Disused Stations

[AndyK]

At long-last, the Southport to Preston line is featured on the Disused Stations site : http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml

Enjoy ! ( and why not send a message of encouragement to the sites' team who do a wonderful job ).

[AndyK]

I thought they'd forgotten Crossens..............but no, it just magically appeared

[Stupot]

Before anyone else says it- yes, they've forgotten Crossens

My first reaction as that was the station I used....

At least the trains were a bit quicker than the website updating....

[Nick Catford]

At long-last, the Southport to Preston line is featured on the Disused Stations site : http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml

Enjoy ! ( and why not send a message of encouragement to the sites' team who do a wonderful job ).

I have just registered for this forum to plug the DisusedStation web site only to find you have already done it – thanks for that.

I am always on the lookout for more photographs. If you have any pictures of the stations thatI don’t already have, do please send then to me. (nothing scanned from booksplease). I received quite a lot ofpictures from local people. I have now founda few of them on this forum. If I haveused any of your photos without appropriate credit please let me know,

I hope this feature is of interest, I learnt a lot about theWest Lancs Railway while preparing it(most of the work was of course done by local (Wirral) man Paul Wright withhelp from Tony Graham and Alan Castle).

I am sure the line is still missed by many people. It’s a shameI never got the chance to see it. When I first visited in 1987 there was littleleft to be seen.

Nick Catford

Disused Stations

[Stupot]

I thought they'd forgotten Crossens..............but no, it just magically appeared

Quite amusing to see a first class ticket for use between Crossens and Churchtown.. Some paragraphs repetition with regard to Crossens station details which need editing out, but fascinating to read.

[Mr Saxon]

I love looking at the pics of all the old stations, I'm a bit too young to remember them all closing but it's intriguing to see where they were and what they are now.

[Sgt Wilson]

Like Stupot I regularly used Crossens station. In my early teens I would spend Saturday afternoons on this line chatting to the porter at Crossens whom I can remember assuring me the line wouldn't close. he joked the money I spent riding the line would be enoughto keep it open, if only that could have been the case.

Would quite regularly take the steam train up to Preston and back, simply for the ride. In hindsight I'm just so glad I made the most of this line when it was still around and retain many happy childhood memories of riding it.

I remember a regular SGB poster whom I knew from St Philips BB performing guard duty on the Southport/Crossens electrics, how sad it's now all long gone.

[BigBeigeBeast]

Ive been on that site a few times, its fasinating!!!! Love it!!

[Mr H]

I'm struggling with conflicting emotions here. On the one hand I want to mock trainspotters, and on the other I find it very interesting.

[BigBeigeBeast]

aye... its a tough one innit.

[AndyK]

I'm struggling with conflicting emotions here. On the one hand I want to mock trainspotters, and on the other I find it very interesting.

To soothe your empathy towards ' trainspotters' , reconsider them as 'railway archaeologists', for that is what they are !

[Nick Catford]

Quite amusing to see a first class ticket for use between Crossens and Churchtown.. Some paragraphs repetition with regard to Crossens station details which need editing out, but fascinating to read.

Now fixed

[Delbertious]

I have just registered for this forum to plug the DisusedStation web site only to find you have already done it – thanks for that.

I am always on the lookout for more photographs. If you have any pictures of the stations thatI don’t already have, do please send then to me. (nothing scanned from booksplease). I received quite a lot ofpictures from local people. I have now founda few of them on this forum. If I haveused any of your photos without appropriate credit please let me know,

I hope this feature is of interest, I learnt a lot about theWest Lancs Railway while preparing it(most of the work was of course done by local (Wirral) man Paul Wright withhelp from Tony Graham and Alan Castle).

I am sure the line is still missed by many people. It’s a shameI never got the chance to see it. When I first visited in 1987 there was littleleft to be seen.

Nick Catford

Disused Stations

Not sure if you have seen this http://www.qlocal.co.uk/southport/pa...n-50444133.htm

[Stupot]

Now fixed

Now that WAS quick...

[Hamble]

I'm struggling with conflicting emotions here. On the one hand I want to mock trainspotters, and on the other I find it very interesting.

I used to have a similiar feeling until I seperated trains from train buildings and track routes

Very good that enthusiasts keep these records thank you Nick Catford.

[Matt Naylor]

Wow, there are some fascinating pictures there.

I find it almost heartbreaking how the Southport - Preston line isn't in use today. Apparently shortly before the closure the railway was still busy.

That railway line would be so useful today.

[diskkeeper]

I'm struggling with conflicting emotions here. On the one hand I want to mock trainspotters, and on the other I find it very interesting.

Go and buy yourself an anorak

[silver fox]

Wow, there are some fascinating pictures there.

I find it almost heartbreaking how the Southport - Preston line isn't in use today. Apparently shortly before the closure the railway was still busy.

That railway line would be so useful today.

Considering that it ran through predominantly rural areas it was very busy, until the closures were announced, then of course people looked for alternatives which in many cases, that was a car.

[chirpy cockney]

It does seem ridiculous that it was closed and now it takes hours to get to Preston at peak times. I assume if trains still ran there many would choose to use the trains rather than sit in traffic for hours on end.

[Stupot]

It does seem ridiculous that it was closed and now it takes hours to get to Preston at peak times. I assume if trains still ran there many would choose to use the trains rather than sit in traffic for hours on end.

Well, when young, I used to use the Crossens to Southport (electric) and Crossens to Preston (steam) trains and the latter were never occupied that much.

Later I worked in Preston for 27 years and even though where I lived then and indeed now was not far from Hesketh Park station, it always proved much easier, quicker and more straightforward to travel by car. In fact a car was essential for getting around whilst working - public transport rarely goes where you want, when you want and in reasonable time.

With regard to "taking hours to get to Preston in peak hours" that's a bit OTT, if I might say so, CC, but it must be pointed out that if the schools in Preston are on holiday or half-term break, traffic holdups are virtually non-existent. Staggering the morning start time for the various schools in the Penwortham area would dramatically reduce journey times into Preston's city centre...

[vanman]

all my old haunts.

great site

walton on the hill brings back memories

[AndyK]

Just thought I'd give this a bump, for those that might have missed it !

[Jason II]

Very enjoyable the additions to 'Disused Stations'. I very much enjoyed the Meols Cop Works, the photos around it are great.
In the 1970 working timetable the Q trains to Meols Cop works for Electric trains are all given. They were Monday to Friday only.
0940 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1012 hrs.
0955 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1028 hrs.
1040 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1112 hrs.
1400 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1436 hrs
1425 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1456 hrs

Alas Meols Cop and Hall Road Depots and works are but dreams!

[vanman]

At long-last, the Southport to Preston line is featured on the Disused Stations site : http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml

Enjoy ! ( and why not send a message of encouragement to the sites' team who do a wonderful job ).

AndyK

Can you smell the station when you see this photograph

[AndyK]

Vanman : indeed I can

Blackler's is now a Whetherspoons ! We had breakfast there a couple of times during our Christmas shopping trip. The refurbishment has been done quite tastefully, with photographs and other reminders of the sites' more glorious past displayed on the walls.

One morning, an old gentleman, who was enjoying his early morning pint called over to the girl at the bar and said he had something for her. She went over and he produced a gift-wrapped packet; 'just a little something for Christmas' he said. Liverpudlians- greatest people on this Earth

[AndyK]

Very enjoyable the additions to 'Disused Stations'. I very much enjoyed the Meols Cop Works, the photos around it are great.
In the 1970 working timetable the Q trains to Meols Cop works for Electric trains are all given. They were Monday to Friday only.
0940 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1012 hrs.
0955 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1028 hrs.
1040 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1112 hrs.
1400 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1436 hrs
1425 hrs Trial Trip from Meols Cop to Hall Road arr 1456 hrs

Alas Meols Cop and Hall Road Depots and works are but dreams!

Great stuff !

By this time, the Southport triangle had been severed, so I guess all these trains required a reversal at platforms 2 or 3.

Excellent internal views ( diagrams) of Southport signal-box here :

http://www.wbsframe.mste.co.uk/publi...el_Street.html


How about some scans of your Working Timetables ?

[Beau Nidle]

Considering that it ran through predominantly rural areas it was very busy, until the closures were announced, then of course people looked for alternatives which in many cases, that was a car.

The line was only ever steam operated and the unholy race to get rid of steam and shut lines was a travesty. If the line had been trialled for diesel multiple unit working I am sure it wouldn't have lost the pitifully low sum of a couple of hundred thousand £'s that was the cause of it's demise. And thankfully Beechings plans to completely sever Southport altogether from the rail network never came to fruition.

[silver fox]

The line was only ever steam operated and the unholy race to get rid of steam and shut lines was a travesty. If the line had been trialled for diesel multiple unit working I am sure it wouldn't have lost the pitifully low sum of a couple of hundred thousand £'s that was the cause of it's demise. And thankfully Beechings plans to completely sever Southport altogether from the rail network never came to fruition.

You use the words "unholy race", those fit precisely the speed of closure and clearance of rails and track bed, almost as if to ensure that no-one could reverse the closure.

For instance, the speed and amateurish effort of removing the rail bridge over the River Douglas was so bad that the contractors finished up dropping most of the bridge into the river, that probably cost more to clear up than the line was actually losing.

[Jason II]

Attachment 109449Attachment 109448Attachment 109449

How about some scans of your Working Timetables ?

I hope this is clear enough to read on the Forum, I have downloaded two pages of the Working Timetable for the lines out of Liverpool Exchange. This covers the line to Southport, and the Ormskirk Line, plus onward at Ormskirk to Preston - which had just changed from a through service to Preston.
You will notice that the Diesel service to Liverpool Lime Street was running in 1970/1 when this timetable was operating. The Q trains appear on the second page. I chose the morning peak service out of Southport, and the follow on period when things settle down.

[a.l.guzzler]

I don't understand the problem with re-opening the Burscough Curves.

There's no major construction problems as far as I can see so why not?