The Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway (OA&GB) was a British railway company, which opened in 1861, connecting Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge. The company survived until it was nationalised in 1948.
Early days
In 1847 the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) had submitted a scheme to Parliament to build a line from Guide Bridge to Oldham. The Bill was rejected in favour of a scheme, presented in the same parliamentary session, for a small network of lines called the Oldham Alliance Railway, a joint venture between the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) and two companies who had line proposals that had not yet been sanctioned. Its Act stated that once half the required capital had been raised by the new companies they would be amalgamated with the M&LR, the required funds were not found and the venture was abandoned in 1850.
In 1856, a deputation, including the Mayors of Oldham (John Platt) and Ashton-under-Lyne (Nathaniel Buckley), approached the MS&LR to support a line from Guide Bridge which would connect to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) at Oldham.
Initially, the MS&LR had hoped that the other railways would support the scheme but they showed little interest, and the MS&LR board members had to put up the remaining finance privately. Once incorporated as the Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne and Guide Bridge Junction Railway in 1857, the L&YR took an interest, but the MS&LR, wishing the line to be a three way venture, prevailed upon the LNWR to join in. Not wishing to be associated with the LNWR the L&YR withdrew and when it opened the line was operated jointly by the LNWR and MS&LR.
Construction
The line was laid out by John George Blackburne who also supervised the construction, he later became the lines engineer. Over 800 men were employed in constructing the line which was let in two contracts, James Taylor of Dukinfield built the northern section from Ashton to Oldham and Mr Knight the southern section. The section between Guide Bridge and the L&YR near Ashton was completed in March 1860. Wet weather had hampered further work, for which a long cutting and an embankment, plus the 12-arch Park Bridge Viaduct was needed. By 1 June 1861 the line had been completed apart from the viaduct, the final stretch into Oldham station, Oldham station itself and the connection to the LNWR, it was reported that the railway would soon be open.
Opening, early management and services
The Oldham, Ashton and Guide Bridge Junction Railway Company organised the building of the railway from incorporation in 1857, saw the lines completion in 1861 and the start of services, albeit using stock provided by the MS&LR. The companies majority shareholders were the MS&LR and the LNWR and under the terms of its original Act a further Act was enabled leasing the railway to its two major shareholders, this Act was promulgated and the OA&GB became a joint line from 30 June 1862. Each company appointed three out of the nine directors with the other three being local supporters including Platt and Buckley as Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively.
The line opened on 26 August 1861, with a celebration of the opening taking place on Wednesday 31 August 1861 when a special train carrying 200 guests ran from through Guide Bridge to Clegg Street, Oldham.
In September 1861 the OA&GB operated around twelve round trips between Oldham Clegg Street and Manchester London Road, most went via Guide Bridge where they would be required to reverse direction about half the services didn't call at Park Bridge and Ashton Moss only had two services in each direction. The engines and carriages were provided by the MS&LR.
Goods traffic began operating on the line from 1 February 1863. According to Fraser (1963) there was no urgency to start up goods traffic as the MS&LR owned the Ashton Canal which connected the same towns with Manchester, in effect the OA&GB was competing with one of its owners.
Until 1872 the MS&LR operated the trains, the LNWR took over some services in 1869-1870 and after 1873 coaches were supplied jointly.
After the LNWR link opened to in 1876 services ran between Stockport, , and , there were through carriages to .
Description of the line
The line was double track, long, connecting end-on with the LNWR near their station. Most services ran to and from the LNWR station where a bay platform was constructed in the 1860s to accommodate them, this platform was rented by the OA&GB.
OA&GB stations were: , , , and which closed in 1862.