Ashton-in-Makerfield railway station

Ashton-in-Makerfield railway station was a railway station serving that town, although it was located in neighbouring Haydock, formerly in Lancashire (now Merseyside), England.[7][8]

Ashton-in-Makerfield
LocationHaydock, St Helens
England
Coordinates53.47975°N 2.63915°W / 53.47975; -2.63915
Grid referenceSJ577983
Platforms2[1][2]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLiverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-groupingLondon and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 July 1895[3]Station opened for goods
3 January 1900[4]Station opened for passengers
3 March 1952[5]Closed to regular traffic
After 4 October 1975Closed to racecourse traffic[6]

The station was located where Lodge Lane (now the A49) crossed the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway line from Lowton St Mary's to the original St Helens Central railway station.[9][10]

History

Opened by the Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway, as part of the Great Central Railway, it became part of the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping of 1923. The line and station passed to the Eastern Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, but was transferred to the London Midland Region later that year.

Services

In 1922 five "down" (towards St Helens) trains called at the station, on Mondays to Saturdays. These called at all stations from Manchester Central to St Helens via Glazebrook and Culcheth. No trains called on Sundays.[11]

By 1948 four trains plied between St Helens Central and Manchester Central, calling at all stations, Monday to Friday, reduced to three on Saturdays. No trains called on Sundays.[12]

A fuller selection of public and working timetables has now been published. Among other things this suggests that Sunday services ran until 1914, but had ceased by 1922, never to return.[13]

Closure and afterlife

The station was closed to passengers by the British Railways Board in 1952.

From 1952 until 5 October 1963 some race day specials to Haydock Park had deposited their passengers at the racecourse then travelled to St Helens for servicing, turning and to await their turn to return in the evening.[14] Others did the same at Ashton-in-Makerfield.[15][16][17] A more recent source states that the last such trains ran on 4 January 1965.[18]

Enthusiasts' railtours travelled the line on 29 September 1956[19][20] and 21 September 1963.[21][22]

The final such tour visited the station on 24 August 1968.[23][24][25] Although a last, this tour was also a first, being the first passenger train over a new connection between the line to Ashton and the WCML at the new "Haydock Branch Junction" north of Golborne, which had opened on 22 April 1968.[26][27] By providing this connection the line between Edge Green and Lowton St Mary's could be abandoned and, in particular, its bridge over the to-be-electrified WCML could be removed. This occurred in 1971.[28]

Services to and through Ashton finally ended in 1988, but its last years were not mere decline. Two services used the station and one passed through it. In 1963 Lowton Metals started to use the station's goods yard as a rail-served base for its scrap metal business. This traffic ended in 1987.[29][30] In July 1968 the line to the west was reopened to serve a new oil distribution depot at Haydock. This traffic continued until 1983.[28] In 1975 an experiment was conducted in reviving race traffic, using Ashton station instead of Haydock Park. Special trains were run to at least five meetings, but the experiment was not continued.[31]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Haydock Park
Line and station closed		   Great Central Railway
Liverpool, St Helens and South Lancashire Railway		   Haydock
Line and station closed

The site today

The station site has been landscaped as part of a business park.

References
  1. Pixton 1996, p. 122
  2. Fields, Gilbert & Knight 1980, Photo 123
  3. Dow 1965, p. 10
  4. Dow 1965, pp. 9–12
  5. James 2004, p. 24.
  6. Sweeney 2014, p. 71
  7. The station on a 1948 OS Map via npe Maps
  8. Jowett 2000, Map 60.
  9. Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45
  10. Station and line SOH via railwaycodes
  11. Bradshaw 1985, pp. 714–5
  12. The station via Disused Stations UK
  13. Sweeney 2014, pp. 105–115.
  14. The station via Disused Stations UK
  15. Tolson 1982, p. 123.
  16. Sweeney 2014, p. 61.
  17. The station via Disused Stations UK
  18. Sweeney 2014, p. 70.
  19. Railtours via sixbellsjunction
  20. Sweeney 2014, p. 98.
  21. Railtours via sixbellsjunction
  22. Sweeney 2014, p. 31.
  23. Makerfield Miner railtour via sixbellsjunction
  24. The station via Disused Stations UK
  25. Sweeney 2014, p. 91.
  26. The new connection HOB2 via railwaycodes
  27. Yonge, Padgett & Szwenk 2013, map 26C
  28. Sweeney 2014, p. 80.
  29. Shannon & Hillmer 2003, p. 103
  30. Haydock Park traffic via Disused Stations
  31. Sweeney 2014, p. 71.

Sources
  • Bradshaw, George (1985) [July 1922]. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation guide for Great Britain and Ireland: A reprint of the July 1922 issue. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-8708-5. OCLC 12500436.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199.
  • Dow, George (1965). Great Central, Volume Three: Fay Sets the Pace, 1900–1922. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-0263-0. OCLC 500447049.
  • Fields, N; Gilbert, A C; Knight, N R (1980), Liverpool to Manchester into the Second Century, Manchester Transport Museum Society, ISBN 978-0-900857-19-5CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • James, David (2004), Lancashire's Lost Railways, Stenlake Publishing, ISBN 978-1-84033-288-9
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Pixton, Bob (1996). Widnes and St. Helens Railways. Stroud: Chalford Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-7524-0751-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Shannon, Paul; Hillmer, John (2003). British Railways Past and Present, Manchester and South Lancashire No 41. Kettering: Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85895-197-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Smith, Paul; Turner, Keith (2012), Railway Atlas Then and Now, Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing, ISBN 978-09550030-6-6CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sweeney, Dennis J (2014). The St. Helens and Wigan Junction Railway. Leigh: Triangle Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85361-292-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Tolson, J.M. (1982). St. Helens railway : its rivals and successors. Usk: Oakwood Press. ISBN 978-0-85361-292-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Yonge, John; Padgett, David; Szwenk, John (2013). Gerald Jacobs (ed.). British Rail Track Diagrams - Book 4: London Midland Region (3rd ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. ISBN 978-0-9549866-7-4. OCLC 880581044.
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