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The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway was a railway company established in 1846 between the Leeds and Thirsk Railway at Knaresborough and the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway near York, England. The company merged into the York and North Midland Railway in 1852.

As of 2017 the route forms part of the modern Harrogate Line, operated by Northern.

History

The application to form "The East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway" was made in November 1845,^[1] and the company was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 16 July 1846,^[2] this authorising £200,000 of capital (8,000 x £25 shares^[3]) and £66,600 of debt.^[4]

The line connected the Great North of England Railway (GNE) (later the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway, YN&B) near York to the Leeds and Thirsk Railway (L&TR) at Knaresborough, with a route length of about 15 miles (24 km).^[3]^[4] The line branched from the GNE 1 mile 47 chains (2.55 km) from York station and passed through Poppleton, Hessay, Marston Moor, Hammerton, Cattal, Allerton and Goldsborough (originally Flaxby^[5]) to Knaresborough.^[6]

The line's engineer was Thomas Grainger and the main stations (Poppleton, Marston Moor, Cattal, and Allerton) were built by Samuel Atack to Grainger's designs.^[7] Construction began in 1847, works including a tunnel under part of Knaresborough and a viaduct over the River Nidd.^[8] The line was double tracked with a length of 14 miles 12 chains (22.8 km).^[9] On 11 March 1848 the nearly completed viaduct over the Nidd collapsed,^[8] and a temporary wooden station was constructed east of Knaresborough on Hay-A-Park Lane^[5] to allow the line to partially opened on 30 October 1848.^[10]

Originally backed by George Hudson, the company directors made an agreement with the rival L&TR, which had begun proceedings to absorb the company.^{[note 1]} However, after the L&TR backed out of the arrangement in the middle of 1848, the directors returned to Hudson and made arrangements for the YN&B to work the line.^[13] After 1849 the line was worked with lighter engines from E. B. Wilson (Leeds) with payment on a worked miles basis, plus a percentage of revenue.^[3]^[14]

The York and North Midland Railway (Y&NMR) took over the line in July.^[10]^[15] The replacement four 56-foot (17 m) arch stone double track viaduct over the Nidd was completed at a cost of £9,803^[16] and the section over the River Nidd connecting to the L&TR was opened on 1 October 1851.^[10] Knaresborough station opened the same year,^[5] completing the route to Harrogate made by the 1.75 mile Leeds Northern extension from Harrogate to Knaresborough that also completed in 1851.^[17] From October 1851 the line also used the L&TR Starbeck station in Harrogate.^[18]

Formal application to merge the railway with the Y&NMR was made in 1851^[19] and the Act passed on 28 May 1852.^[20] On 1 April 1875 a 7-mile (11 km) single track line from Boroughbridge was opened, joining the line east of the town at Knaresborough Junction.^[21]^[22]

Notes

^ The Leeds and Thirsk obtained an act enabling them to absorb the line, passed 1848. The L&TR board halted the merger discussions in August 1848.^[11]^[12]

References

^ "East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway, Harrogate, Knaresborough and York". London Gazette (20531): 3877–3878. 12 November 1845., also reprinted: Issue 20537 p.5149-5150 and Issue 20542 p.6181-6182
^ "Westminster, July 16, 1846". London Gazette (20624): 2672. 21 July 1846. An Act for making a railway from Knaresborough to or near to the city of York, to be called "the East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway."
^ ^a ^b ^c Slaughter, Mihil, ed. (1850). Railway Intelligence. pp. 8–9.
^ ^a ^b Cartner, Ernest (1959). An historical geography of the Railways of the British Isles. Cassell & Company. p. 149.
^ ^a ^b ^c Fawcett 2001, p. 137.
^ Railway Magazine, v.39 (1916)
^ Fawcett 2001, pp. 137, 168.
^ ^a ^b Grainge, William (1871). The History and Topography of Harrogate, and the Forest of Knaresborough. John Russel Smith. p. 42.
^ Laffan, R.M.; Hardness, H.D.; Simmons, J.L.A. (6 July 1848). "Appendix No. 17 : East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway". Reports of the Commissioners of Railways. HMSO. pp. 44–45.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hoole 1986, p. 113
^ "Leeds and Thirsk Railway. Harrogate and Pateley Branch, from Starbeck to Pateley Bridge, abandonment of part of Harrogate Branch, and Wharfdale Railway, and East and West Yorkshire Junction Bail way Purchase or Lease". The London Gazette (20661): 4049. 11 November 1846. also reprinted Issue 20666, p. 4593, Issue 20672, p. 5179
^ Slaughter, Mihil, ed. (1850). Railway Intelligence. p. 17. An Act passed in 1848, for purchase of the East and West Yorkshire; but the consideration of the question of purchase was postponed, under Resolution of the Leeds and Thirsk meeting, 28th August, 1848, and all negotiation are now terminated.
^ Tomlinson 1915, pp. 468, 487–8.
^ Railway Magazine, v.39 (1916) quote:This section was first worked by the York, Newcastle and Berwick Company, but evidently their terms were too high, as in September, 1849, the Company appealed to them to reduce the working charges, and subsequently the line was worked by Messrs. E. B. Wilson & Co., of Leeds, on behalf of the Company, as an independent concern.
^ Tomlinson 1915, p. 510.
^ Historic England. "RAILWAY VIADUCT OVER THE RIVER NIDD (1149911)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
^ Tomlinson 1915, p. 511.
^ Hembry, Phyllis May (1997). British Spas from 1815 to the Present: A Social History. p. 141. ISBN 0838637485.
^ "York and North Midland, and East and West Yorkshire Junction Railways (Amalgamation of Companies, and other purposes)". London Gazette (21265): 3154. 21 November 1851. also reprinted Issue 21267 p/3267
^ "Westminster, May 28, 1852". London Gazette (21324): 1550–1553. 1 June 1852.
^ Hoole 1986, p. 109.
^ Ordnance Survey. 1:2500, 1890–1

Sources

Fawcett, Bill (2001). A History of North Eastern railway Architecture. Vol. 1: The Pioneers. North Eastern Railway Association. ISBN 1873513348.
Hoole, Ken (1986) [1965]. A regional history of the railways of Great Britain. Vol 4, The North East (3rd ed.). David and Charles.
Meek, H H (1916). "The York and North Midland Railway". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 39, no. 230. p. 120. ISSN 0033-8923.
Tomlinson, W.W. (1915). The North Eastern Railway: Its Rise and Development. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Andrew Reid and Company.