The Warrington and Newton Railway (W&NR) was a short early railway linking Warrington to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) at Newton, and to coal mining pits at Haydock, nearby. It opened in 1831.
In 1833 the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was formed, it aspired to make a long-distance route from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester, and acquired the in 1835 so as to use it as part of its route from Warrington northwards.
The opened its line in 1837, connecting to the former at .
Background The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was authorised under the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Act 1826 (7 Geo. 4. c. xlix) on 5 May 1826 and construction started soon after in June.
In 1828, while the was being built, a branch line to it from Warrington was proposed. Warrington was at the time a centre of manufacturing with a population approaching 20,000.
The line was surveyed by Robert Stephenson who was unable to lay the railway out in the way he would have wished instead having to resort to a more curvaceous route to appease local land owners.
The proposers of the railway included in the Act's preamble that it would be a:
The proposed line ran from the at Wargrave Lane (now Wargrave Road) in Newton-in-Makerfield to a terminal at Dallum Lane in Warrington, a distance of .
There was a branch proposed at Warrington from the intersection of Dallum Lane and Jockey Lane to terminate on the north side, and within of the Warrington to Liverpool turnpike, opposite Bankey or Bank Quay.
There was a second branch proposed, from the same junction but running southeastwards to Cockhedge Field, this branch was never built.
Company formation Two rival meetings were held in Warrington on 7 July 1828 each intending to promote a railway to link with the , fortunately the rivals came together and held a joint meeting on 4 August 1828 to propose forming a company and pursuing an act in parliament. First act The Warrington and Newton Railway was authorised by Parliament on 14 May 1829 in the (10 Geo. 4. c. xxxvii).
On 4 June 1829 the first general meeting was held, adjourned until December 1829, when it resolved to "carry the Act into execution". Among the original shareholders were George Stephenson, Joseph Sandars, Joseph Locke, Benjamin Hick and Edward Pease.
The act had some limitations including the restrictions on the use of locomotives and it provided for a junction with the only towards Liverpool.
Second act While the line was under construction in 1830, a second act, the (11 Geo. 4 & 1 Will. 4. c. lvii), was obtained to construct a branch to also connect with the in the Manchester direction near to , it would also connect to the Wigan Branch Railway (WBR), the act also repealed some of the locomotive restrictions of the first act. In fact both the and the found themselves short of funds that they were unable to build the connecting lines.
Opening In early June 1831 the Warrington and Newton Railway opened between and a location at Newton, somewhere to the south of the . The line opened without a northern terminus initially to service the Newton Common races, and passenger trains ran regularly after that.
On 25 July 1831 the west curve at was opened and the connection to the was completed, there was one intermediate station at . The opening was quiet, the directors travelled by special train to Newton where they met some of the directors, both parties travelling on to Warrington for refreshments.
The line at also connected to the Haydock colliery line which had a branch to Newton Race Course.
The branch to was not constructed immediately but probably opened in early 1835. The branch was used for goods and mineral traffic only, it terminated north of the Warrington to Liverpool turnpike.
Operations When the line opened the agreed to provide locomotives, carriages and waggons 'as far as they were able' but suggested that it would be expedient for the to acquire its own stock.
The did not initially allow the to run their passenger trains on its line but did agree to attach coaches to its own trains at Newton Junction for onward delivery to Manchester or Liverpool. This arrangement changed in 1832 when the decided that their own coaches would be used and passengers would have to change trains at Newton Junction.
The first locomotive, Warrington, a Planet type built by Robert Stephenson and Company in Newcastle, arrived in May 1831.
The second and third locomotives were of the same type and came from the same company, they were named Newton and Vulcan (renamed Achilles at some time before September 1834), they were delivered on 1 September 1831 and 9 December 1831 respectively. There is a small possibility that these two locomotives were assembled at the Vulcan foundry from parts built at Newcastle.
Service details were advertised in local newspapers by the railway's agent George Stubs. There were four trains each way Monday to Saturday only, trains left at 0700, 1000, 1400 and 1700, all carrying first and second class passengers with both Liverpool and Manchester as the destination. Return trains left at 0700, 0730 (second class only), 1000, 1400, 1700 and 1730 (second class only). Fares were 1/- second class and 1/6 first class each way between Warrington and Newton and 3/6 second class and 4/6 first class each way between Warrington and Liverpool or Manchester.
Sunday trains were run from late October 1831, there were two trains each Sunday timed to meet the trains from Liverpool and Manchester that left at 0700 from both places and at 1700 and 1800 one from Liverpool and the other from Manchester.
The type of track adopted had cast iron fishbellied rails and untreated larch sleepers; the kyanising process for treating and preserving wood had not been fully developed by this time resulting in the early failure of the sleepers, many of which needed replacing by 1840.
Grand Junction Railway acquisition
Background In 1832 and 1833 the promoters of the Grand Junction Railway (GJR) were considering their options. Their aim was to build a trunk railway connecting Birmingham with Liverpool and Manchester. If Liverpool was to be connected to the network further south, then the River Mersey would need to be crossed: the could serve as the northern extremity of their line if a crossing of the Mersey were made at Warrington.
The proposed would link Birmingham with the central point of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Newton Junction, and Liverpool and Manchester would thereby be joined with Birmingham. This compromise lengthened the distances by rail but the greater convenience and economy was decisive, and the authorising Act to set up the company and build the line from Warrington to Birmingham was secured on 6 May 1833.
Negotiations In September 1833 the approached the regarding tolls and improvements to the line, before the end of the 1833 the suggested that the could purchase its railway, and they set a high price, they were asking £125 for each £100 of stock as well as settlement of their debts of about £20,000.
The declined, subsequent negotiation reduced this to £114 6s a share, but by August 1834 the directors had broken off negotiations and expressed themselves disappointed that terms could not be reached.
They now considered an alternative route, by-passing the to the west with a crossing of the River Mersey at Fiddler's Ferry, this route had the disadvantage of by-passing Warrington, an important source of traffic, but it was 7 miles shorter to Liverpool and avoided the long 1 in 85 gradient south of Newton.
Purchase Terms were finally agreed in February 1835 the agreed to sell their line for shares at par, with the adopting their outstanding debt of about £22,000.
The undertook to pay the shareholders 4 per cent until their main line was open throughout: the purchase price was around £67,000, and the takeover was authorised by the (5 & 6 Will. 4. c. viii) of 12 June 1835, effective from 1 January 1835.
This act enabled the first railway 'take-over', as distinct from a legal amalgamation, and had the effect of making the former line the first part of the to be operated.
Grand Junction Railway
After the take-over the railway continued to work as usual but now under the auspices of the stores committee while new arrangements were made. The approached the in an effort to get them to lease the line, they were unwilling and despite some negotiation they declined.
In July 1835 the line was leased to George Stubs, who had been treasurer and general agent of the . Stubs seems to have had three locomotives to work the service, these were probably the original three Warrington, Newton and Achillies.
Stubs continued to operate the former until the opened throughout, after handing it back he remained with the for some time as its agent for Warrington.
By 1837 the former infrastructure had been upgraded with heavier rails, keys and chairs.
The opened their line from to a temporary Birmingham terminus station at on 4 July 1837. The connection to the was made at a new passenger station at situated south of the turnpike. On the same day an east curve at was opened and direct running towards Manchester was now possible.
handled all the long-distance trains, continued to be used for local passenger and goods services until 1839, when all passenger services were transferred to Bank Quay. Thereafter became a goods station and coal yard.
Connections at Newton Roscoe (1839) describes the operation of the trains at :
The two curves at had very tight radii, especially the east one of radius. Reed (1969) attributes building it so tight it obviated the necessity of a further Act of Parliament, by avoiding a land take. Within one week of the east curve opening Joseph Locke, Chief Engineer of the , notified the board his apprehensions of the effect the curve might have on six-wheeled engines, the curves subjected the locomotive axles to lateral bending stresses which caused breakages of the axles. Locke was instructed to repair the three locomotives lately used by Mr Stubs sufficiently to manage the Manchester traffic.
The use of the east curve reduced considerably when the Manchester and Birmingham Railway opened from to on 10 August 1842. The east curve continued to be used by Manchester to Chester trains and those from the south heading further north than the Liverpool to Manchester line via the North Union Railway.
After the Grand Junction Railway The amalgamated with London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway on 16 July 1846 to become part of the London and North Western Railway.
The opened a direct line from Winwick, just north of Warrington, to Golborne, north of the former on the former on 1 August 1864, this became known as the "Winwick cut-off", it simplified most of the long-distance north–south traffic by avoiding the junctions at and providing a direct route.
Passenger services from the south to Liverpool reduced dramatically in 1869 when the Runcorn Railway Bridge was opened by the , although the Newton route was still used by some freight trains.
The former line remains in use from station to .
Accidents On 21 October 1831 a passenger disembarked the train as it was passing his residence and was fatally injured.
In December 1841 a locomotive was sent from Bank Quay to collect a goods train from Dallam Lane, after admitting the locomotive to the branch the points were not reset and a freight train ran onto the branch and into the locomotive.
On 6 December 1837 a collision occurred when a train from Birmingham ran into the back of a slow moving train of empty coal waggons belonging to Haydock Colliery at Winwick Quay. There was one fatality.