Description

The Grand Junction Railway Company was formed in the second half of 1832 by the consolidation of two rival companies: the Birmingham and Liverpool Railway Company and the Liverpool and Birmingham Railway Company. Authorised by Parliament on 6 May 1833^, and designed by George Stephenson and Joseph Locke, the Grand Junction Railway opened for business on 4 July 1837. It ran for 82 miles (132 km) from Birmingham Curzon Street, through Wolverhampton (via Perry Barr and Bescot), Stafford, Crewe, and Warrington, then via the existing Warrington and Newton Railway to join the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at a triangular junction at Newton Junction. The GJR established its chief engineering works at Crewe, relocating there from Edge Hill, in Liverpool.

When the London and Birmingham Railway opened on 17 September 1838 services were routed to and from Curzon Street station which it shared with the Grand Junction Railway, the platforms of which were adjacent, providing a link between Liverpool, Manchester and London. The route between Curzon Street railway station and Vauxhall primarily consisted of the Birmingham Viaduct.

This fascinating little book was one of the earliest railway line guides published. It was plainly compiled for the benefit of readers who had never been on a train, or perhaps even seen one. There is full information on fares and charges, distances, brief descriptions of the main towns served with copious advertisements for shops and hotels, The hand book was published to coincide with the opening of the line. Assembling all the information before the days of the telegraph and the Penny Post, must have been a monumental task and one can only admire the enterprise of the publisher.