List of structures built by Thomas Brassey

Thomas Brassey in his mid-forties

Thomas Brassey (7 November 1805 – 8 December 1870) was an English civil engineering contractor and manufacturer of building materials who was responsible for building a large portion of the world's railways in the 19th century. For some of these constructions he was the sole contractor but he usually worked in partnership with other contractors, particularly Peto and Betts.

Railways and associated structures

Brassey arranged the building of over 8,500 miles (13,700 km) of railway tracks. By 1847 he had built one third of the railways in the United Kingdom and by the time of his death he had built one in twenty of the miles of railway in the world. He also built structures associated with railways - bridges, stations, etc. - and non-railway related structures. The following is an incomplete list of his projects. For the British railways the dates given are the date of the relevant Act of Parliament; for railways elsewhere and for other structures the date given is the date of the contract.

Railway lines

United Kingdom

1830s

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Grand Junction Railway (part)	1833	10	16
London and Southampton Railway (part)	1834	36	58
Chester and Crewe Railway	1837	11	18
Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway (part)	1837	7	11
Sheffield and Manchester Railway	1837	19	31

1840s

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway	1844	70	113
Colchester and Ipswich Railway	1844	16	26
Chester and Holyhead Railway	1844	31	50
Ipswich and Bury Railway	1845	27	43
Kendal and Windermere Railway	1845	12	19
Trent Valley Railway	1845	50	80
Caledonian Railway (First contract)	1845	125	201
Clydesdale Junction Railway	1845	15	24
North Wales Mineral Extension Railway	1845	5	8
Scottish Midland Junction Railway	1845	33	53
Scottish Central Railway	1845	47	76
Haughley and Norwich Railway	1845	33	53
Shrewsbury and Chester Railway	1846	35	56
Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway	1846	30	48
North Staffordshire Railway	1846	48	77
Buckinghamshire Railway	1846	40	64
Mineral Line (Wales)	1846	6.5	10
Great Northern Railway	1846	75	121
Royston and Hitchin Railway	1846	13	21
Shepreth Extension Railway	1846	5	8
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway	1846	51	82
Denny Branches	1846	3.5	6
Birkenhead and Chester Junction Railway	1847	17.5	28
Leicester and Hitchin Railway	1847	62.5	101
Hooton and Parkgate Railway	1847	5	8
Richmond and Windsor Railway	1847	15	24
London and Southampton Railway Loop line	1847	7	11
Shrewsbury Extension Railway	1847	3	5
Blackwall Extension Railway	1847	1.75	3
Oswestry Branch Railway	1848	2	3

1850s

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
North and South-Western Junction Railway	1851	4	6
Hereford, Ross and Gloucester Railway	1851	30	48
Harleston and Beccles Railway	1851	13	21
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway	1852	50	80
Warrington and Stockport Railway	1853	12	19
Bideford Extension	1853	6	10
Crystal Palace and West-end Railway	1853	5	8
Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway	1853	32.5	52
Portsmouth Direct Railway	1853	33	53
Worcester and Hereford Railway	1853	26	42
Severn Valley Railway	1853	42	68
Coalbrookdale Railway	1853	5	8
Woodford and Loughton Railway	1853	7.5	12
East Suffolk Railway	1854	63	101
Inverness and Nairn Railway	1854	16	26
Leominster and Kington Railway	1854	14	23
Salisbury and Yeovil Railway	1854	40	64
Stokes Bay Pier and Branch Railway	1855	2	3
Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway	1856	40	64
Leatherhead, Epsom and Wimbledon Railway	1856	10	16
Cannock Mineral Railway	1857	10	16
Portpatrick Railway	1857	17	27
Knighton Railway	1858	12	19
Woofferton and Tenbury Railway	1859	5	8
Wenlock Railway	1859	4	6
Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway	1859	5	8
South Staffordshire Railway	1861	4	6
Llangollen Railway	1859	6	10
Ringwood and Christchurch Railway	1859	8	13
West London Railway (Extension)	1859	9	14
Tendring Hundred Railway	1859	3	5

1860s

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Ashchurch and Evesham Railway	1862	11	18
Epping and Ongar Railway	1859	13	21
South Leicester Railway	1860	10	16
Tenbury and Bewdley Railway	1860	15	24
Llangollen and Corwen Railway	1860	10	16
Cannock Chase Railway	1860	3	5
Disley and Hayfield Railway	1860	3.5	6
Nantwich and Market Drayton Railway	1863	11	18
Wenlock and Craven Arms Railway	1861	14	23
Ludlow and Clee Hill Railway	1861	16	26
Dunmow Railway	1864	19	31
Enniskillen and Bundoran Railway	1861	36	58
Moreton Hampstead Railway	1862	12	19
Wellington and Market Drayton Railway	1862	16	26
Bala and Dolgelly Railway	1862	18	29
Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway	1863	4	6
Evesham and Redditch Railway	1863	18	29
Kensington and Richmond Railway (and Spurs)	1864	7	11
Silverdale Railway	1864	13	21
Wolverhampton and Walsall Railway	1865	7	11
East London Railway	1865	2.5	4
Hull and Doncaster Railway	1864-9	15	24

Unknown dates

Railway	Length
	miles	kilometres
North Devon Railway	47	76
Woodbridge Extension Railway	10	16
Kingston Extension Railway	4	6
Sudbury, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge Railway	48	77
Chertsey Extension Railway	3	5
London and Bedford Railway	50	80
Runcorn Branch Railway	9	14
Sirhowy Railway	2	3
Arpley Branch Railway, Warrington	1.5	2
Ebbw Vale Railway	2	3
Hereford Loop Railway	2	3
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway	93	150
Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilson Railway	11	18

France

75 per cent of the total mileage, including:

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Paris and Rouen Railway	1841	82	132
Orléans and Bordeaux Railway	1842	294	473
Rouen and Le Havre Railway	1843	58	93
Amiens and Boulogne Railway	1844	53	85
Rouen and Dieppe Railway	1847	31	50
Mantes and Caen Railway	1852	113	182
Le Mans and Mezidon Railway	1852	84	135
Lyons and Avignon Railway	1852	67	108
Sambre and Meuse Railway	1853	28	45
Caen to Cherbourg	1855	94	151
Dieppe Railway (laying second road)	1860

Elsewhere in Europe

Railway	Country	Date	Length
			miles	kilometres
Barcelona and Mataró Railway	Spain	1848	18	29
Prato and Pistoja Railway	Italy	1850	10	16
Norwegian Railway	Norway	1851	56	90
Dutch Rhenish Railway	Netherlands	1852	43	69
Turin and Novara Railway	Italy	1853	60	97
Royal Danish Railway	Denmark	1853	75	121
Central Italian Railway	Italy	1854	52	84
Turin and Susa Railway	Italy	1854	34	55
Elizabeth and Linz Railway	Austria	1856	40	64
Bilbao and Miranda Railway	Spain	1858	66	106
Victor Emmanuel Railway	Italy	1859	73	117
Ivrea Railway	Italy	1859	19	31
Jutland Railway	Denmark	1860	270	435
Maremma and Leghorn Railway	Italy	1860	138	222
Meridionale Railway	Italy	1863	160	257
North Schleswig Railway	Denmark	1863	70	113
Lemberg and Czernowitz Railway	Austrian Empire (now Ukraine)	1864	165	266
Viersen and Venlo Railway	Now in Germany to Netherlands	1864	11	18
Warsaw and Terespol Railway	Poland	1865	128	206
Kronprinz Rudolph Railway	Austrian Empire (now Austria, Slovenia)	1867	272	438
Czernowitz and Suczawa Railway	Austrian Empire (now Ukraine)	1867	60	97
Vorarlberg Railway	Austria	1870	55	89
Suczawa and Jassy Railway	Romania	1870	135	217

Canada

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Grand Trunk Railway, Quebec to Toronto	1854–1860	539	867

Argentina

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Central Argentine Railway	1864	247	398
La Boca and Barracas Railway	1865	3	5

Australia

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Great Northern, Great Eastern and Great Southern Railways, New South Wales	1859	54	87
Queensland Railway	1863	78	126

India

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Eastern Bengal Railway	1858	112	180
Delhi Railway	1864	304	489
Chord Railway	1865	147	237

Mauritius

Railway	Date	Length
		miles	kilometres
Mauritius Railway	1862	64	103

Tunnels

Tunnel	Line & Country	Date	Length
Shugborough Tunnel	Trent Valley Line, England	1847	2,331 ft (710 m)
Hausenstein Tunnel	Basel to Olten line, Switzerland	1853	1.5 miles (2 km)
Bellegarde Tunnel	France	1854	2.5 miles (4 km)

Stations

Many hundreds, including:

Station	Date	Notes
Trent Valley Line Stations	1847
Chester	1848	had the longest platforms in the country at the time of its opening
Caledonian Railway Stations and Maintenance	1848
Shrewsbury	1848
Salisbury	1859
Nantwich

Viaducts and other structures

Many, including:

Structure	Date	Line
Penkridge Viaduct	1837	Grand Junction Railway
Malaunay Viaduct	1844	Paris to Le Havre railway
Mirville Viaduct	1844	Paris to Le Havre railway
Brantham Cutting, Manningtree	1845
Austreberth Bridge	1847	Paris to Le Havre railway
Cefn Mawr Viaduct	1848	Chester to Shrewsbury railway
Chirk Viaduct	1859	Chester to Shrewsbury railway
Welwyn (or Digswell) Viaduct

Bridges

Again a large number, including:

Structure	Date
Bury Saint Edmunds Station Bridge	1846
Richmond	1848
Barnes	1849
Coghines Bridge, Italy	1855
Victoria Bridge, Worcestershire	1861
Severn	1861
Stonework for the Runcorn bridge	1868
Kew	1869

Non-railway projects

Victoria Embankment opposite Somerset House, February 2008

Structure	Date	Notes
Bromborough Road, Cheshire	1834	including Saughall Massie road bridge
Greenock Harbour	1845
Birkenhead Docks	1850
Victoria Docks, London	1851	over 100 acres (40 ha), with associated warehousing
Minories Warehouses	1857
Ludlow Drainage	1861
Metropolitan Mid Level Sewer, London	1861	12 miles (19 km)
Rio Janeiro Drainage	1862
Barrow Docks	1863
Worm Drainage	1863
Letton Drainage	1864
Dee Reclamation Works	1865
Calcutta Waterworks	1865
Victoria Embankment, London	1866
Nepean Bridge	1869
Callao Docks, Peru	1870

References

• Helps, Arthur (2006) [1872]. The Life and Works of Mr Brassey. Nonsuch. pp. 106–114. ISBN 1-84588-011-0.
• Walker, Charles (1969). Thomas Brassey, Railway Builder. London: Frederick Muller. pp. 168–173. ISBN 0-584-10305-0.