Catalogue description Huddersfield, map of projected railways

HUDDERSFIELD, MAP OF PROJECTED RAILWAYS

West Riding Railway Company, c 1846

Accessioned: 1994 Mar 17

Accession No: KC675

Computer ref: KC675

• Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire
• Railway transport

See David Joy, "South and West Yorkshire", vol. 8 in "A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain", 2nd edition 1984

The Huddersfield and Manchester Railway route was first promoted in 1844, and Huddersfield and Manchester Railway Company was incorporated in 1845. In 1847 it amalgamated with the London and North Western Railway. The line, which formed the route through Standedge Tunnel to Manchester, was completed by 1849.

The Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway, which ran south from Huddersfield through Penistone, was also incorporated in 1845. The line opened in 1850.

The West Riding Union Railways was formed in August 1846 from the amalgamation of the West Yorkshire Railway and the Leeds and West Riding Junction Railways. In November 1846 it amalgmated with the Manchester and Leeds Railway Company. The West Riding Union Railways planned "an ambitious network" of lines in the industrial West Riding, centring on a proposed line from Sowerby Bridge through Halifax to Leeds. One of the planned lines was a direct line between Huddersfield and Halifax but this never came to anything.

This map is dated to c1846 because it mentions the West Riding Union Railway which only existed as a separate entity during that year. Also Huddersfield station is not shown on the map and it was built in 1846-50 so the map cannot be much later than 1846. However, it cannot be much earlier than that as the other railways shown were not incorporated until 1845.