Two Reports Addressed to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company on the Projected North Line of Railway from Liverpool to the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
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TitleTwo Reports Addressed to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company on the Projected North Line of Railway from Liverpool to the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal
Joseph Locke was born at Attercliffe, near Sheffield, on 9 August 1805. Following an education at Barnsley grammar school, in 1823 he was apprenticed to George Stephenson as a pupil engineer. He continued to work for Stephenson after his apprenticeship ended, and was appointed as one of Stephenson's assistants in the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Locke went on to work with Stephenson on the first trunk railway line, the Grand Junction Railway between Birmingham and Warrington. Locke's work on the survey impressed the Grand Junction Railway's directors who offered him the job of building the line. This caused friction in Locke's relationship with Stephenson, and a compromise of dividing work on the line between the two men was agreed. After Stephenson left the project in August 1835, Locke took sole control of the construction of the line. Locke's work on the Grand Junction established his reputation for good engineering combined with economy and speed of construction. His other work included the construction of the main line from London to Southampton (1836–40), the line between Sheffield and Manchester (1838–40) and the Greenock, Paisley, and Glasgow line (1837–41). In 1840, Locke formed a partnership with John Edward Errington, with whom he constructed lines in Lancashire and Scotland.
Locke moved to the manor of Honiton, Devon in 1847, and was Liberal MP for the borough of Honiton from 1847 until his death.
Locke died suddenly at Moffat, near Dumfries, Scotland, on 18 September 1860.
Charles Blacker Vignoles was born in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, on 31 May 1793. Following his parents' deaths, Vignoles was brough to England by an uncle and raised by his grandfather. Vignoles served in the army from 1813-1816, when he married and moved to America. Here he worked in Charleston, South Carolina, as assistant to the state civil engineer. He later worked in Florida as city surveyor, before returning to England in 1823, after his grandfather's death. He worked as a surveyor in London until 1825, when he was appointed as surveyor to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, following Parliament's rejection of George Stephenson's initial survey of the route. Vignoles moved to Liverpool and was involved in the success of the second Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill. He was employed as Stephenson's assistant on construction of the Liverpool to Manchester line, but resigned in January 1827 after disagreements over measurements for Edge Hill Tunnel.
Vignoles died at his home in Hythe, Hampshire, following a stroke.
Scope and ContentTwo Reports addressed to the Liverpool & Manchester Railway Company, on the projected North Line of Railway from Liverpool to the Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal, Charles Vignoles and Joseph Locke, Liverpool, 1835, first edition. The reports were commissioned by the Liverpool & Manchester Board and document the proposals faced by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway for a second route between Liverpool and Manchester by a line to the north of the Liverpool & Manchester route. Neither Vignoles nor Locke was prepared to accept that constant slopes of 1½ to 1 proposed were suitable and both preferred their own requirement for a slope of 2 to 1 where depths exceeded 20 ft. They both concluded that the amount of earthwork would be vaster and cost considerably more than estimated by the promoters. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway Co used the reports in their objections during the Parliamentary proceedings and the Bill was defeated.
Physical descriptionGood condition.
LanguageEnglish
Archival historyPurchased from Bloomsbury Auctions. Formerly part of the Michael G. Max Collection, number 2454.
Joseph Locke was born at Attercliffe, near Sheffield, on 9 August 1805. Following an education at Barnsley grammar school, in 1823 he was apprenticed to George Stephenson as a pupil engineer. He continued to work for Stephenson after his apprenticeship ended, and was appointed as one of Stephenson's assistants in the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Locke went on to work with Stephenson on the first trunk railway line, the Grand Junction Railway between Birmingham and Warrington. Locke's work on the survey impressed the Grand Junction Railway's directors who offered him the job of building the line. This caused friction in Locke's relationship with Stephenson, and a compromise of dividing work on the line between the two men was agreed. After Stephenson left the project in August 1835, Locke took sole control of the construction of the line. Locke's work on the Grand Junction established his reputation for good engineering combined with economy and speed of construction. His other work included the construction of the main line from London to Southampton (1836–40), the line between Sheffield and Manchester (1838–40) and the Greenock, Paisley, and Glasgow line (1837–41). In 1840, Locke formed a partnership with John Edward Errington, with whom he constructed lines in Lancashire and Scotland.
Locke moved to the manor of Honiton, Devon in 1847, and was Liberal MP for the borough of Honiton from 1847 until his death.
Locke died suddenly at Moffat, near Dumfries, Scotland, on 18 September 1860.
Charles Blacker Vignoles was born in County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, on 31 May 1793. Following his parents' deaths, Vignoles was brough to England by an uncle and raised by his grandfather. Vignoles served in the army from 1813-1816, when he married and moved to America. Here he worked in Charleston, South Carolina, as assistant to the state civil engineer. He later worked in Florida as city surveyor, before returning to England in 1823, after his grandfather's death. He worked as a surveyor in London until 1825, when he was appointed as surveyor to the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, following Parliament's rejection of George Stephenson's initial survey of the route. Vignoles moved to Liverpool and was involved in the success of the second Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill. He was employed as Stephenson's assistant on construction of the Liverpool to Manchester line, but resigned in January 1827 after disagreements over measurements for Edge Hill Tunnel.
Vignoles died at his home in Hythe, Hampshire, following a stroke.
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was first proposed by William James and Joseph Sanders in 1821. In 1826 George Stephenson was appointed chief engineer. The company originally intended to use fixed locomotives to pull freight trains between Liverpool and Manchester, but following the Rainhill Trial competition of 6 October 1829, locomotives in the style of Stephenson's Rocket were commissioned. The company opened the line between Liverpool and Manchester on 15 September 1830. The first passengers travelled along the line two days later and goods on 1 December. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was absorbed into the Grand Junction Railway on 8 August 1845.
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