Cocker Bar railway station

Cocker Bar railway station was located in what is still open country where Cocker Bar Road (B5248) crosses what is now the Ormskirk Branch Line.[1]

Cocker Bar
Site of the station (2015)
LocationUlnes Walton, Chorley
England
Coordinates53.6902°N 2.7564°W / 53.6902; -2.7564
Grid referenceSD501218
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyEast Lancashire Railway
Pre-groupingLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Key dates
c 1849Opened
October 1859Closed on the opening of Midge Hall

The station was closed when Midge Hall station opened 47 chains (0.95 km) further north[2] in 1859, shortly after the line was taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

History

The railway line between Preston and Walton was proposed by the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway (LO&PJ) and authorised in 1846; later that year the LO&PJ was amalgamated with the East Lancashire Railway (ELR), which opened the line in 1849.[3]

In August 1859 the ELR was amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR),[4] and in October that year, the station at Midge Hall was opened.[5] It was 23 1⁄4 miles (37.4 km) from Liverpool (Tithebarn Street), and replaced Cocker Bar. Sources differ slightly on distances. Marshall gives Midge Hall as 23 miles (37.0 km) from Liverpool and Cocker Bar quarter of a mile less.[6] The Engineers' Line Reference data for line FCO separates the sites by 47 chains. Looking at the maps it would appear that Marshall's figure is rounded.

Reopening proposals

There have been talks amongst the local community for the possible reopening of Midge Hall station, which was closed in 1961. Cocker Bar's site is green field, on a locally well connected B road and near Wymott and Garth prisons.

References
  1. Lancashire LXVIII (includes: Hesketh with Becconsall; Little Hoole; Longton; Much Hoole (Map). Ordnance Survey. 1848.
  2. The line and mileages via railwaycodes
  3. Marshall, John (1969). The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, volume 1. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. pp. 136, 138. ISBN 0-7153-4352-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  4. Marshall 1969, p. 123
  5. Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. p. 159. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  6. Marshall 1969, p. 138
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Preston
Line and station open		   Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Ormskirk Branch Line		   Croston
Line and station open
Lostock Hall
Line closed, station open		    
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