RAILWAY ACTS

Collection of 20 private bills and acts relating to railways, including the Liverpool to Manchester Railway, and railways in Newcastle, County Durham and London.

The proposed Liverpool & Manchester Railway was considered to be a serious economic threat to the Bridgewater Canal, which was making a fortune by shipping goods between Liverpool and Manchester. In 1826, after several years of debate, Parliament gave permission for the Manchester & Liverpool Railway to be built in 1826. Passenger trains started at the Crown Street Station in Liverpool and terminated at Water Street in Manchester. The directors of the Liverpool & Manchester company were unsure whether to use locomotives or stationary engines on their line. To help them reach a decision, it was decided to hold a competition where the winning locomotive would be awarded 500. The idea being that if the locomotive was good enough, it would be the one used on the new railway. The competition was held at Rainhill during October 1829. Each competing locomotive had to haul a load of three times its own weight at a speed of at least 10 mph. The locomotives had to run twenty times up and down the track at Rainhill which made the distance roughly equivalent to a return trip between Liverpool and Manchester. Afraid that heavy locomotives would break the rails, only machines that weighed less than six tons could compete in the competition. Ten locomotives took part. The 'Rocket', built by George (1781 - 1848) and his son Robert Stephenson (1803 - 1859), won the competition. The Liverpool & Manchester railway was opened on 15th September, 1830.

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