Background

By 1830 Leeds had long been an important town, having become prosperous initially through the manufacture of woollen cloth. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal was complete and the Aire and Calder Navigation connected Leeds to the Ouse, and thus to the North Sea and beyond.^[1] Selby had grown in importance as a port since the construction of the Selby Canal and had become an important inland east coast port for coastal and foreign trade.

As early as 1814^{[note 1]} the Leeds Mercury had printed letters promoting the idea of a railway from Leeds to Selby.^[3]

Formation of the Leeds and Selby Railway Company

v t e Leeds and Selby Railway (1834)
Legend
Leeds Marsh Lane Richmond Hill Tunnel Cross Gates Garforth Roman Road closed 10 Nov 1834 Micklefield Milford Hambleton Selby River Ouse

The Leeds and Hull railway scheme of 1824 was revived as a shortened line from Leeds to Selby and was resurveyed by James Walker in 1829;^[9] Benjamin Gott, one of the line's promoters and a wool and cloth magnate thought the inclined planes would be a disadvantage.^[6]

James Walker reported that the stationary engines could be abandoned, and tunnels and cuttings built in their place. He expected that the additional cost of their construction would be offset by use of the stone elsewhere on the railway and by its sale. The railway would also be of use for the transportation of coal and stone from quarries and mines near the line, such as the Huddlestone quarry. Additionally he suggested that the route of the railway could also be used for the piping of clean water to Leeds. As to the route of the railway, he suggested resiting the Leeds terminus at cheaper and less-developed land around Marsh Lane instead of at Far Bank. The resurveyed line was also deviated to the north away from the river bank, to avoid the objections of the Aire and Calder Undertakers; the more northern path would require passing Richmond Hill requiring either stationary engines or a tunnel; Walker recommended the latter. Outside Leeds, minor deviations were made in order for the line to cross the north–south turnpikes using bridges. At Selby, the new plan sited the station further south than the original, which had been sited next to the road bridge, with the intention of crossing the River Ouse by widening this bridge; with the line no longer going to Hull but terminating at Selby a site with more space for wharves and jetties was required. He recommended a double track line, with sufficient land acquired for a four track line.^[10]

Much of the line was to be built on land belonging to the shareholders, including Edward Robert Petre who owned land in Selby, and Richard Oliver Gascoigne (who later had built the Aberford Railway). Walker's alterations to Stephenson's original plan were accepted unaltered and put before Parliament.^[11]

Despite strong opposition from the Aire and Calder Navigation, which had a practical monopoly on transportation in the area, a bill was passed in Parliament on 29 May 1830 allowing construction of the line. The company was allowed to raise a total of £300,000 in shares and loans.^{[12][13][note 3]} The company's directors were James Audus, Edward Baines, Thomas Davison Bland, John Broadley, Richard Oliver Gascoigne, Benjamin Gott, Robert Harrison, John Marshall, John Cowham Parker, the Hon. Edward Robert Petrie, John Scholefield and John Wilson. Samuel Wilks Waud was the first company chairman.^[14]

Construction, infrastructure and rolling stock

Two contractors, Messrs. Nowell & Sons and Messrs. Hamer & Pratt, were chosen to carry out the construction of the line. Nowell began construction of the 2 miles (3.2 km) out of Leeds on 1 October 1830,^{[note 4]} and Hamer & Pratt began work in February 1831 on the remaining 18 miles (29 km) to Selby.^[14]

The primary engineering feature of the line was the Richmond Hill Tunnel through Richmond Hill, Leeds. It was 700 yards (640 m) long, with its western entrance at 8 chains (160 m) from the Leeds terminus. The tunnel's cross section was that of a horseshoe arch, 22 ft (6.7 m) at its widest, and 17 ft (5.2 m) high from the level of the rails. The construction of the tunnel required the sinking of three shafts, subsequently retained for ventilation.^[15][16] Excavation of the tunnel yielded mostly shale and coal, with the remaining third being stone which was used as foundations for other parts of the line. The arch was lined with two courses of brickwork, lengthways to a thickness of 20 inches. In some places three courses were used, depending on the strength of the surrounding ground. Volcanic matter was used in the mortar, to obtain a quick-setting and strong cement.^[17] The entrances of the tunnel were faced with stone.^[18] This would be the world's longest railway tunnel at opening and the first through which passengers would be hauled by locomotives^[19] and there were once reflectors at the base of the shafts, designed to reflect light onto the whitewashed walls of the tunnel.^[20] The shafts were found to be useful for ventilation, but the experiment with illuminating the interior with reflect light was of limited utility to passengers; lamps were provided to light the carriages.^[16] Despite the efforts, an early passenger reported that on entering the tunnel:

We were immediately enveloped in total darkness, and every one of the carriages filled with smoke and steam to a most annoying degree

— The Mechanics' Magazine (1835), ^[21][22]

As built, the line had 43 bridges and around 16 level crossings.^[23] Ballast was of stone chips; the rails were held in place by keys lodged into iron chairs which rested on and were fixed to stone blocks or larch sleepers. On some parts of the line, a ladder track arrangement of sleepers was used, with longitudinal stone sleepers of 3 ft (0.91 m) held in gauge by transverse cast-iron rods. T or bar-shaped malleable iron rails of 35 lb/yd (17.4 kg/m) were initially used, within a few years 42 lb/yd (20.8 kg/m) rails were being introduced.^[23][24]

Cuttings and embankments were built to keep the gradient of the line to a minimum. The deepest cutting was 43 ft (13 m), the highest embankment 54 ft (16 m).^[25] Both embankments and cuttings had stone retaining walls at the base, at an angle of 67.5° to the horizontal, which reduced the overall width of the earthworks. The line was built as a double-track railway.^[23]

Opening and operation

By 22 September 1834, a single complete line of track had been built, and the railway was officially opened. A train of ten carriages, hauled by the locomotive "Nelson", set out from Marsh Lane station in Leeds at 6.30 am. To the embarrassment or amusement of those present, the locomotive got into difficulty on the incline at the tunnel. The wheels began to slip on wet rails, and despite the application of ash on the rails, initial progress was no better than walking pace. Once the high point of the line was reached, better progress was made: at Garforth, on a stretch of track falling 1 in 180 a speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) was attained. Selby was reached before 9 am. The return journey took 1 hour and sixteen minutes. On the 23rd, two trains were run each way, with a better timing of 1 hour and five minutes from Leeds to Selby.^[35][36]

Both lines of track were complete by 15 December, when the railway began to take goods traffic.^[37]

In The Railways of Britain and Ireland practically described and illustrated, Francis Whishaw ascribed the poor financial performance of the railway to the management of the line; after six years of existence, the railway was returning a profit, but the average dividend on a £100 share over 1837 to 1840 was a meagre one pound, sixteen shillings and nine pence.^[38]

As a result of the opening of the line, the Aire and Calder Navigation had to make considerable reductions in their charges.^[39] Previously, that company's monopoly had resulted in a dividend on shares of over 200%.^[40]

Connections with other railway lines

York and North Midland Railway

v t e York Junction
Legend
Junction of the L&SR and Y&NMR between Milford and Hambleton York & North Midland Rly to York Sherburn-in-Elmet connected May 1839 York Junction Leeds and Selby Railway connected November 1840 Milford Junction to Normanton

See also: York and North Midland Railway

On 29 May 1839 the first section of George Hudson's York and North Midland Railway opened. It ran from York to a point just to the east of Milford station where a short chord connected it to the Leeds and Selby Railway. The line was extended southwards to Burton Salmon by 11 May 1840; and that line connected by another short chord to the junction with the Leeds and Selby on 9 November 1840.^[41]

East of the junction was a station called York Junction.^{[41][note 5]}

Lease and acquisition by the York and North Midland (1840–1854)

The Leeds and Selby Railway offered a direct route into Leeds from the east. George Hudson had his own route into Leeds (through Castleford via the Whitford and Methey Junctions) accessed via a working arrangement with the North Midland Railway. The Leeds and Selby had the potential to offer opportunities to rival companies, as well as a competing route to Hudson's. On 9 November 1840 George Hudson arranged a lease of the Leeds and Selby for £17,000 per annum.^[41][44]

Hudson's first act was to close the line to passengers west of Milford; despite his line being 4 miles longer passengers now had no choice but to use it. In 1848 the line west of Milford was closed to freight as well; Marsh Lane station was at that time still a terminus, and so useless for through traffic to Manchester and beyond. Passenger services were reinstated in 1850, but freight continued to run to Leeds via Castleford and not Marsh Lane.^[41]

In 1844 an act of Parliament was passed allowing the York and North Midland to absorb the Leeds and Selby Railway entirely, and so the Leeds and Selby Railway as an independent entity ceased to exist.^[45] A decade later, the York and North Midland Railway would become the North Eastern Railway after its amalgamation with other railway companies.

NER period (1854–1923)

In the 1860s the North Eastern Railway (NER) sought to extend the line from its Marsh Lane terminus into the centre of Leeds. Concurrently the NER and the London and North Western Railway planned to construct a joint station in Leeds.^[46] An initial (1863) plan for the line into Leeds met with significant local opposition and was withdrawn, and a revised route was made.^[47] (See also Leather 1864) The plan was submitted to parliament in 1864 and received assent in 1865.^{[46][note 6]} The new joint station received assent in the same session.^{[46][note 7]}

In 1869 the Leeds extension was completed; a 1-mile length of line which connected Marsh Lane through central Leeds to Holbeck; the line was elevated, running over the streets on bridges and viaducts and embankments.^[50] A new station, called Leeds New railway station was constructed for this connecting line, adjacent to and south of Wellington Street station.^[51] The line representing a saving of around 35 miles journey for trains travelling from west of Leeds to Hull or York.^[52] A new goods station was built at the Marsh Lane station site, and in 1893 this was enlarged, and the extra lines added between Marsh Lane and Neville Hill,^[53] the Richmond Hill tunnel was opened out at the same time, and made into a cutting, so that the extra tracks could be accommodated.^[54]

In 1869 a connecting line running northeast from Micklefield station on the Leeds and Selby to Church Fenton station on the former York and North Midland line was opened, shortening the route between Leeds and York and avoiding a reversal at York Junction;^[55] the line came into use on the opening of the Leeds extension.^[56]

In 1876 the Cross Gates–Wetherby line was opened; this ran from a junction just east of Cross Gates on the Leeds and Selby Line northward to Wetherby.^[57][58]

An act for the construction of the Garforth to Castleford Line was passed in 1873 and the line opened in 1878, it left the Leeds and Selby Line east of Garforth station. The NER owned over three quarters of the shares in the line.^[59]

In 1898 the Cawood, Wistow and Selby Light Railway was opened. This connected to the Leeds and Selby Line about 1 mile west of Selby at Brayton Gates junction.

In 1902 Gascoigne Wood station (formerly York Junction station^{[note 5]}) closed.^[60]

In 1910 the Selby to Goole Line was opened, which had a junction with the Leeds and Selby Line at Thorpe Gates junction, west of Selby.

A halt station Ridge Bridge opened c. 1912 near to the crossing of the Roman Ridge road (now the A656.); the station closed to general passengers on 1 April 1914,^[61] but remained in use as a workmen's halt for the Ridge Bridge Colliery into the 1920s.^[62]

LNER period (1923–1948)

In 1930 a station at Osmondthorpe opened.^[54]

BR and post-privatisation period (1948–present)

Many of the connecting lines closed in the 1950s and 60s: passenger services on the Castleford–Garforth line from the junction at Garforth station closed in 1951, and freight ended in 1969,^[63] the Cawood, Wistow and Selby Light Railway in 1960, the Selby to Goole Line in 1964, and Cross Gates–Wetherby line from Cross Gates station also in 1964.^[57]

Hambleton station closed in 1959 and Osmondthorpe station in 1960.^[54] East Garforth railway station opened in 1987.

The land north of Gascoigne Wood station was used as a marshalling yard until 1959.^[60] The site was later used in the 1970s^[64] as the point at which coal from the collieries of the Selby Coalfield was brought to the surface.^{[65][66] [note 8]}

The Selby Diversion of the East Coast Main Line opened in 1983, passing under the Leeds-Selby Line between South Milford and Selby; junctions were made between the two lines allowing running from York onto the Leeds-Selby eastwards, and from the south onto the line travelling westwards to Leeds.