ASPECTS OF THE MANCHESTER & LEEDS RAILWAY PART TWO

Photographs from the author’s collection unless otherwise stated.

The second opening – Leeds to Hebden Bridge

“On Monday last [5th October] pursuant to public notice, the great and important line of railway opened for the conveyance of passengers from Leeds to Hebden Bridge – thus completing, with the exception of nine miles, the entire distance from Leeds to Manchester.”

The Standard, 12th October 1840

A traveller from Leeds journeyed ten miles from Leeds by the North Midland Railway (NMR) to Normanton, where the train joined the Manchester & Leeds line to Wakefield, 27 miles from Hebden Bridge. The unfinished nine miles referred to in The Standard’s report lay, of course, between Hebden Bridge and Littleborough, and included the troublesome Summit Tunnel and the equally problematic 250-yard Charlestown Tunnel, west of Hebden Bridge. The Charlestown Tunnel bored through unconsolidated ground consisting of loose, sandy earth. On 8th June 1840 the tunnel showed signs of collapsing and despite attempts to save it, it was abandoned and the line built to circumvent it by laying a curve of 15 chains radius.

The Standard pointed out that the opening from Normanton to Hebden Bridge “was not attended with any ceremonial”. Even though it was a low-key affair, several directors travelled from Manchester to travel by the return train to Leeds. They returned to Manchester the same day.

The inaugural train, however, started from Leeds at 7.53am, puffing out of the NMR’s Hunslet Lane station with an unstated number of carriages in tow behind a NMR locomotive. The arrangement was that until the M&LR’s line was open throughout, the NMR would provide the locomotives between Leeds and Normanton, and up to Hebden Bridge. Several notables travelled on the inaugural train that morning: Captain Laws boarded at Leeds, whilst George Stephenson and Robert Gill boarded at Wakefield. The train departed Wakefield at 8.34am, after a stop at the station for eight minutes, and arrived at Hebden Bridge at 10.49am, having taken 2hr 56min since leaving Leeds. The train was crowded with passengers and recourse had to be made to cattle wagons to accommodate third class passengers – standing room only.

Although without intentional display and ceremony,