In 1825 William Hulton appointed George Stephenson as chief engineer of the proposed Bolton & Leigh Railway. Where the route was very steep, the line incorporated cable-hauled sections. George and his son Robert Stephenson were asked to produce the company's first locomotive, the Lancashire Witch. The Bolton & Leigh was ! opened in 1828 and following year the Kenyon & Leigh Junction Railway was incorporated to extend the line to meet the Liverpool & Manchester at Kenyon Junction.