sentences:  The LNWR proposed to build warehouses in Hartlepool and buy shares in the West Hartlepool Railway.The North Eastern Railway (NER), formed in 1854 by amalgamation, at the time was the largest railway company in the country and controlled the East Coast Main Line from Knottingley, south of York, through Darlington to Berwick-upon-Tweed.When they approached the S&DR with a proposal to merge, the S&DR deciding they preferred a merger with the NER than eventually become part of the LNWR, entered negotiations.