The o p p o r tu n itie s fo r a rapid economic development o f port or town th u s came and went in a very sh o rt p erio d o f tim e. The town b e n e fit te d in th e lo n g term from i t s r a i l lin k s in four d ir e c t io n s , even though th e p o p u la tio n was v i r t u a l l y s ta tio n a r y in th e twenty years from 1841 to 1 8 6 1,
th e p e r io d m which most o f th e North Lancashire railw ay system was b u i l t . The town was to a la r g e ex ten t th e v ictim o f c o n f lic t in g companies, as S c h o f ie ld has p o in ted o u t. The L .P .J.R . was in the grip o f th e Lancaster Canal Company which, under Gregson, H iggin and G ile s , r e s is t e d attem pts made by Sharpe and o th ers to r e v o lu tio n is e the port by o r ie n tin g i t towards P ou lton r a th e r than Glasson Dock. But the Canal Company's su c ce ss was
s h o r t - l i v e d in t h a t , l i k e the N.W.R., i t was soon taken over by companies dominated by men who had no p ersonal in t e r e s t in L ancaster. The L & C m ight be blamed by Sharpe and th e Lancaster Guardian fo r th e f a il u r e o f th e s h ip - c a n a l p r o j e c t , but i t s in t e r e s t s were la r g e ly fo cu ssed on C a r lis l e , and, even in th e eyes o f the L.N.W.R. d ir e c t o r s , C a r lis le was a fa r more im portant ju n c tio n than L ancaster. The N.W.R., in i t s tu rn , was taken over by a g ia n t , t h i s time th e M.R. The net r e s u lt o f a l l th e se tak eovers was th a t none o f th e l o c a l schemes designed to in crea se L a n ca ster's trade - whether through G lasson Dock or Poulton - came to anything. Local d iv is io n s proved f a t a l . No Corporation i n i t i a t i v e was made on th e l i n e s o f th e P reston
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Dock Scheme o f 1847-8 and consequently th e r i v a l lo c a l companies w ith d iv id e d s tr e n g th looked o u tsid e fo r c a p it a l . They acquired i t , but a t th e immediate c o s t o f t h e ir independence and a t the even tual c o s t o f th e schemes th e m se lv e s•
b) Manufacture of Railway Carriages
The rem oteness o f Lancaster from the raw m a ter ia ls o f c o a l and iron o r e meant th a t any en gin eerin g done in th e town was on a lim ite d s c a l e . N e v e r th e le ss th e establish m ent o f r a i l lin k s w ith south L ancash ire, Furness and th e N orth-E ast in the 1840's and 18 5 0' s enabled some in d u s tr ia l
developm ent in en g in eerin g . P rio r to th ese r a i l l in k s , Lancaster p o ssessed one or two sm a ll iro n fo u n d r ie s, but t h e ir p r o je c ts seem to have been
l a r g e l y r e s t r i c t e d to domestic a p p lia n c e s, and the sim ple a g r ic u ltu r a l im plem ents. There i s no evidence o f th e manufacture o f steam en gin es or t e x t i l e machinery in the 1 820' s and 1 830' s fo r th e newly e st a b lis h e d
t e x t i l e m i l l s . The weakness o f L ancaster iro n fo u n d ries a t t h i s p eriod i s e v id e n t by t h e ir proneness to bankruptcy ( e . g . 1837 W illiam Whewell and
^7 John Bower)• ^
The development o f Lancaster as a r a i l cen tre a f t e r l8*f0 gave new scop e to a t r a d it io n a l c r a f t in d u stry o f th e county towni ca rria g e m anufacture. T his p a r tic u la r c r a f t in d ustry had expanded r a p id ly with th e growth in th e importance o f Lancaster as a coaching c e n tr e , on ly s l i g h t l y cramped by the com pletion o f the Lancaster Canal between P reston and Kendal in 1802. Samuel Gregson, a West India merchant, had taken f u l l advantage o f both developments in tr a n sp o r t, becoming not only a coach p r o p r ie to r , but a ls o the f i r s t S ecretary o f th e Lancaster Canal Company. Jonathan Dunn and h is sons Richard and Thomas showed equal f l e x i b i l i t y w ith regard to road and r a i l tran sp ort manufacture. The Dunns were m anufacturing coaches and c a rria g es fo r road tran sp ort by 1 8 1 8, and by 1837 (th r e e y ea rs before th e com pletion o f the r a i l lin k from P reston to L a n ca ster) had jo in ed another ca rria g e manufacturer, George Wise, in the c o n s tr u c tio n o f railw ay c a r r ia g e s. In 1837 they b u ilt se c o n d -c la ss c a r r ia g e s fo r the London and Birmingham Railway, and in 1839 th ey were su p p ly in g f i r s t - c l a s s ca rr ia g e s to th e E astern C ou n ties, Glasgow and Ayr,
6k
and U ls t e r ra ilw a y companies, and a co n tra ct was made to supply c a r r ia g e s to th e L .P .J .R. 65
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