Shipping

Ships and their trade routes were vital to the business of the L&Y. As the only major railway to serve both the Irish and North Seas it had the opportunity to dominate Irish and Continental traffic and it grasped it firmly.

Liverpool was a major source of general traffic whereas Fleetwood, purpose built from 1840, was the port for northern Irish passenger traffic and fish.

Goole, already a port on the east coast, was reached in 1848 and the L&Y purchased the Goole Steam Shipping Co. in 1904 operating regular passenger and cargo services to Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. With 31 ships it was the largest fleet of any British railway.

Document_1896_Fleetwood_Belfast_Sailings_Timetable

Document_1897_June_Cruise_To_Jubilee_Naval_Review_Spithead

Document_1903_Shipbuilding_Contract_SS_Colleen Bawn_&_SS_Mellifont

Document_1903-04_Steamer_Services

Document_1904_Agreement With_NER_Regarding_Steamboat_Operation

Document_1904_Agreement_With_Goole_Steam_Shipping_Co

Document_1905_1908_Steamer_Specification

Document_1905_Shipbuilding_Contract_For_SS_Mersey

Document_1905_Agreenent_With_South_Yorkshire_Canal_For_Cob_Boat

Document_1906_Hull_To_Zeebrugge_Poster

Document_1907_Duke_Of_Clarence_Sailings_French_Booklet

Document_1907_Ship_Repair_Contract_SS_Don