 Some railways, however, began to grow faster than others, often taking over smaller lines to expand their own.The success of the L&MR led to the idea of linking Liverpool to London, and from that the seeds of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) – an amalgamation of four hitherto separate enterprises, including the L&MR – were sown.Within 50 years the L&NWR was to become "the biggest joint stock company in the world" .