newtyle Railway had been at 4 ft 6½in and the Dundee and Arbroath Railway, authorised in 1836, was to be 5 ft 6in. Construction of the line, supervised by Grainger & Miller, proved challenging, as a large-scale contracting industry was not yet in place in Scotland and this was an enormous success and that limited section of the line made a surplus of £500 in the remainder of the year
29.
Caledonian main line
–
The Caledonian Railway main line in Scotland connected Glasgow and Edinburgh with Carlisle, via Carstairs and Beattock. It was opened in 1847 by the Caledonian Railway, the approach to Glasgow used railways already built, primarily for mineral traffic, these were later by-passed by a more direct route. Today, the forms the northern section of the West Coast Main Line. The difficult terrain of the Southern Uplands and Cumberland made the selection of a route controversial, after much difficulty, the Caledonian Railway was authorised to build a line via Beattock, this was known as the Annandale Route. On 10 September 1847 the line was opened between Carlisle and Beattock, the station at Carlisle was built and operated jointly with the London and North Western Railway. Construction continued and on 15 February 1848 the line was opened between Beattock and Glasgow, completing the Carlisle to Glasgow route, finally the line from Carstairs to Edinburgh opened on 1 April 1848. At first the southern termination of the line was at Carlisle station, later named Carlisle Citadel, passengers, the line ran broadly north across gently undulating country at first, crossing the River Esk and entering Scotland near Gretna, then climbing following the Kirtle Water to Lockerbie. Climbing further, the line followed the Annan Water to Beattock, now turning north-west, the Glasgow line continues past Lanark and near Carluke, joining the Wishaw and Coltness Railway at Garriongill Junction. The W&CR had been built as a railway, primarily intended for the haulage of coal. It had been upgraded and modernised, and leased by the Caledonian Railway, the main line used the W&CR line to Motherwell, from which point the original route is not part of the modern main line. It turned north through to Whifflat, joining the Glasgow, Garnkirk and this too had been built as a coal railway, and had been upgraded and renamed the Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway, it too was leased by the Caledonian Railway. From Whifflat the line ran to Coatbridge, and then turned west on through Garnkirk, the approach to Glasgow made a long northward sweep, and the Townhead terminus was not well located for central Glasgow. During the process of obtaining Parliamentary authorisation for its line, the Caledonian discovered that an independent Clydesdale Junction Railway was also being authorised, the Caledonian quickly took control of the Clydesdale Junction by leasing it during construction, it opened throughout on 1 June 1849. Its route left the Wishaw and Coltness line at Motherwell, and ran via Uddingston and Rutherglen to a terminus called South Side in Glasgow, at the junction of Cathcart Road and Pollokshaws Road. This too was located for the city centre, but the Caledonian now had two routes to two terminal stations in Glasgow. The Clydesdale Junction route now forms the end of the modern Caledonian main line. The Edinburgh section of the Caledonian main line left Carstairs station, for several years passenger trains from Carlisle divided at Carstairs, the Glasgow portion proceeded, and the Edinburgh portion reversed direction towards the capital. It is likely that goods trains too ran to Carstairs and remarshalled there, a cut-off line was constructed enabling direct running from Carlisle towards Edinburgh, but it was little used and it was soon closed
30.
River Tweed
–
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is a river 97 miles long that flows east across the Border region in Scotland and northern England. Tweed derives its name from its association with the River Tweed, the Tweed is one of the great salmon rivers of Britain and the only river in England where an Environment Agency rod licence is not required for angling. Tweed is a British name of uncertain meaning and it flows primarily through the scenic Borders region of Scotland, and eastwards from the settlements on opposing banks of Birgham and Carham forms the historic boundary between Scotland and England. It rises in the Lowther Hills at Tweeds Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside is a saying from the Border region. East of Kelso, it becomes a section of the part of the border. Entering England, its reaches are in Northumberland, where it enters the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed. The rivers valley floor is a field and the relic of a paleo-ice stream that flowed through the area during the last glaciation. Major towns through which the Tweed flows include Innerleithen, Peebles, Galashiels, Melrose, Kelso, Coldstream and Berwick-upon-Tweed, where it flows into the North Sea
31.
River Tyne
–
The River Tyne /ˈtaɪn/ is a river in North East England and its length is 73 miles. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers, the North Tyne and the South Tyne and these two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed The Meeting of the Waters. The North Tyne rises on the Scottish border, north of Kielder Water and it flows through Kielder Forest, and passes through the village of Bellingham before reaching Hexham. The South Tyne rises on Alston Moor, Cumbria and flows through the towns of Haltwhistle and Haydon Bridge, hadrians Wall lies to the north of the Tyne Gap. Coincidentally the source of the South Tyne is very close to the sources of the two great rivers of the industrial north east namely the Tees and the Wear. The South Tyne Valley falls within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the second largest of the 40 AONBs in England, to the east of Gateshead and Newcastle, the Tyne divides Hebburn and Jarrow on the south bank from Walker and Wallsend on the north bank. Jarrow and Wallsend are linked underneath the river by the Tyne Tunnel, finally it flows between South Shields and Tynemouth into the North Sea. The Tyne Rivers Trust measure the whole Tyne catchment as 2,936 square kilometres, the River Tyne is believed to be around 30 million years old. The largest coal staithes were located at Dunston in Gateshead, Hebburn and Tyne Dock, the dramatic wooden staithes at Dunston, built in 1890, have been preserved, although they were partially destroyed by fire in 2006. And to this day in 2016 Tyne Dock, South Shields is still involved with coal, the tidal river is now managed by the Port of Tyne Authority. Nothing definite is known of the origin of the designation Tyne, nor is the known by that name until the Saxon period. There is a theory that Tīn was a word that meant river in the local Celtic language or in a language spoken in England before the Celts came, there is also a river Tyne that rises in Midlothian in Scotland and flows through East Lothian into the North Sea. The River Vedra on the Roman map of Britain may be the Tyne, the late Thomas John Taylor supposed that the main course of the river anciently flowed through what is now Team Valley, its outlet into the tidal river being by a waterfall at Bill Point. His theory is not far from the truth, as there is evidence that prior to the last Ice Age, Ice diverted the course of the Wear to its current location, flowing east the course of the Tyne) and joining the North Sea at Sunderland. Sculpted by David Wynne, the bronze figure incorporates flowing water into its design. The Environment Agency is currently working with architects and cultural consultancy xsite, in collaboration with Commissions North, the Tyne Salmon Trail will serve as a celebration of the river, its heritage and its increasingly diverse ecosystem. FINS, REFLECTION and JOURNEY were the first 3 cubes to be launched in December 2007 from a family of 10, each cube is inspired by the textures, changing colours, movement and journey of the salmon. With each offering a modern day keepsake to take away, in the form of a designed Bluetooth message, for three days, between 18–20 July 2008, a temporary bamboo artwork was installed over the Tyne close to the Gateshead Millennium Bridge
32.
Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway
–
The Dumfries, Lochmaben and Lockerbie Railway was a railway in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Promoted independently, it was absorbed by the Caledonian Railway to give access to Dumfriesshire and it opened in 1863, closed to ordinary passenger services in 1952, and closed completely in 1966. In the first years of the century, the area round Lochmaben was agricultural. The Burgh of Dumfries was dominant in the area, and the route between Carlisle and Glasgow and Edinburgh ran through Lockerbie. There had traditionally been significant trade movement along the Lockerbie - Lochmaben - Dumfries road, in 1847 the Caledonian Railway opened its main line through Lockerbie. The arrival of the railway brought cheap coal to the communities served, Lochmaben felt itself at a disadvantage to its neighbours, four miles and six miles away. The populations in 1850 were Lochmaben,3,100, Dumfries,11,000, the promoters wished to have an independent passenger station in Dumfries, but the G&SWR opposed this and the House of Lords committee agreed, obliging the DL&LR to use the G&SWR station. The CR was happy to see the line promoted locally, considering that it would give it access to Dumfries, B. & H. Blyth of Edinburgh designed and built the line, and services started on 1 September 1863. The DL&LJR set up an independent goods station, named St Marys, the Caledonian Railway worked the line from the outset. There were five return journeys a day stopping at all stations at first. When the CD&DR line opened, the points and signals at Dumfries were operated by a pointsman on the ground there, when the DL&LR line was constructed, a very early interlocking was installed. The opportunity was taken to relocate the pointsmans place of duty at the summit of the slope at the cutting north of Dumfries station. The Castle Douglas and Lockerbie railways formed junctions with the G&SWR line in the cutting opposite the pointsmans tower, the points at the sidings and junctions will be worked from the top of this bank by means of rods and levers. In 1861 the Portpatrick Railway opened its line from Castle Douglas to Stranraer, the Bill was passed by Parliament and became the Portpatrick Railway Act on 29 July 1864, and the working arrangement with the CR took effect on 4 December 1864. This gave the CR access to the traffic from the north of Ireland, the CR were able to insist that traffic from Stranraer to Glasgow and Edinburgh was routed over their own line via Lockerbie, using the DL&LR. It was a next step to absorb the DL&LR. The CR also wanted a share of the ferry traffic going to Ireland via Portpatrick. In the years leading to 1876 passengers from Stranraer to London by the boat train went via Annan on the G&SWR to Carlisle
33.
Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint Railway
–
It also formed part of a route by rail and sea from England and Scotland to the north of Ireland. The line closed in 1965 apart from the section from Stranraer Harbour to Challoch Junction. As early as 1620 Portpatrick had been established as the port for the sea route between south-west Scotland and the north of Ireland, at Donaghadee in County Down. A barracks was erected in the town to facilitate troop movements, however the limitations of the little harbour became serious disadvantages as other more efficient rail-connected routes, via Liverpool, and later Holyhead became dominant. The Glasgow and South Western Railway was formed by amalgamation in 1850, on the opening of the line which ran from Glasgow via Kilmarnock. When local interests promoted a railway branching from it at Dumfries and running to Castle Douglas, the G&SWR actively supported it, in fact subscribing £60,000 towards the little Companys capital. The G&SWR motives appear to have been a desire to secure the territory from their rival, the Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway opened on 7 November 1859 and was worked from the outset by the G&SWR. The larger Company soon made advances to take over the CD&DR, by now the CD&DR had obtained its authorising Act and the Portpatrick line would join it at Castle Douglas instead of going independently to Dumfries. The route east of Newton Stewart took a northerly course through bleak terrain. While there was much enthusiasm locally for the new venture, it was important to obtain support from investors elsewhere. For a while the Great Northern Railway was leading, offering £160,000, at the time the GNR was no closer than Bradford, but it sought alliances and for a time had hopes of forming its own trunk route to Scotland and the north of Ireland. This was ended when the G&SWR made it clear it would refuse running powers between Gretna Junction and Castle Douglas, the Bill for the new line went to Parliament in the 1857 session, but the grand title was changed to the more modest Portpatrick Railway. With little opposition it obtained its authorising Act on 10 August 1857, the main line was to be 60 miles 60 chains in length from Castle Douglas to Portpatrick, with two short branches, to the west quay at Stranraer, and to the north pier at Portpatrick. The G&SWR subscribed an additional £40,000, towards the end of the construction period the PR gave consideration to the working arrangements. The G&SWR were authorised to work the line by the original Act and this charge was considered excessive and negotiations took place which the PPR board considered unsatisfactory. The G&SWR had been confident that its terms for working the line would have to be accepted, the breach was irreconcilable, made more so by the fact that the acid correspondence between the two companies was published as a pamphlet. Dalrymple, as Chairman, told his shareholders that the loss of the £40,000, though attended with great inconvenience need not make any material, or at least, permanent, financial embarrassment. So the PPR made its own arrangements, and early in 1861 Captain H W Tyler made the formal inspection of the line over a three-day period and his only significant adverse comment was that the rail joints were not fished
34.
Dolphinton branch
–
The Dolphinton Branch refers to two railway branch lines in Lanarkshire and Peeblesshire, Scotland, built in the nineteenth century. The first was built by the nominally independent Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway and it opened in 1864 and was soon absorbed by the North British Railway, becoming that companys Dolphinton Branch. The second was built by the Caledonian Railway, and it opened in 1867, the population of Dolphinton then was 260, and the primary purpose of the lines was to secure territory, rather than to serve the small local community. Each line had its own terminal station, the North British Railway line closed in 1933 and the Caledonian line closed to passengers in 1945 and to goods in 1950. There is now no railway activity on the lines, the Caledonian Railway opened its main lines between Glasgow, Edinburgh and Carlisle in 1848 -1849. This aggressive stance against large competitors characterised the Caledonian for many decades, in 1855 the independent Peebles Railway opened its line, connecting Edinburgh with Peebles. It relied on the North British Railway for access to Edinburgh, the rural nature of the terrain made it unlikely that a local scheme could be financially successful, but there was intense rivalry between the North British Railway and the Caledonian Railway. The massive ironworks industry of the Monklands, centred on Coatbridge, was located in Caledonian territory, the Caledonian was known to be interested in getting its own railway access to the Lothian coalfields, an area that the North British considered belonged to themselves. At the same time the North British harboured hopes of penetrating as far as Coatbridge with a new line of its own, in making its intention plain, the Caledonian called this proposal the Caledonian and Peebles Junction Railway. The North British Railway was alarmed by the proposal, and prepared a blocking railway, the Leadburn, Linton and Dolphinton Railway, and opposed the Caledonian Bill. The LL&DR refused, and the Caledonian turned hostile, they warned the LL&DR that they had become entangled with a party who had for years been obstructing the Caledonian traffic. The two proposed lines were considered together in the 1862 Parliamentary session, and both were authorised by Act of Parliament on 3 June 1862, the capital was £53,300. However Parliament declined to encourage the territorial incursion of the Caledonian scheme, the small community, with a population of 260, was to have two railways, both intended for tactical purposes and hardly connected with traffic at Dolphinton itself. The LL&DR opened on 4 July 1864, the Caledonian line opened much later than the LL&DR, on 1 March 1867. The Caledonian and NBR stations were not immediately adjacent, being respectively west and east of the road that is now the A702, each station had the usual facilities, including a locomotive turntable each. There was a siding between the two stations for wagon exchange, but no through movements took place. Stations on the ten mile long LL&DR line were Lamancha, Coalyburn, during the construction of the line, there was a collision at the junction with the Peebles Railway at Leadburn on 29 October 1863. A construction train working on the Dolphinton line ran away on a gradient to Leadburn
35.
Solway Junction Railway
–
The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company to shorten the route from ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. It opened in 1869, and it involved a viaduct 1 mile 8 chains long crossing the Solway Firth, the viaduct and the connecting railways were dismantled, and now only the shore embankments remain. In the late 1850s, business interests were concerned to improve facilities for iron ore being mined in the area of Canonbie. Their intention was to bring the mineral to Annan Harbour, from where it could be forwarded by coastal shipping and they approached James Brunlees, a civil engineer with experience of coastal works. The two groups conferred, and revised their plans, they projected a railway that would cross the Solway by a viaduct,92,000 tons of iron ore was exported from Cumberland to Scotland in 1863. The viaduct route would save considerable mileage and avoid congestion at Carlisle, the viaduct was to be the longest in Europe, and overall the line from Kirtlebridge to Brayton would be just over 20.4 miles long - including branches the total length would be about 25 miles. Brunlees was the engineer for both viaduct and line. The Parliamentary examination of the Dumfries and Cumberland Railway Bill took place in the 1864 session, the first chairman of the company was James Dees of Whitehaven, he was soon succeeded by Alexander Brogden. A further Act was passed in 1865 allowing deviations of the line in Cumberland, in 1866 two Bills were brought forward. A Bill for a line from Brayton to join the Whitehaven Junction at Flimby did not match its advance notice and was rejected by Parliament. In 1867, a further Act was obtained, instead of running parallel to the Silloth railway, the 1867 Act also confirmed the agreement with the Maryport and Carlisle and allowed the Caledonian to subscribe on the same basis as the North British and the G&SWR. The Caledonian, alarmed at the possibility of the iron ore traffic being diverted off its system. In September 1867, an agreement whereby the Caledonian subscribed to £60,000 of 5% preference shares in the Solway Junction, the columns were founded on iron tubular piles that were driven by a steam pile driver, after an unsuccessful attempt to screw them in to the substrate. Originally, the viaduct was to be of 80 30-foot spans, the cost of the viaduct and approach embankments was £100,000. It had 193 spans with 2,892 tons of cast iron for the piles and columns, and 1,807 tons of wrought iron in the superstructure, it was wide enough to take double track but only single-track was laid. The greatest engineering difficulty on the turned out not to be the construction of the viaduct, but the mile. The Moss in its state was a raised mire unsafe for cattle and horses. A trial trip was made on 26 June 1869, ahead of the Board of Trade inspection and freight traffic started on 13 September 1869, with three mineral trains each way daily
36.
Solway Firth
–
The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the end of Dumfries. The Isle of Man is also very near to the firth, the firth comprises part of the Irish Sea. The coastline is characterised by hills and small mountains. It is a rural area with fishing and hill farming still playing a large part in the local economy. It has also used for the location of films such as The Wicker Man. The Solway Coast was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1964, construction of Robin Rigg Wind Farm began in the firth in 2007. The water itself is generally benign with no notable hazards excepting some areas of salt and mud flats. It is recommended that visitors do not attempt to navigate them without expert guidance, there are over 290 square kilometres of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the area, as well as national nature reserves at Caerlaverock and in Cumbria. Salta Moss is one such SSSI, on the Cumbrian side, much of the coastline is designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The honeycomb worm and blue mussel were designated as targets in 2013. A 53-mile long-distance walking route, the Annandale Way, runs through Annandale, from the source of the River Annan, in the Moffat Hills, to the Solway Firth, unlike other parts of the west coast of Scotland, the Solway Firth is generally devoid of islands. However, there are a few examples, Hestan Island Rough Island Little Ross The Isle of Whithorn is actually a peninsula, the Solway Firth forms the estuary of the River Eden and the River Esk. The following rivers flow into the firth, in England in Scotland The name Solway is of Scandinavian origin. The second element of the name is Old Scandinavian vað ford, the first element is probably Old Scandinavian súl pillar, referring to the Lochmaben Stane, though súla solan goose is also possible. Súl and súla both have long vowels, but the spellings of Solway indicate a short vowel in the first element. This may be due to the shortening of a long vowel in the Middle English period. If this is the case, the first element may be *sulr, the three fords in the area at that time were the Annan or Bowness Wath, the Dornock Wath, and the main one was the Solewath, or Solewath, or Sulewad
