The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS[a]) was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921,[1] which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four. The companies merged into the LMS included the London and North Western Railway, Midland Railway, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (which had previously merged with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922), several Scottish railway companies (including the Caledonian Railway), and numerous other, smaller ventures.
Besides being the world's largest transport organisation, the company was also the largest commercial enterprise in the British Empire and the United Kingdom's second largest employer, after the Post Office.[3]
In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles (11,056 km) of railway (excluding its lines in Northern Ireland), but its profitability was generally disappointing, with a rate of return of only 2.7%. Under the Transport Act 1947, along with the other members of the "Big Four" British railway companies (GWR, LNER and SR), the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways.
The LMS was the largest of the Big Four railway companies[4] serving routes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The LMS was formed from the following major companies:
- Caledonian Railway 1,114.4 miles (1,793 km) route length
- Furness Railway 158 miles (254 km)
- Glasgow and South Western Railway 498.5 miles (802 km)
- Highland Railway 506 miles (814 km)
- London and North Western Railway (including Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, amalgamated 1 January 1922) 2,667.5 miles (4,292.9 km)
- Midland Railway 2,170.75 miles (3,493 km)
- North Staffordshire Railway 220.75 miles (355 km)
There were also some 24 subsidiary railways, leased or worked by the above companies, and a large number of joint railways, including the UK's largest Joint Railway, the Midland & Great Northern, and one of the most famous, the Somerset & Dorset.[9] The LMS was the minority partner (with the LNER) in the Cheshire Lines Committee.
In Ireland there were three railways:
- Dundalk, Newry and Greenore Railway 26.5 miles (42 km)
- Northern Counties Committee 265.25 miles (426 km)
- Joint Midland and Great Northern of Ireland Railway 91 miles (146 km), with interests in Ireland
Most of the above operated in what became Northern Ireland
The total route mileage of the LMS in 1923 was 7,790 miles (12,537 km).
Ships inherited from the Midland Railway.[71]
| Ship | Launched | Tonnage (GRT) | Notes and references |
|---|---|---|---|
| SS Antrim | 1904 | 2,100[72] | Sold in 1928 to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Scrapped at Preston in November 1936[72] |
| SS City of Belfast | 1893 | 1,055[73] | Bought from Barrow Steam Navigation Co Ltd in 1907. Sold in 1925 to a Greek owner, renamed Nicolaos Togias. Renamed Kephallina in 1933. |
| SS Duchess of Devonshire | 1897 | 1,265[74] | Sold in 1928 to Bland Line, Gibraltar, renamed Gibel Dersa. |
| SS Londonderry | 1904 | 2,086[75] | Sold in 1927 to Angleterre-Lorraine-Alsace, renamed Flamand. Scrapped at Altenwerder, Germany in 1937.[75] |
| SS Wyvern | 1905 | 232[76] | Built as a tug, used for pleasure excursions from Heysham to Fleetwood until the Second World War. Scrapped in 1960. |
Chairmen of the board of directors
- 1923–1924: Charles Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence of Kingsgate[79]
- 1924–1927: Sir Guy Granet[78]
- 1927–1941: Josiah Stamp (Baron Stamp from 1938)[80]
Presidents
- 1926–1941: Josiah Stamp (Baron Stamp from 1938)[17]
- 1941–1947: Sir William Valentine Wood[78]
Chief civil engineer
- Ernest Frederic Crosbie Trench 1923 – 1927[81] (formerly chief engineer of the London and North Western Railway)
- Alexander Newlands 1927[81] – 1933
- William Kelly Wallace 1933[82] – 1948[83] (previously Locomotive and Civil Engineer [combined] of the Northern Counties Committee in Northern Ireland.)
Chief mechanical engineers
- 1923–1925: George Hughes[1]
- 1925–1931: Henry Fowler[1]
- 1931–1932: Ernest Lemon[84]
- 1932–1944: Sir William Stanier[14][85]
- 1944–1945: Charles Fairburn[86]
- 1945–1947: Henry George Ivatt[86]
The LMS operated a number of suburban lines using electric traction, in and around London, Liverpool, Manchester and Lancashire.
Schemes in the London area generally used the four-rail system in use by tube and sub-surface railways (such as the Metropolitan Railway). Lines from Bow to Barking, Euston to Watford Junction, Broad Street to Richmond and a number of related branches and connecting lines were already electrified when the LMS came into existence, although the LMS did extend electrification from Barking to Upminster in 1932.[48]
In the Liverpool area, lines were electrified using a third rail, energised at 630 V DC. Routes from Liverpool Exchange to Southport and Aintree and from Aintree to Ormskirk were already completed prior to the formation of the LMS. Lines from Birkenhead Park to West Kirby and New Brighton were added to this network in 1938.
In Manchester, the line from Bury to Manchester Victoria had already been electrified by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway using a side-contact, third rail system. In conjunction with the LNER, the lines of the former Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway were electrified using the 1500 V DC overhead line system, opening on 11 May 1931.[49]
Finally the route between Lancaster and Heysham via Morecambe had been electrified by the Midland Railway using a 6600 V AC overhead system, as early as 1908.
LMS No. 10000 and 10001 were the first mainline diesel locomotives built in Great Britain. They were built in association with English Electric by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at its Derby Works, using an English Electric 1,600 hp diesel engine, generator and electrics.
Under British Railways, the locomotives became British Railways Class D16/1; they were initially operated primarily on mainline express passenger services on former LMS lines, both in single and in multiple. In 1953, they were transferred to the Southern Region for comparison with Bulleid's British Rail Class D16/2 diesel locomotives.
Both locomotives were withdrawn and scrapped in the 1960s.
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