 In the 1820s, Liverpool had already become established as a
major gateway for the import of goods from the Americas. Joseph Sanders, an influential Liverpool merchant was concerned about
the poor service offered by the canal linking Liverpool and Manchester and was one of those campaigning
for the construction of a railway.
The Liverpool and
Manchester Railway Company was formed and the directors were committed to using
steam power but were divided on whether to used fixed engines or
locomotives. Henry Booth (1789–1869) was the company treasurer. George Stephenson was the company engineer. The Liverpool
and Manchester Railway Bill of 1824/5 reached ‘committee stage’ in 1825. George was initially faced with armed
opposition by landowners during his survey made for the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway. The new railway
involved a significant amount of civil engineering work. The excavated material from Olive Mount, the
first cutting after leaving Crown Street was used to build the two mile
long Roby embankment.
 In 1829, the company decided to hold trials with a
500 pounds prize. One of the entries for
the trials (which were held at
Rainhill), was the “Rocket”, entered by George’s son – Robert Stephenson. Rocket was based on an earlier loco design
“Lancashire Witch” with an improved boiler based on an idea from Henry Booth.
Following the trials in which Rocket won, four new locomotives:– Meteor, Comet, Dart & Arrow were
produced followed by (in February 1830) Phoenix
and North Star. Then came
“Northumbrian’, each with developments over the Rocket. On the 14th of June, 1830 the
directors met at Crown Street for special return trip to Manchester using
engine ‘Arrow’ which was met by
‘Dart’ at the bottom of Whiston incline to assist up to Rainhill.
The Liverpool MP (Tory moderate) William Huskisson, gave a
speech one day before the ‘grand opening’ on the 15th of September,
1830. Visitors streamed to Liverpool to witness opening and all inns & hotels
were full. The actress Fanny Kemble
(1809-93) was among those invited to ride on railway and she stayed in Adelphi
with her mother and some friends. On the
morning of the opening day, people were up early to get a good viewing
point. The engines hitched to their respective
carriages at Crown Street Yard. Phoenix, North Star, Rocket, Dart, Comet, Arrow, Meteor, Northumbrian
(Duke’s train which G.S. drove) 80
guests (752 in 8 trains). At 10.40 am a signal gun was fired and the
locos led by “Northumbrian” started off.
They were travelling at about 24 mph when they entered Olive Mount
cutting.
 At Parkside (17 miles from Liverpool)
they stopped to take on water and several people got out to
stretch legs. Huskisson wanted to
shake hands with the Duke of Wellington.
At the time there was a train approaching led by Rocket on the adjacent
track. There was a four feet gap between
tracks but the Duke’s carriage was wider, extending two feet into the gap. Huskisson tried to make a dash for it but he was
not fit. Rocket hit the open door of
carriage and he fell in the narrow space with his leg being run over by a passing
wheel. He was taken for treatment by
Northumbrian, the fastest of the locos which
was driven by George Stephenson and reached speeds of approximately 40 mph, the
fastest any human had ever travelled at that time.
Huge crowds had gathered in Liverpool
in anticipation of the return of the procession. It was conservatively
estimated at 100,000 or twice that which
had seen it leave. The Duke of Wellington alighted
at Roby on his return train. The last
train pulled by three locos did not arrive back at Crown Street(link) until 10 pm. Huskisson
had died at 9.00 pm.
On the day after opening a special excursion train departed Liverpool at noon using Northumbrian. It made a journey to Manchester in just under
two hours with stops and 130 passengers paid 14 shillings return. Regular services begin the next day at a
charge of 4 shillings for 2nd class which
was cheaper than the road coach which
took 4 and 1/2 hours. By the 20th of September,
four more locos were ordered due to extra passenger growth. By year end the company had made a profit of
£14,000 and paid a 2% dividend to shareholders.
Road transport then declined rapidly with the stage coaches reducing by
more than 50% by 1847.
Stephenson’s track gauge of 4’ 8 and 1/2” later went on to
become ‘Standard Gauge’ by means of the Gauge Act.
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