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