Bury, Edward (1794–1858), engineer, was born at Salford, near Manchester, on 22 October 1794. He went to school in city of Chester and was interested in machinery and showed ingenuity in constructing models from an early age. After school and an apprenticeship in engineering he eventually established himself at Liverpool as a manufacturer of engines. In 1830 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened, and for several years after this Bury devoted his attention to the construction of engines for railways. He supplied many of the first engines used on the Liverpool and Manchester and on the London and Birmingham railways, and his notable paper ‘On the locomotive engines of the London and Birmingham Railway’ appeared in the Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 17 March 1840. In this he provided detailed drawings of the engines, and tables of data on the operation of the railway and also discussed the relative advantages of four and six wheels. About this time he introduced a series of improved engines for the steamboats employed on the Rhône, which led to his being consulted by the directors of many railways then being constructed in Europe. Bury had the entire charge of the locomotive department of the London and Birmingham Railway for some years after the opening in September 1838. He subsequently undertook the management of the whole of the rolling stock for the Great Northern Railway. On 1 February 1844 Bury was elected a fellow of the Royal Society due to improvements which he had introduced, especially in adjusting the dimensions of the cylinder and driving wheels, and the effective pressure of the steam. He was also a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Edward Bury retired from his professional work in 1857. Bury married the botanical artist Priscilla Susan Bury, née Falkner (1799–1872) on 4 March 1830, at St Mary's, Walton on the Hill. The couple had at least three sons, born between 1831 and 1835. During his later years he lived at Crofton Lodge, Windermere. He died at East Villa, Scarborough, on 25 November 1858 and was survived by his wife.

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.

The construction of a rail link between London and Birmingham was first mooted in 1823 by John Rennie, who surveyed the route via Oxford and Banbury. Over the next two decades two rival schemes emerged to build the railway, over the two factions joined together and called on George Stephenson to adjudicate over the best route. Stephenson and his son Robert were prevailed on to act as engineers for the venture. Facing stiff opposition from landowners the Bill was presented to Parliament in 1832, it failed on its first attempt to pass but was successful the following year after an appropriate amount of compensation was offered to landowners affected by the line's construction. The London & Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was 112 miles long and was reckoned to be some of the largest civil engineering works at the time. In addition to the scale of the project, the civil engineers' also encountered several technical challenges in the course of its construction, notably at Kilsby Tunnel, the Tring cutting and Wolverton embankment amongst others. Multiple connecting railways were proposed during the L&BR's construction as a nascent national rail network began to be posited and the L&BR emerged as a trunk line. The line opened in sections from London with the first section from London to Tring opening on 1 January 1838, with the final section from Rugby to Denbigh Hall opening on 17 September 1838, previously a rail replacement coach was used on this section. The London terminus was located at Euston, which included the imposing Doric Arch and the world's first railway hotel. Until 1844, the section from Euston to Camden was hauled by stationary engine due to the gradient. The Birmingham terminus was located at Curzon Street and the Principal Building was completed in complementary neo-classical style. The railway proved to be financially successful and came to absorb other lines. In 1846 the L&BR merged with Manchester and Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway to form the London and North Western Railway, connecting London with Birmingham, Crewe, Chester, Liverpool and Manchester.

The Great Northern Railway Co (GNR) was authorised in 1846 to build a line from London to Doncaster via Hitchin, Peterborough and Grantham with a loop line from Peterborough to Bawtry via Lincoln and branches to Sheffield and Wakefield. The first section between Louth and Grimsby opened in 1848. The proper main line was opened in stages; by 1849 services were running from Peterborough to Doncaster via Lincoln and in 1850 services from London (Maiden Lane) to Peterborough started. In 1852 Kings Cross station and the main line between Peterborough, Grantham and Retford were completed. Coupled with its running powers over parts of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and the York and North Midland Railway north of Doncaster, the GNR offered services between London and York. A combination of running powers, acquisitions and promotion of new railways, eventually gave the GNR access to Bradford Cambridge, Halifax, Leicester and Nottingham. The GNR also invested in joint railways including the Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint (Huntingdon-March–Doncaster), the Cheshire Lines Committee and in 1889 the Midland & Great Northern Railway giving access to North Norfolk, Norwich and the east coast. The GNR main line was part of the through route to Scotland and it established the East Coast Joint Stock, a common pool of vehicles, with the North Eastern Railway and the North British Railway. The Flying Scotsman was the most famous train service on that route. The GNR operated intensive passenger express services as well as suburban services to Hatfield, Dunstable and St Albans, and in North London and West Yorkshire, and local passenger services in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. Its principal freight business was the transport of coal from Yorkshire, and later from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, to London, and the conveyance of coal to and bricks from the brickfields in the Peterborough area. The GNR’s principal works were at Doncaster where it built locomotives and carriages. Its famous locomotives include the Stirling Singles, Ivatt’s Atlantics and Gresley’s 1922 Pacific.